The Execution of Georges Danton and Camille Desmoulins

Georges Danton (Georges Jacques Danton; Arcis-sur-Aube, France, 26th October 1759 - Paris, France, 5th April 1794)

Camille Desmoulins (Lucie Simplice Camille Benoît Desmoulins; Guise, France, 2nd March 1760 – Paris, France, 5th April 1794)

Une Exécution Capitale, Place de la Révolution by Pierre-Antoine Demachy, 1793

It feels like a while since we travelled to Paris and today I had intended to tell the tale of the death of Camille Desmoulins, who makes a cameo appearance in my own yarn, The Star of Marseilles. However, those very same final moments were shared with Georges Danton and the comrades died within minutes of one another so today, both share centre stage here in the salon.

Desmoulins and Danton were vital to the success of the French Revolutionary cause; both were shrewd strategists and moved at the highest levels of the Revolutionary government, though their favoured positions were not to last forever. As the Terror took hold, Danton distanced himself from the Girondins and withdrew from public life, leaving the Convention in late Autumn of 1793 to retire to the country. However, Danton did not stay away long and he soon returned to Paris and resumed his political manoeuvrings, speaking out against extremism in government.

Georges-Jacques Danton by Caron after painting by Jacques-Louis David, 1841

In December 1793, as Danton re-established himself in Paris, Desmoulins published the journal, Le Vieux Cordelier. The journal presented an alternative to radicalism and the first issue was dedicated to Danton and our old friend, Robespierre, a man whom later issues of Le Vieux Cordelier would go on to challenge. Although Robespierre initially encouraged the journal, as the publication began to grow critical of the Committee of Public Safety and the Revolutionary Tribunal, Robespierre's opinion of his friend turned darker. When Desmoulins publicly spoke out against the controversial Law of Suspects, the Jacobins reached the end of their tether and moved to expel the journalist from the Club.

Even now Robespierre attempted to warn Desmoulins of the possible implications of publishing such critical pieces, but the journalist's refusal to moderate the content of Le Vieux Cordelier meant that Robespierre could not afford to be seen to be indulging him. Once Danton's own reputation was thrown into doubt after his secretary, Fabre d'Églantine, was involved in a fraud case, Robespierre joined the voices asking for Desmoulins to be removed from the Jacobin Club. The stage was set for trouble and Desmoulins and Danton were arrested in the last days of March, along with 13 others.

Camille Desmoulins by Joseph Boze, 1791

A chaotic trial began on 3rd April and Danton spoke furiously and passionately in his own defence. In fact, so concerned were his prosecutors that he might swing the verdict that they introduced a new measure that forbade defendants from addressing the jury or calling witnesses and even went so far as to remove the men from the courtroom. It was hardly surprising, therefore, that all of the accused were found guilty and their executions were scheduled to take place on 5th April.

The reactions of Desmoulins and Danton to their impending deaths could not have been more different. On the appointed date they were taken from the Luxembourg Palace to the tumbrel that would carry them to Place de la Révolution and whilst Danton maintained his composure, Desmoulins was flung into a panic at the news that his wife, Lucile, had also been arrested. It took a dozen men to drag him to the tumbrel and he struggled all the way to the scaffold, tearing his clothes and pleading hysterically and fruitlessly for mercy for Lucile. Scheduled to be the first of the Dantonists to die that die, Danton maintained his grim humour to the end. As he went to the guillotine he commented, “Show my head to the people; it is worth seeing.”

The Scandalous Adventures of Marie Joséphine of Savoy

Marie Joséphine of Savoy (Maria Giuseppina Luigia; Turin, Italy, 2nd September 1753 – Buckinghamshire, England, 13th November 1810) 

Marie-Joséphine-Louise de Savoy by Joseph Boze and Robert Lefèvre, 1786

Well, of late we've been all over Europe and beyond of late but today we're back in France, this time travelling by way of Italy in the company of Maria Giuseppina Luigia di Savoia, Princess of Savoy, Countess of Provence and eventually Queen of France at the accession of her husband, King Louis XVIII.

