Louis XVI’s death on the guillotine. He was only 39 years old. Born Louis-Auguste de France, Comte de Berry, was not the natural pretender to the throne when he was born on August 23, 1754. The reigning king Louis XV had a son Louis de France who died on December 20, 1765, and the future Louis XVI also had two older brothers, the Duc de Bourgogne (1751-1761) and Xavier de France (1753-1754), duc d’Aquitaine. Following the deaths of his two older brothers and his grandfather Louis XV on May 10, 1774, the dauphin Louis-Auguste de France became king under the name Louis XVI.

The state of the kingdom at the accession of Louis XVI

Inheriting a kingdom on the verge of bankruptcy, he launched a number of financial reforms, notably under the leadership of ministers Turgot, Calonne and Necker, such as the egalitarian direct tax project. But all of which failed in the face of blocking by the parliaments, the clergy, the nobility and the court. He brought about changes in personal law (abolition of torture, serfdom, etc.) and won a major military victory over England, through his active support for the American independence movement. But French intervention in America ruined the kingdom.

Louis XVI’s personnality

At the end of his reign and during the Revolution, the worst things were written about him and Marie Antoinette. But over time, historians have come to define him as a sensitive, intelligent personality who cared about his country, unlike his predecessor Louis XV.

But Louis XVI’s personality combined well-meaning intentions, intelligence, and a sense of duty with indecisiveness, passivity, and an inability to adapt to revolutionary pressures. His character and leadership style were significant factors in shaping the trajectory of the French Revolution and his eventual tragic fate.

Historical Perspectives : Louis XVI in a revolutionary fin de siècle

It’s true that the end of the century was anything but ordinary, and in living memory has no equivalent. The English Revolution of 1688-1689 and the death of Louis XIV in 1715, the absolute monarch of divine right, gave way to a movement to challenge the established order. This was the century of the philosophers (Montesquieu, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Denis Diderot, d’Alembert), who all focused on the same subject: questioning traditional political structures and value systems (religion, absolute monarchy, education, science, etc.).

Some historians argue that Louis XVI was a victim of circumstances beyond his control, as his personality was ill-suited for the revolutionary upheavals of late 18th-century France. His reforms, though insufficient, demonstrate his intent to address France’s challenges.

The reign of Louis XVI or a chain of problems

Unfortunate events followed one after another

• Louis XVI became king at the age of 20, succeeding his grandfather, Louis XV and his tarnished image. Louis XV let his grandson a bankrupt country. He was 1.93 m tall (6′ 4″), which was exceptional in his day.

• Economic and Financial Crisis (1774–1789)
  Reforms by Turgot and Necker failled. Reforms to curb expenditures and introduce new taxes were met with resistance from the nobility.

• American Revolution (1775–1783)
  France’s financial support for the American Revolution further exacerbated its debt,

• Opening of the Estates-General (May 1789)
  This representative assembly of the French people had not been convened since 1614. This move aimed to gain approval for new taxes but inadvertently opened the door to revolutionary demands.

• The French Revolution Begins (1789) with the fall of the Bastille (July 14, 1789
  This iconic event marked the start of the French Revolution

• The October March on Versailles (October 1789)
  Revolutionary crowds forced the royal family to move from Versailles to Paris, signaling the monarchy’s loss of control over the situation.

• The Constitutional Monarchy Period (1789–1792)
  Adoption of the Constitution of 1791: Louis XVI reluctantly accepted a constitutional monarchy,

• Flight to Varennes (June 1791)
  Louis XVI and his family attempted to flee France to rally counter-revolutionary support.

• Foreign Wars and the Decline of Monarchy (1792)
  War with Austria and Prussia: The revolutionary government declared war on Austria in April 1792.

• Storming of the Tuileries (August 10, 1792)
  Revolutionary forces attacked the royal palace, leading to the imprisonment of Louis XVI and the abolition of the monarchy by the National Convention.

The setting up for the trial which led to Louis XVI’s death

In September 1792, during a search of the royal apartments, a cache of documents was discovered in a wall, known as the “iron cabinet“. On October 1, a commission was set up to investigate a possible trial of the King, based in particular on documents seized from the Tuileries Palace and the iron cabinet. On November 13, a crucial debate began over who should conduct the trial.
On November 20, 1792, Jean-Marie Roland deposited the archives – or at least what remained of them, which was considerable – on the desk of the Convention nationale, thus breaking all the maneuvers designed to prevent Louis XVI from being put on trial.

