The second revolution that engulfed France over the course of 1792 reached its climax in December, with an astonishing, world-changing spectacle, which held all the eyes of Europe spellbound: Louis Capet, formerly King Louis XVI of France, was on trial for his very life. A guilty verdict would undermine millennia of thought and tradition, ripping apart the longheld inviolability of the king, still held sacred in some quarters of France, and setting a dangerous precedent for the other monarchs of Europe. For the revolutionary leaders, then, this was a cosmic strike against tyranny, unpicking the very foundations of French society. The trial would serve to proclaim the institution of the new regime; a ritualistic rebirth born of the death of the king. It would last a month. Then, on the 15th of January, a verdict was finally reached: Louis was found guilty, and condemned to death by guillotine. With the former king’s day numbered, was there any way the judgement could be overturned? And if not, what would the consequences of this seismic event be for the future of France, Europe, and the world…? Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the climax of the French Revolution - itself one of the most important moments of all history - with the extraordinary trial and death sentence of King Louis XVI. Would the sacrificial spilling of his royal blood cleanse the world of monarchy, and launch a new dawn for the Republic of France, once and for all? EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/restishistory Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What is the significance of King Louis XVI's trial?
Thank you for listening to The Rest Is History. For weekly bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to series, and membership of our much-loved chat community, go to therestishistory.com and join the club. That is therestishistory.com. Frenchman, where now are those qualities which once distinguished you? Where now is that national character of greatness and loyalty?
Would you show your powers in overwhelming with misfortunes the man who had the noble resolution to repose such confidence in you? Have you no more respect for the sacred duties of hospitality? is no commiseration due to such unparalleled misfortunes.
Do you not think that a king who ceases to be one is not a victim sufficiently striking without its being necessary to add such accumulated miseries to his fate? Frenchman, this revolution which regenerates you develops great qualities. but fear, lest it should at the same time efface humanity from your heart, without which every other virtue is lost.
So that was the somewhat florid concluding statement of a fellow called Romain de Cez, who was a lawyer from Bordeaux. Tom writes here that he was celebrated for his sonorous eloquence. As I think you can tell. As you can tell. There he was standing on the 26th of December 1792 before the National Convention in Paris. And of course, the man he was defending.
who was on trial for his life, was the erstwhile King Louis XVI. And this, Tom, is one of those speeches that defines the French Revolution. The French Revolution is a great rhetorical event. And we've done a lot of great orations. We had Saint-Just last time saying that you can't reign innocently and the king must die. And here we have Romain de Cez saying that
You should fear, lest you efface humanity from your heart, and you should find the compassion for this man who has suffered enough. And basically, nobody listens.
Well, I think some people do listen, as we will see, but they, from Louis' point of view, don't listen hard enough, I think you could say. And that translation that you read... It was issued, published only a few weeks after it was delivered. So it was rush translated into English. And I guess it's a reminder of just how seismic an event the trial of the King of France is.
I mean, it completely transfixes France, obviously, but Britain, all of Europe. I In Britain and in the other monarchies of Europe, public opinion by and large is appalled, even though obviously in England, the English had actually set a precedent because they had tried and executed a king themselves in the form of Charles I. Not uncontroversial, right? Right.
But it's not just in foreign monarchies that public opinion is appalled because there are also deep reservoirs of royalism in France. And the assumption that a king is inviolate, down to the most basic level, that people shouldn't touch him, without strict protections of ritual and so on. This is deeply, deeply ingrained. It's been a theme of French history for a millennium and more.
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