Execution of Louis XVI of France
- When
- 1792–1793
- Where
- Temple Prison, Paris; National Convention, Paris; Place de la Révolution, Paris
- Episodes
- 3
Louis XVI, deposed king of France, was guillotined on 21 January 1793 at the Place de la Révolution in Paris, days after the National Convention convicted him of high treason. The execution followed his imprisonment at the Temple after the August 1792 insurrection and the abolition of the monarchy.
Episodes
- Imprisonment at the Temple
After the 10 August 1792 insurrection, Louis XVI and his family were confined at the Temple Prison in Paris.
- Conviction for high treason
The National Convention convicted Louis of high treason in a near-unanimous vote four days before his execution.
- Guillotining at the Place de la Révolution
Louis XVI was publicly guillotined on 21 January 1793 at the Place de la Révolution, proclaiming his innocence.
Background and detail
Background. After the attack on the Tuileries Palace during the insurrection of 10 August 1792, Louis XVI was imprisoned at the Temple Prison in Paris with Marie Antoinette, their two children, and his sister Élisabeth. The Convention's unanimous abolition of the monarchy on 21 September 1792 and the founding of the French Republic left the former king's fate open to debate.
Conviction by the National Convention. Opinion turned sharply against Louis after the discovery on 20 November of a secret cache of 726 documents containing his communications with bankers and ministers. On 14 January 1793 he was unanimously voted guilty of conspiracy and attacks upon public safety. Four days before his execution, the Convention convicted him of high treason in a near-unanimous vote; no deputy voted not guilty, though several abstained. The supplied passages give no exact day for the treason conviction.
Execution and Aftermath. Louis's carriage reached the Place de la Révolution around 10:15 a.m. on 21 January 1793, stopping before a scaffold between the Champs-Élysées and a pedestal that had once held a toppled statue of Louis XV. Strapped down, he exclaimed that he died innocent. Charles-Henri Sanson, high executioner of the French First Republic, performed the beheading and later published an account emphasizing the king's composure.
People involved
- Louis XVI · Deposed king of France, executed for high treason
- Charles-Henri Sanson · High executioner of the French First Republic who carried out the execution
- National Convention · Body that convicted Louis of high treason and voted for his execution
Sources
- Execution of Louis XVI Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-04
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.