21 January 1793 - the day cemented in history as the execution date of Louis XVI. The king's execution had had a remarkably short prelude; from his arrest on 13 August 1792 the king was still kept prisoner after the official abolition of the monarchy on 21 September 1792. The king was read his indictment on 11 December 1792 although the conclusion of the trial was already apparent - the king himself informed his counsel that he was prepared to die for the good of his country.
Considering that the king was already found guilty of colluding with invading, foreign powers, the question remained - what to do with the former king, now merely called citizen Capet?
That question was put to the 721 deputies. As predicted by Louis XVI, none of them had voted for his acquittal. A total of 693 deputies cast their votes while 23 abstained from voting at all. Most devastating to the king was the involvement of his own cousin - the Duc d'Orléans - who voted for the king's death. Sadly, the king's death was determined by just a single vote.
Several of the men who resisted the death penalty made eloquent responses in which they vehemently refused to act as judge or acknowledge the deputies' right to do so. As they rightly argued, they were not created as a court of law and as such had no authority to sentence anyone to death. Others made their vote of death dependent on certain events, such as invasion of foreign powers.
The vote took place on 15 January 1793; the following day, the deputies once again met to decide whether the king was to be reprieved from his sentence. The suggestion was rejected and five days later the 38-year old king was beheaded.
Besides the Duc d'Orléans, the assembly included several other noblemen, albeit of far lesser status than the king's own cousin. Amongst these were:
Jean Pierre André Amar - voted for execution
From a minor noble family from Dauphiné, his family had been in the lower ranks of the noblesse de robe
Paul de Barras, Vicomte de Barras - voted for execution
He had served in the American Independence War and was not a fervent anti-monarchist before the revolution but was somewhat radicalized during the late 1780s - early 1790s
Aubin Bigorie du Chambon - voted for execution
Another member of the noblesse de robe, he would himself be assassinated on 20 November 1793
Antoine Bonnier d'Alco
Also a member of the noblesse de robe, he shared the fate of Chambon; Antoine was assassinated in 1799
Jean Dyzès, Comte d'Arène - voted for execution
Having bought the barony of Samadet, he was eventually made Comte d'Arène although his primary occupation was as a lawyer at the parliament of Navarre
Antoine Joseph Marie d'Espinassy de Fontanelle - voted for execution
From a very old but provincial aristocratic family, he served in the military but was eventually accused of leaving his post without leave
Louis-Michel Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau - voted for execution
Descending from a long line of magistrates, he was also a noblesse de robe, even owning a large château in Paris. He was confronted by an old bodyguard of the king's who requested if he had voted for the death of the king. Upon answering in the affirmative, the bodyguard stabbed him to death.
Antoine de Mailly, Marquis de Châteaurenaud - voted for execution
His family had been raised to the marquisate by Louis XV and he himself would seek out Voltaire - he became his secretary before becoming a member of the parliament
Ironically, several of these men also faced their own demise on the scaffold:
- Louis-Philippe, Duc d'Orléans - beheaded on the very same scaffold that he sent his cousin to
- Charles Jean Marie Barbaroux, guillotined on 25 June 1794
- Claude Basire, guillotined on 5 April 1794
- Jacquirs Boilleau d'Ausson, guillotined on 31 October 1793
- Pierre Bourbotte, guillotined on 17 June 1795
- Jean-Baptiste Boyer-Fonfrède, guillotined on 31 October 1793
- Jean-Baptiste Carrier, guillotined on 16 December 1794
- François Chabot (former cleric), guillotined on 5 April 1794
- Georges Couthon, guillotined on 28 July 1794
- Joseph-Marie Cusset, shot on 10 October 1796
- George Jacques Danton, guillotined on 5 April 1794
- Jean-François Delacroix, guillotined on 5 April 1794
- Camille Desmoulins, guillotined on 5 April 1794
- Jean Duprat, guillotined on 31 October 1793
- Jean-Michel Duroy, guillotined on 17 June 1795
- Marc-Antoine Huguet, shot on 9 October 1796
- François Joseph Antoine de Hell, guillotined on 22 April 1794
- Élie Guadet, guillotined on 19 June 1794
- Armand Gensonné, guillotined on 31 October 1793
- Jean-Bertrand Féraud, massacred on 20 May 1795
- Fabre d'Églantine, guillotined 5 April 1794
- Claude Javogues, shot on 10 October 1796
- Charles-Nicolas Osselin, guillotined on 26 June 1794
- Pierre Philippeaux, guillotined on 5 April 1794
- Maximilien de Robespierre, guillotined on 28 July 1794
- Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, guillotined on 28 July 1794
- Pierre-Amable de Soubrany, guillotined on 17 June 1795
- Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud, guillotined on 31 October 1793
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| Execution of Robespierre |
- François Buzot - committed suicide in 1794. He would likely have been guillotined if he had not taken his own life first.
- Étienne Nicolas de Calon - became mayor of Saint-Leu-la Fôret. He was a very old man at that point, as he had served Louis XV as a general; he had also voted for the execution of Louis XVI.
- Jean-François Delmars - died in 1798 (at 47 years old) after having been committed to a mental institute.
- Ernest Dominique François Joseph Duquesnoy - also committed suicide in 1795. He had just been found guilty and was sentenced to the guillotine.
- Thomas-Augustin de Gasparin - died of gangrene in November 1793
- Joseph-Pierre-Marie Fayau - was arrested but finally released in the grand amnesty in 1795. He returned to his native village where he was initially elected to a minor post before having his election overturned. He then died at just 33.
- Claude Dominique Côme Fabre - despite being a lawyer by trade, he was involved in the attacks on the French from the Catalonian coast. He was killed in battle and his widow awarded a pension by Robespierre
- Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas - remained a loyal follower of Robespierre, even after his downfall. Committed suicide on 28 July 1794.
- Jean-Paul Marat - assassinated by Marie Anne Charlotte Cordray d'Armont, an aristocrat with a vengeance
- Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve - found himself with the tables turned when he was accused of wrongdoing following the insurrection of 2 June 1793. He fled the capital but was recaptured which prompted him to commit suicide.
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