The Vendée deputy Morisson asserted that the king had already been condemned by having been deposed. Opposing him, some like Saint-Just called for his death, declaring in particular that the king was the natural “enemy” of the people, and that he did not need a trial to be executed. Evidence of the King’s guilt remained tenuous until November 20. In a famous speech on December 3, Robespierre solemnly called for the immediate death of the deposed king.

After stormy debates, the Convention decided that Louis Capet (This was the name given to Louis XVI by the revolutionaries, after his ancestor, who was at the origin of the line of kings who ruled France) would indeed be tried, the tribunal being the Convention itself. On December 6, it confirmed that Louis Capet would be “brought before the bar for questioning”.

The trial of the former king, judged as an ordinary citizen and henceforth known as Citoyen Capet, opened on December 11, 1792. From that day on, he would be separated from the rest of his family, living in isolation in a second-floor apartment in the Maison du Temple, with only his valet, Jean-Baptiste Cléry, for company.

What Was the Iron Cabinet? The consensus among modern historians is that the documents found in the Iron Cabinet were largely genuine, as no concrete evidence of forgery has been uncovered. However, the context and intent behind the communications remain subjects of debate. Revolutionary leaders interpreted them as clear evidence of treason, while some historians argue they could reflect typical diplomatic maneuvering rather than a direct conspiracy.

Louis Capet’s interrogations

The 1st interrogation takes place on December 11. At around 1 p.m., two prominent figures came to collect him: Pierre-Gaspard Chaumette (prosecutor of the Paris Commune) and Antoine Joseph Santerre (commander of the National Guard). They called him Louis Capet, to which he retorted: “Capet is not my name, it’s the name of one of my ancestors. […] I’m going to follow you, not to obey the Convention, but because my enemies have the strength in their hands “. Arriving in the full Salle du Manège (located in the Jardin des Tuileries), the accused was greeted by Bertrand Barère, President of the Convention.

Louis XVI maintained that he had always acted in accordance with the laws in force at the time, that he had always opposed the use of violence, and that he had disavowed the actions of his brothers. Finally, he denied recognizing his signature on the documents shown to him, and obtained the assistance of a lawyer to defend himself. After four hours of interrogation, the king was taken back to the Tour du Temple and confided to Cléry, his only interlocutor from then on: “I was far from thinking about all the questions that were put to me.”

As the assistance of a lawer has been authorzed by the Convention, Louis XVI accepts the offer of defense made to him by three known lawyers, at the risk of their own lives: François Denis Tronchet (future editor of the Civil Code under Napoléon 1st), Raymond de Sèze and Malesherbes (who was himself guillotined on April 22, 1794, along with his daughter and granddaughter). Nevertheless, he refused the offer of help from feminist Olympe de Gouges.

The trial of Louis XVI

Louis XVI was tried by the National Convention, the revolutionary government of France of the time, on the base of de plus de 30 charges but mainly on charges of treason and conspiracy against the state. At the start of the trial, Louis XVI de Sèze’s lawyer took up and refuted the 33 charges one by one.

Was the trial of Louis XVI legal and fair?

The will to try Louis XVI was not unanimous. But many also believe that even before the trial began, Louis XVI’s fate was sealed, due to the agitation of revolutionary extremists such as Saint Just and Robespierre. And it was clear that this was a political trial.

In fact, Raymond de Sèze (one of Louis XVI’s lawyers) ended his plea with these words: “Citizens, I will speak to you here with the frankness of a free man: I seek judges among you, and I see only accusers. You want to decide Louis’ fate, and you’ve already made your wishes known! You want to decide Louis’ fate, and your opinions are all over Europe! So Louis will be the only Frenchman for whom no law or form will exist? He will have neither the rights of a citizen, nor the prerogatives of a king. He will enjoy neither his old condition, nor the new one. What a strange and inconceivable destiny!

Even today, this judgment is the subject of debate in society and among historians: if the need to strengthen the Republic “imposed” the removal of the king, was the procedure not perfectly legal under the laws of the time, and was death necessary?

The course of the trial

On January 14, 1793, the Convention began discussing the terms of the trial. After much heated discussion among its members, the solution proposed by deputy Boyer-Fonfrède was accepted. The vote was broken down into four questions to be answered by each deputy of the Convention Assembly:

1. Is Louis Capet guilty of conspiracy against public liberty and attacks against the general security of the State, yes or no?
2. Will the judgment of the National Convention against Louis Capet be submitted to the people for ratification, yes or no?
3. What penalty will be imposed on Louis?
4. Will there be a stay of execution for Louis Capet, yes or no?

