Changes

Meanwhile, the National Assembly continued its political and economic reorganization of the French state. In September 1791 Louis XVI was forced to assent to the Constitution of 1791 which created a limited monarchy; royal powers were sharply curtailed. The secret opposition of Louis XVI to the progress of the Revolution, however, and the intrigues of his wife and the aristocrats continued. On Aug. 10, 1792, a Parisian insurrection caused Louis and his family to be interned in the Temple. In September the monarchy was abolished and the republic proclaimed. Evidence of the king's intrigues with foreign enemies was uncovered and in December 1792 Louis was formally arraigned by the Convention for conspiracy against the liberty of the country and attempts against state security. The prevailing political theory was that the king had two bodies: a natural body and a political body. The defenders of Louis XVI pleaded the inseparability of the two bodies. Thus the Girondins only wanted to condemn the natural body since this held open the possibility of a postponement because Louis XVI was as guilty as any other. The Montagnards wanted to condemn both the natural body and the political body. Found guilty by a unanimous vote, he was sentenced to death by a vote of 361 to 288, with 72 calling for a delay; he was publicly guillotined in Paris on the morning of Jan. 21, 1793.  Marie Antoinette was guillotined Oct. 16, 1793, and the young dauphin (known as Louis XVII) (1785-1795?) was given over to a poor family and apparently died in 1795.  Louis XVI's younger brother Louis XVIII (1755-1824) became King of France after the abdication of [[Napoleon]] in 1814.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly continued its political and economic reorganization of the French state. In September 1791 Louis XVI was forced to assent to the Constitution of 1791 which created a limited monarchy; royal powers were sharply curtailed. The secret opposition of Louis XVI to the progress of the Revolution, however, and the intrigues of his wife and the aristocrats continued. On Aug. 10, 1792, a Parisian insurrection caused Louis and his family to be interned in the Temple. In September the monarchy was abolished and the republic proclaimed. Evidence of the king's intrigues with foreign enemies was uncovered and in December 1792 Louis was formally arraigned by the Convention for conspiracy against the liberty of the country and attempts against state security. The prevailing political theory was that the king had two bodies: a natural body and a political body. The defenders of Louis XVI pleaded the inseparability of the two bodies. Thus the Girondins only wanted to condemn the natural body since this held open the possibility of a postponement because Louis XVI was as guilty as any other. The Montagnards wanted to condemn both the natural body and the political body. Found guilty by a unanimous vote, he was sentenced to death by a vote of 361 to 288, with 72 calling for a delay; he was publicly guillotined in Paris on the morning of Jan. 21, 1793.  Marie Antoinette was guillotined Oct. 16, 1793, and the young dauphin (known as Louis XVII) (1785-1795?) was given over to a poor family and apparently died in 1795.  Louis XVI's younger brother Louis XVIII (1755-1824) became King of France after the abdication of [[Napoleon]] in 1814.

==Image and memory==

==Image and memory==

The regicide has loomed as a shadow over French history. The 19th-century historian, [[Jules Michelet]], attributed the restoration of the French monarchy to sympathy engendered by the execution. Michelet's ''Histoire de la Révolution Française'' and Alphonse de Lamartine's ''Histoire des Girondins,'' in particular, showed the marks of the feelings aroused by the revolution's regicide. Though these two writers did not share the same sociopolitical vision, they agreed that though the monarchy was rightly ended in 1792 but the lives of the royal family should have been spared. Lack of compassion at that moment contributed to a radicalization of revolutionary violence and to greater divisiveness among Frenchmen. Because Louis XVI was a merciful man, the revolutionaries' passions needed to be balanced by compassion and by less fanatical sentiments. For 20th century novelist [[Albert Camus]] the execution signaled the end of the role of God in history, for which he mourned. For 20th century philosopher [[Jean-Francois Lyotard]] the regicide was the starting point of all French thought, the memory of which acts as a reminder that French modernity began under the sign of a crime.<ref>See Susan Dunn, ''The Deaths of Louis XVI: Regicide and the French Political Imagination.'' (1994).</ref>   

The regicide has loomed as a shadow over French history. The 19th century historian, [[Jules Michelet]], attributed the restoration of the French monarchy to sympathy engendered by the execution. Michelet's ''Histoire de la Révolution Française'' and Alphonse de Lamartine's ''Histoire des Girondins,'' in particular, showed the marks of the feelings aroused by the revolution's regicide. Though these two writers did not share the same sociopolitical vision, they agreed that though the monarchy was rightly ended in 1792 but the lives of the royal family should have been spared. Lack of compassion at that moment contributed to a radicalization of revolutionary violence and to greater divisiveness among Frenchmen. Because Louis XVI was a merciful man, the revolutionaries' passions needed to be balanced by compassion and by less fanatical sentiments. For 20th century novelist [[Albert Camus]] the execution signaled the end of the role of God in history, for which he mourned. For 20th century philosopher [[Jean-Francois Lyotard]] the regicide was the starting point of all French thought, the memory of which acts as a reminder that French modernity began under the sign of a crime.<ref>See Susan Dunn, ''The Deaths of Louis XVI: Regicide and the French Political Imagination.'' (1994).</ref>   

The duchess of Angoulême, daughter of Louis XVI, survived and lobbied Rome energetically for the canonization of her father as a saint of the Catholic Church. Despite his signing of the "Civil Constitution of the Clergy," Louis had been described as a martyr by Pope Pius VI in 1793. In 1820, however, a memorandum of the Congregation of Rites in Rome, declaring the impossibility of proving that Louis had been executed for religious rather than political reasons, put an end to hopes of canonization.  

The duchess of Angoulême, daughter of Louis XVI, survived and lobbied Rome energetically for the canonization of her father as a saint of the Catholic Church. Despite his signing of the "Civil Constitution of the Clergy," Louis had been described as a martyr by Pope Pius VI in 1793. In 1820, however, a memorandum of the Congregation of Rites in Rome, declaring the impossibility of proving that Louis had been executed for religious rather than political reasons, put an end to hopes of canonization.