This Day In History

On this day in 1793, the King of France Louis XVI was executed by guillotine in ‘Revolution Square’ in Paris. His execution was a turning point of the French Revolution. After the fall of the monarchy on 10th August 1792, Louis was imprisoned and charged with high treason by the National Convention and sentenced to death. His wife Marie Antoinette was executed on 16th October the same year.

Whilst he had been a loved King, his opposition to the National Assembly (the transitional assembly from the King’s old Estates-General) and attempt to escape from France in 1791 sealed his fate. He had undermined his own credibility as monarch and public opinion turned against him. A Republic was claimed in September 1792.

Accounts vary of the day of the King’s execution, with the priest Father Edgeworth saying the King proclaimed:

“I die innocent of all the crimes laid to my charge; I Pardon those who have occasioned my death; and I pray to God that the blood you are going to shed may never be visited on France.”