The end of the trial : the Death Sentence Vote

On January 15, 1793, the 749 deputies of the Convention opted for each representative of the people to vote aloud from the rostrum. Objectively speaking, this measure sounded the death knell for the king’s defenders, as popular pressure inside and outside the assembly chamber must certainly have changed the minds of some uncertain and/or frightened deputies.

The question of guilt (vote on January 15)

642 of the 718 deputies present answered “yes”.

The question of appeal to the people (vote on January 15)

The appeal to the people was a good way of reversing the trend of a judgment overly influenced by the Parisian sans-culottes. In the end, the threat of civil war launched by these same sans-culottes brought the recalcitrant deputies to their knees. On the second question, 423 of the 721 deputies present answered “no”.

The question of punishment (votes on January 16 and 17)

In fact, every deputy who didn’t vote for death was inveighed, insulted and even threatened by the crowds who had flocked to the judgment site. On the third question, 366 of the 721 deputies present answered “death without condition” (five votes more than the absolute majority).

A second roll-call vote on the same question brought the number in favor of death to 361, just one vote more than the absolute majority! Some subsequently accused Philippe d’Orléans, renamed Philippe Egalité, of having voted against his cousin Louis XVI, thus tipping the balance in favor of those in favor of death…

The question of reprieve (January 19 vote)

To this question, 380 of the 690 deputies present answered “no”.

Appeal by Louis XVI’s lawyers

The King and his lawyers appealed against the decision, as was their right, i.e. they requested a new judgement on appeal. Unsurprisingly, this request was rejected by the Convention, meaning that the King was definitively condemned and the sentence carried out without delay.

To be noted that the death penalty for Louis XVI was far from unanimous at the Convention, as the voting results show. The decision to execute Louis XVI by a majority of just 73 votes on 743 députies highlighted the sharp divisions within the National Convention. Prominent revolutionaries such as Maximilien Robespierre and Saint Just (both guillotined on July 28, 1794), Georges Danton Guillotined on April 5, 1794), and Jean-Paul Marat (assassinated on July 13, 1793) supported the king’s execution. Their turn came leqq tan two years later. Isn’t that a fair return

A shameful vote: that of Louis-Philippe d’Orléans
Louis-Philippe d’Orléans, an opportunist by nature, was Louis XVI’s cousin, descending in the male line from the regent Philippe d’Orléans and King Louis XIII, but also from King Louis XIV through Françoise-Marie de Bourbon. A deputy during the French Revolution – he called himself Philippe Egalité – he voted for the death of his cousin, King Louis XVI, without appeal. Georges Bordonove reports on his intervention in the regicide, while his friends the Montagnards themselves encouraged him to vote for indulgence. “Uniquely occupied with my duty, convinced that all those who have attacked or will subsequently attack the sovereignty of the people deserve death, I vote for death.”
He then opposes the vote on the Mailhe amendment to save the King, causing the amendment to be rejected.
He personally witnessed the execution of Louis XVI, hidden in a cabriolet on the Concorde bridge. But he had no idea what awaited him: he himself was guillotined in Paris on November 6, 1793.
He was the father of French King Louis-Philippe I, who reigned from 1830 until he was ousted by the revolution of 1848.

Louis XVI’s death – Execution of the sentence

• The execution took place at the Place de la Révolution (formerly Place Louis XV, now Place de la Concorde) in Paris.
• He was executed by guillotine, a device that had become the symbol of the Revolution and was seen as a more humane and egalitarian method of execution.

