The fast and brutal end of an infamous queen
10/16/2024 05:00 AM
In October of 1793, the most famous French Queen in history met a swift and gruesome end.
After the French Royal Family was seized by Revolutionary forces in August of 1792, they were held prisoner. The former King Louis XVI was executed on 21 January 1793, but Queen Marie Antoinette and her children were held for much longer.
However, the former French Queen was put on trial on 14 October with less than a day's notice. She was charged with planning the massacre of the National Guards, sending French funds to Austria, and even incest.
The trial only lasted two days; the Revolutionary Tribunal made a swift decision. In the early morning of 16 October, Marie Antoinette was declared guilty of high treason.
The deposed Queen and her lawyers had originally thought that she would be sentenced to life imprisonment. However, she was sentenced to death.
She was forced to change in front of her guards into a white dress- the mourning colour of French queens- and had her hair cut.
The revolutionaries forced her to travel to the Place de la Révolution (now known as the Place de la Concorde) in an open carriage that allowed the crowds to yell obscenities at her.
Marie Antoinette was executed by guillotine at 12:15pm on 16 October 1793. Her body was left in an unmarked grave in the Madeleine Cemetery,
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