The history of many European powers is extremely interesting and informative, since over the centuries many events took place in those parts of the world: from curious to tragic. The execution of Louis 16 also belongs to the latter . Perhaps, from this moment begins the history of France as the Fifth Republic. The death of this king forever put an end to the French bourgeois republic.
King's arrest
As you know, Louis was a fairly compliant king. In particular, he obeyed the demands of the revolutionaries, abandoned the absolute nature of the monarchy, agreeing to the establishment of a constitutional form of government. But at the same time, he tried to put pressure on the revolutionaries, opposing the most radical reforms. It soon became apparent that this could not continue for so long.
Of course, at that time no one had thought that the execution of Louis 16. was possible. Her date (January 21, 1793) was the day after which the European monarchs finally realized that they, too, were mortal.
The royal family decided to flee the country. Several of the closest people were dedicated to the conspiracy, who for several days made up the most preferred escape plan. At X-hour, the monarch’s family had dinner, without breaking the protocol, talked with the courtiers, and then they all went to bed ... But this was only an appearance, since the monarch’s household with him, using secret passages, left the palace and got into the carriage.
At first, the escape took place strictly according to plan, but because of the king’s love for comfort (which was worth at least abandoning the carriages), his procession was identified, and in the city of Varenna the whole family was captured and arrested. Soon after this, the execution of Louis 16. took place. The date of this event in modern France is revered as the day of the final transition to the republican form of government.
How it all began
On January 16, 1793, the French Convention discussed three very interesting questions:
- First, is the king guilty. 683 members of the convention voted for, the decision was made almost unanimously.
- Secondly, and not whether to pass the decision of his fate to the hands of the people? As in the previous case, the decision is unanimous. No by majority vote.
- Finally, what punishment should be chosen for the king ... This is the only question, opinions on which are divided. 387 people voted for the execution of Louis 16, 334 people - for imprisonment.
Thus, the opinion of 53 people became decisive, Louis and Marie Antoinette were sentenced to death. Despite this, heated debate continued for several days. But on January 19, the final decision was made - to execute Louis 16 within 24 hours. The method was chosen habitual, guillotination. Thus, the arrest and execution of Louis 16 was only a few days apart.
How did the king react to this?
At that time, the king himself was imprisoned in Temple. Upon learning of the decision of the Convention, he asked that Abbe Edgeworth de Fremont be admitted to his cell. As the priest himself later recalled, they were both alone for several hours, since the king had a severe nervous shock. At first they both burst into tears, but soon Louis found the strength in himself to calm down.
He asked the priest to forgive him for such an indiscreet manifestation of his own weakness. The king admitted that he had lived among enemies for so long that the sight of almost the only faithful subject simply moved him. After this, Louis invited the abbot to follow him into the next room. The priest was unpleasantly struck by the asceticism of the cabinet: there were no wallpapers on its walls, the poor faience stove was responsible for heating, and all the furniture consisted of a pair of chairs and a small sofa. Louis 16, the king of France (whose arrest and execution is described in the article) put the abbot opposite him.
Regret…
Louis admitted that he only had one thing left that needed to be resolved immediately. The abbot said that at the mention of the Duke of Orleans, the king sighed intelligently and bitterly. He lamented that his cousin was following him and wishing him harm. Louis forgave his relative and said that he would not want to be in his position, since "he will inevitably be betrayed."
But on this the conversation was interrupted by the revolutionary commissars. Having descended from the upper floors of the prison, they informed that the king is allowed to see his family.
Family meeting
The first was the queen leading by the hand of her son. Behind her is the sister of King Elizabeth. They all threw themselves into the arms of the autocrat, and in the next few minutes only sobs were heard. After that, the king urged everyone to proceed to the dining room.
There they hardly spoke, all family members only cried and hugged each other. Soon the time came for farewell. The queen, leaving, asked Louis to see them tomorrow too. To this the king answered with fervent assurances of his immense love for his household and asked to pray for himself and for him.
Soon after, Louis returned to the abbot, the latter noticing that the king was in a state of severe nervous shock. The priest stayed with him until late at night, and then invited the king to rest, as he noticed his deep tiredness. Cleary's servant remained awake at the monarch's bed, and the abbot himself went to rest in the closet, in which the servant usually slept. So ended the last day. The next morning Louis was to be executed ...
The morning of the last day
The servant woke the king at exactly five in the morning. The valet began combing, and Louis 16, the king of France, at the same time tried to put on the engagement ring that he usually hid in his
pocket watch. After that, he again sent for the abbot, with whom he spoke for about another hour. Having finished this, the priest served the mass, the king all this time stood kneeling on the bare floor.
It seemed that Louis was completely calm. The abbot temporarily leaves the king, and when he returns, he sees how he kneels beside the stove and his body shakes in a great chill. At the same time, a dawn flared up more and more clearly in the morning sky, and they beat drums all over Paris. Between seven and eight in the morning, jailers increasingly knocked on the cell door, finding various excuses for this. What did Louis 16 feel at that time? The execution of the king was to take place in just a couple of hours, but because he was probably nervous.
Soon hit the road ...
To this, Louis remarked with a smile that his guards seem to be afraid that their former king would not take the poison or commit suicide in another way. At eight o’clock, members of the local municipality arrived at the autocrat. The king gave them his official testament and his last 125 louis, which he asked to give to one of the creditors. Some visitors at first behaved arrogantly, but then nevertheless agreed to fulfill all the petty requests of the king. So Louis 16, whose execution was to take place soon, behaved surprisingly dignified and calmly.
After that, he asked his guards to "tolerate a few minutes" and again retired to the priest. He knelt down and asked to bless him, because he feels that he will soon appear before the Lord ...
A few minutes later, a decisive voice came from behind the door, reminding Louis of the need to go. “Well, let's go,” the king agreed. Incredible silence reigned when the carriage with the condemned drove into the Revolution Square. The scaffold in a circle was fenced with guns, the vents of which were directed directly into the crowd. There were reasons for this approach, since many of the onlookers themselves were armed to the teeth. The execution of King Louis 16 in France was to take place very soon ...
The last minutes of the king’s life
When the crew stopped, the monarch, turning to the priest, said: "I believe we have arrived." The door of the carriage was opened by one of the executioners. The king held on slightly to the gendarmes who were the first to leave, and said that they should watch over the abbot after his death and not allow anyone to harm him.
The king ascended the scaffold himself, his gait was firm. At this time, the drums beat so hard that Louis cried out, demanding silence. His self-control was such that he undressed himself, remaining in a body shirt, trousers and stockings. The executioners approached the king with the intention of tying him, but he recoiled from them and said that he would not impede the execution, but they seemed to be about to decide to use force.
Seeking support, he turned to the priest. The abbot replied that the martyr king Louis 16 should not resist, for humility makes him look like Christ. In response, the monarch began his speech, in which he forgave everyone and called to rejoice in the good of France. But the execution of King Louis 16 happened faster than he had time to say everything.
How it all ended
At this time, General Santer, who commanded the execution, jumped forward on a horse. He shouted an order, the drums began to beat again, and the executioners pounced on the monarch, trying to tie him to the board. Since there were six of them, the struggle quickly ended. A board with Louis tied to it was placed under the guillotine fixed with a knife.
The priest leaned towards him and whispered: "Son of
St. Louis, ascend to heaven." At this time, the executioner lowered the guillotine knife, the thud of which echoed in the square. A moment later, the crowd screamed, someone roared: “Glory to the Republic!” One of the executioners raised his severed head and showed it to raging people. This was the execution of Louis 16 in France. It was 9 a.m. 10 a.m. on January 21, 1793.