[1793] - Louis XVI executed

Louis XVI was executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793 at the Place de la Révolution in Paris. The king had been arrested shortly after mobs had attacked the Tuileries on 10 August 1792. He was subsequently imprisoned with his family, and tried for high treason before the National Convention. On 19 January 1793 he was condemned to death.

On the morning of his execution he was transported from the Temple Prison, having received Holy Communion before his departure. His route was guarded by around 80,000 armed soldiers of the National Guard. At approximately 10 a.m. his carriage arrived at the Place de la Révolution where his scaffold awaited. After his execution his body was taken to the Church of the Madeleine where a short service was held. He was then buried in a bed of quicklime. Following the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in 1815, his body, along with that of his wife, was exhumed and reburied in the Basilica of Saint-Denis.

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