Along with his close associate Louis Antoine de Saint-Just and Maximilien Robespierre, he formed an unofficial triumvirate within the committee which wielded power during the Reign of Terror until the three were arrested and executed in 1794 during the Thermidorian Reaction.

[1][2] A Freemason,[3] Couthon played an important role in the development of the Law of 22 Prairial, which was responsible for a sharp increase in the number of executions of accused counter-revolutionaries.

[6] Georges Couthon suffered joint problems from childhood, however it wasn't until 1782 that his condition significantly worsened, necessitating the use of a cane by 1791 and complete reliance on a wheelchair by 1793.

Although he began treating his condition with mineral baths, he grew so weak by 1793 that he was confined to a wheelchair[8] driven by hand cranks via gears.

During a visit to Flanders, where he sought treatment for his health, he met and befriended Charles François Dumouriez, later writing praises of him to the Assembly and referred to him as "a man essential to us.

At the Trial of Louis XVI in December 1792, he argued loudly against the Girondist request for a referendum and went on to vote for the death sentence without appeal.

Couthon and 5 others, including his close friend Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, were brought in to assist in the drafting of the French Constitution of 1793.

[23] Republican atrocities in Lyon began after Couthon was replaced on 3 November 1793 by Jean Marie Collot d'Herbois, who would go on to condemn 1,880 Lyonnais by April 1794.

On the pretext of shortening proceedings, the law deprived the accused of the aid of counsel and of witnesses for their defence in the case of trials before the Revolutionary Tribunal.

"[29] Robespierre assisted Couthon in his arguments by subtly implying that any member of the Convention who objected to the new bill should fear being exposed as a traitor to the republic.

[30] Collot d'Herbois, Fouché and Tallien feared for their lives, due to the military excesses carried out by them in various regions of France to stamp out opposition to the revolutionary government.

[34] During the crisis preceding the Thermidorian Reaction, Couthon gave up a journey to Auvergne in order, as he wrote, that he might "either die or triumph with Robespierre".

[26] Robespierre had disappeared from the political arena for an entire month because of a supposed nervous breakdown as well as for health reasons and therefore did not realise that the situation in the convention had changed.

The Law of 22 Prairial also allowed tribunals to target noblemen and members of the clergy with reckless abandon, as the accused no longer could call character witnesses on their behalf.