The Day of Louis XVI’s death

1. Morning Preparations of Louis XVI execution:
   • Louis XVI spent the night before his execution with his confessor, Abbé Edgeworth de Firmont, and wrote a farewell letter to his family.
   • Early on the morning of January 21, 1793, he was taken from the Temple prison to the execution site in a carriage. The Temple prison was located in the north part of Le Marais district in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris. It was destroyed in 1808 The journey through the streets of Paris was silent, with a heavy military presence to prevent uprisings.
2. Place de la révolution (Place de la Concorde)
   • The guillotine was the central feature of the square during executions. For Louis XVI’s execution, it was placed near the middle of the square, where the statue of Louis XV had once stood before being torn down in 1792.
   • Surroundings: The square was relatively austere at this time, lacking many of the later embellishments such as the Obelisk or fountains. Its starkness reflected the functional and revolutionary nature of its use.
   • Buildings around the square, including the Hôtel de Crillon and the Hôtel de la Marine, provided vantage points for some observers.
3. Final Moments before Louis XVI’s death:
   • Reports describe a largely silent and tense audience, as many recognized the historical gravity of the moment.
   • Upon reaching the scaffold, Louis XVI ascended the steps with dignity, according to witnesses. Some observers described the event with a mix of awe and horror
   • He attempted to address the crowd, reportedly saying something akin to: “I die innocent of all the crimes imputed to me; I pardon those who are the cause of my death…”
   • His speech was cut short by the beating of drums ordered by officials to drown out his words.
4. Louis XVI’s death : Execution of the sentence. It was 10h:22am on January 21, 1793
   • Louis XVI was positioned under the guillotine and beheaded swiftly: “his neck, occiput and jaw were horribly cut” according to witnesses.
   • After the blade fell, the executioner held up his severed head to the crowd, which erupted into cries of “Vive la République!” (Long live the Republic).

Aftermath the Louis XVI’s death

• The death certificate of Louis XVI was drawn up on March 18, 1793. The original death certificate was lost when the Paris archives were destroyed in 1871, but it had been copied by archivists. It is therefore well known.
• The king’s body was buried in an unmarked grave in the Madeline Cemetery. Years later (18 et 19 janvier 1815), his remains were exhumed and reinterred in the Basilica of Saint-Denis, the traditional burial site of French monarchs.
• His execution put an end to a trial that had stirred up passions for almost two months.

Louis XVI’s death marked a significant turning point in the French Revolution, symbolizing the end of absolute monarchy in France and solidifying the rise of the revolutionary government and the Terreur périod.

What became of the royal family after Louis XVI’s death?

Marie-Antoinette was guillotined on October 16, 1793 also on the Place de la Révolution in Paris.

Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette had 4 children who had no descendants:

• Marie-Thérèse de France (December 19, 1778 – October 19, 1851), known as “Madame Royale”, married her first cousin the Duc d’Angoulême (1775-1844) in 1799. She was the only one to survive the prisons of the Revolution, despite appalling conditions of confinement;
• Louis-Joseph-Xavier-François de France (October 22, 1781 – June 4, 1789), first dauphin – died before the turmoil;
• Louis Charles de France (March 27, 1785 – June 8, 1795), duke of Normandy, second dauphin and named Louis XVII, nicknamed “l’enfant du Temple” during his captivity. He was a child who was manipulated, demeaned and humiliated by his jailers. He died of tuberculosis.
• Sophie-Béatrice de France (July 9, 1786 – June 19, 1787) known as “Madame Sophie” – also died before the turmoil.

Louis XVI had a half-sister (from his father’s 1st marriage) and 11 brothers and sisters (from his father’s 2nd marriage). Many died at birth or at a very young age. At the time of the Revolution, the following remained alive:

• Louis Stanislas Xavier, comte de Provence, (1755-1824) (future Louis XVIII), married Marie-Joséphine de Savoie in 1771 (no descendants).
• Charles-Philippe, comte d’Artois, (1757-1836) (future Charles X), married Marie-Thérèse de Savoie in 1773 (with two sons and two daughters). Driven from power by the revolution of 1830. He died on November 6, 1836 in Görtz (Austria).
• Marie Adélaïde Clotilde “Madame” (1759-1802) married Charles-Emmanuel IV of Savoy, King of Sardinia, in 1775 (no descendants), declared “venerable” (second title of recognition of merits attributed by the Catholic Church to a person, after that of servant of God on the path to sainthood (beatification and canonization), the “heroicity of her virtues” having been recognized).
• Élisabeth Philippine, “Madame Elisabeth” (1764-1794) (without marriage or posterity). Sister of King Louis XVI, she gave him unfailing support during the French Revolution. Imprisoned with the royal family in 1792 and summoned to appear before the Revolutionary Tribunal under the Terror, she was condemned to death and executed in Paris on May 10, 1794. The process for her beatification is underway.

Is it possible to justify the revolutionaries who caused all these misfortunes? Wasn’t there a less barbaric solution? Or is it that when fury is unleashed, the ignorance, imbecility and bestiality of the human race become uncontrollable?

What if unfortunate Louis XVI’s death was due to the curse of the Knights Templar?

Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar (URL), died at the stake in March 1314. The best-known and oldest legend surrounding Jacques de Molay concerns the curse he is supposed to have hurled at Philip the Fair and the Capetians (his descendants), and at Pope Clement V, while he was at the stake (URL to be added).

