Louis Charles (the second son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette) had followed his parents when they were taken from Versailles to Paris by an angry mob in October 1789. When Louis XVI was executed on January 21, 1793, Louis Charles had become King Louis XVII automatically. At this time he was just eight years old. So far the little boy had stayed from his mother and his aunt but this was to change.
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| Louis Charles in 1792 |
On July 3, 1793 Louis Charles was suddenly removed from his mother and taken to a windowless room in the Temple prison. Antoine Simon was appointed care-taker of the precious prisoner. Antoine Simon was determined to raise the child in such a manner that he would forget his royal inheritance and in this way not want to take the throne. During his imprisonment the little King was pressured on several occasions until he finally told his interrogators what they wanted to hear: that his mother, Marie Antoinette, had molested him sexually. These accusations were used against the dethroned Queen at her trial - of course the accusations were not true. But his mother was send to the guillotine nonetheless and Louis Charles had become an orphan.
His prison cell (still barricaded) was filthy and as a consequence hereof Louis Charles fell ill. Louis Charles was alone for most of the time until a man with the name of Barras entered the cell on July 27, 1794. Barras would report that he had found the child severely neglected but Louis Charles himself never said anything about his treatment; it is quite possible that he was too afraid to do so. In 1795 (on June 8) he died of tuberculosis - alone in his dark cell.When the Bourbon dynasty was restored a lot of the documents of the Temple prison was destroyed which mean that we have very little written evidence of what actually happened to Louis Charles while he was imprisoned on his own.
Originally, the body of the ten-year old King of France was buried in the cemetery of Ste. Marguerite. Recent research has revealed that the little boy who was reburied in Saint-Denis was indeed the son of Marie Antoinette; the identification was made with DNA from the child's heart.
Depictions of Louis Charles' imprisonment
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The heart of Louis Charles - it was from here
that DNA was taken |
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| Interrogation of Louis Charles |
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| "The Dauphin in the Temple" |
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| Louis Charles and Marie Thérèse (probably their last meeting) |
This poor, poor child! I cannot even begin to imagine the level of trauma he must have suffered, both physically and emotionally.
ReplyDeleteFor me, this leaves such a huge stain upon France's supposed wonderful history! Sorry, but this brutality and mistreatment of a child was utterly inexcusable!!!!!
One can not but notice a common line of cruelties committed by the French elsewhere. Whether during the great revolution, which probably represented the peak of horrors in recent history, but also in prisons around the globe managed by the French.
ReplyDeleteThe infamous prison in Guyana is an example, the Hanoi Hilton in Vietnam shows the barbaric treatment another. The question whether the French are species that lack human compassion can not be answered easily. On my discoveries around the world I came across another such horrible place of confinement, on the islands around Guinea in Africa. The relics are still visible today, and one can still sense the viciousness any subject incarcerated would have experienced at the time.
Algeria is another example of French barbarism, and so is the occupation of Palestine.
Wherever they had their hands in they mistreated their subjects.
In some African countries the French are therefore much despised.
The example of the ruling monarchs Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the Princess of Lamballe ‘s treatment and subsequent executions are a witness to their cruelty.
Napoleon and his armies were not better and executed anyone who was not willing to accept their terms. One example is the Austrian freedom fighter Andreas Hofer.
In the case of Louis XVII it should be noted that people who maltreat a 8 year old and let him rot to death are only confirming this already well manifested facts. Widespread assumptions are gaining more importance with every further proven case. France has a lot of burden when it comes to history.
So to me the end of Napoleon on St. Helena is not a regrettable occurrence. It was mild compared compared to the treatment of his adversaries.