Historedia
Episode 2 of 2

Torture and Execution

When
March 28, 1757
Where
France
Part of
Assassination attempt on Louis XV and execution of Damiens

Damiens was tortured with red-hot pincers and sulphur, then executed by dismemberment on March 28, 1757.

Following the attack, Damiens was tortured with red-hot pincers. The hand that held the knife was burned using sulphur. He was publicly executed by dismemberment on March 28, 1757, becoming the last person in France to receive this regicide penalty.

Sources

  1. Robert-François Damiens Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-26

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.