According to historian Colette Beaune, this legend was born after a stupefying epilogue for Philip the Fair’s contemporaries: how could the most powerful king in Christendom at the time see his direct dynasty come to an end with three sons who unfortunately had no descendants? How did this plunge the kingdom into the Hundred Years’ War? In the medieval mindset, how could the fall from his horse, the adultery of his brus and the early death of his three sons be explained, if not by a supernatural reason?

It was in the 16th century that the curse was clearly formulated. Paolo Emilio subsequently wrote a history of France for King Francis I, in which he portrayed the death of a Jacques de Molay cursing the king and the pope, and summoning them before the tribunal of God.

This legend lasted until Maurice Druon‘s historical novel Les Rois maudits, written between 1955 and 1977. This sequel and its TV adaptations further popularized Jacques de Molay and his curse (as defined by Maurice Druon):

“Pope Clement!… Knight William!… King Philip!… Within a year, I summon you to appear before God’s tribunal to receive your just judgment;! Cursed! Cursed! Cursed! Cursed to the thirteenth generation of your races!” – Les Rois maudits, 1955

In fact, Jacques de Molay was burned at the stake on March 11 or 18, 1314, Philip the Fair died on November 29, 1314, Guillaume de Nogaret (Philip the Fair’s right-hand man, who had arrested the Templars) in April 1313 (before Jacques de Molay’s prophecy) and Pope Clement V on April 20, 1314. Disturbing, isn’t it?

Furthermore, a popular version of the legend attributes Louis XVI’s death on the scaffold to the curse, which it places in the thirteenth generation after Philippe le Bel. In reality, the thirteenth generation is rather that of the children of Louis XIV, who was 5 generations before Louis XVI – unless we don’t count the intermediate generations who didn’t reign – for example, Louis XVI’s father, who died before his own father Louis XV? So, what do you think?

A few anecdotes about the guillotine at the time of Louis XVI’s death

Doctor Guillotin and the guillotine

French physician and politician. During the French Revolution, he is known for having adopted the guillotine as the sole method of capital execution. He called for “decapitation to be the only punishment adopted, and for a machine to be found to replace the executioner’s hand”. The use of a mechanical device to carry out capital punishment seemed to him a guarantee of equality, which he felt would open the door to a future in which capital punishment would finally be abolished. Guillotin’s proposal also aimed to eliminate unnecessary suffering. Until then, capital punishment had been carried out differently according to the crime and social rank of the condemned: nobles were beheaded with swords, commoners with axes, regicides and state criminals quartered, heretics burned, thieves rolled or hanged, counterfeiters boiled alive in a cauldron – a fine program!

His idea was adopted in 1791 by the law of October 6, which stipulated that “the death penalty shall consist of the simple deprivation of life, without any torture ever being inflicted on the condemned” and that “any person condemned to death shall have his head cut off”.

The device was perfected in 1792 by his colleague Antoine Louis, a military surgeon and perpetual secretary of the Académie de chirurgie (hence his first name, Louison). After several trials on sheep, followed by three corpses at the Hospice de Bicêtre on April 15, 1792, the first person to be guillotined in France was a thief, Nicolas Jacques Pelletier, on April 25, 1792.

Dr Guillotin wasn’t at all proud that the name “guillotine” was a diminutive of his own name.

To tip the executioner to be guillotined first

The guillotine blade was re-sharpened every night as it was chipped after each use. Usually 5 to 10 condemned men were guillotined one after the other. Hence, it is said that the most fortunate asked the executioner to be guillotined first, in order to “benefit” from a blade in good condition.

The Comtesse du Barry asks the executioner for 5 more minutes

The last mistress of Louis XV (who was very, very young compared to Louis XV) was condemned to the scaffold on December 8, 1793. She was dragged with great tumult and difficulty to the scaffold, and continued to struggle, trying to bite the executioner. Her last words are said to have been: “One moment more, Monsieur le bourreau!” She is buried in the Madeleine cemetery, where 1,343 guillotine victims from the Place de la Concorde were laid to rest.

The last to be guillotined in France, on September 10, 1977, long time after Louis XVI’s death

On September 10, 1977, the head of the last guillotine in French history was chopped off. His name was Hamida Djandoubi (responsible for the rape, torture and murder of his 21-year-old former companion). According to a false legend, Christian Ranucci was the last person to be sentenced to death. He was beheaded on July 28, 1976. He was responsible for the abduction and murder of an eight-year-old girl on Whit Monday 1974.