Marie Joséphine was born in the Royal Palace of Turin to the Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain and Prince Victor Amadeus of Savoy, son of the King of Sardinia. She was raised in privilege and luxury, prepared for the marriage that would surely follow. 

On 16th April 1771, the young woman was married by proxy to the Count of Provence, Prince Louis Stanislas of France, brother of King Louis XVI. The marriage ceremony that followed at Versailles on 14 May 1771 was a luxurious affair with over 5000 guests attending and celebrations that went on for days. Although bride and groom appeared at first to be well suited, the newly-wed Countess of Provence found herself not quite welcome at the palace and before long, rumours and gossip were flying. 

Marie Joséphine was tangled up in court politics from the off as the friends of her new sister-in-law, Marie Antoinette, took an instant dislike to her. Comments were made about her personal hygiene and lack of intelligence, whispering that Louis Stanislas refused to consummate the marriage due to her refusal to bathe and the stench that accompanied here wherever she went. However, mindful that his own brother and Marie Antoinette had also not yet shared a bed, Louis Stanislas boasted of his enthusiastic sex life, even going so far as to claim falsely that Marie Joséphine was pregnant soon after their marriage. In fact, the couple would not conceive until 1774 with the pregnancy ending in miscarriage as would a second pregnancy in 1781; to the end of their days, the couple were destined to remain childless.

Louis XVIII in Coronation Robes by Robert Lefèvre, 1822

Marie Joséphine and her husband did not get on with Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and the animosity was more than mutual, with both sides plotting and gossiping against each other. The domestic situation was hardly helped when Louis Stanislas took his wife's lady-in-waiting, Anne Nompar de Caumont, Countess of Balbi, as a mistress and the couple's already strained marriage became even more troubled. When the couple finally went their separate ways years later, Marie Joséphine insisted that Anne remain in her service, thus scuppering her husband's hopes of cosying up to his mistress on the continent!

These uncomfortable domestic arrangements were to change when the clouds of revolution gathered over Versailles in 1789 and the two royal couples were forced to relocate to Paris. As Louis and Marie Antoinette established their family and courtiers at the Tuileries, Marie Joséphine and Louis Stanislas took up residence in the Luxembourg Palace. When the time to flee finally came and the royal family made their famed and failed flight to Varennes in June 1791, the bickering Count and Countess of Provence made a successful escape, finding refuge in the Austrian Netherlands and, later, Germany.

Marie Joséphine of Savoy by Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, 1782

Following the execution of Louis XVI and the death of the 10 year old Louis XVII of France on 8th June 1795, Louis Stanislas found himself proclaimed King by the exiled French court, sheltering under the protection of Tsar Paul I. However, this did nothing to improve the strained relations that existed between the new king and queen and they spent more time apart than together. Marie Joséphine found solace in the friendship and of her lady-in-waiting, Marguerite de Gourbillon, with whom it has long been rumoured she enjoyed a romantic entanglement. 

Marie Joséphine and Marguerite lived harmoniously in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, whilst Louis spent time in Russia at the court-in-exile. In 1799 he ordered his wife to join him to celebrate the wedding of the late king and queen's daughter, Marie Thérèse, to Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angoulême, insisting that Marguerite remain in Germany. Mindful of the PR value of showing the world an apparently happy family, Louis was unprepared for the scene to follow.

Marguerite de Gourbillon

An outraged Marie Joséphine refused to even entertain the prospect of travelling without her friend and when the two women arrived in Russia, they were detained and Marguerite refused entry to the wedding. A furious Marie Joséphine made a very public protest about this treatment and refused to leave her quarters, drinking herself into a stupor. With Marie Joséphine and Louis ostensibly reunited though still utterly at odds, the two women would continue to exchange adoring letters throughout the years to come, though they would never live alone together again.

The unhappy marriage between the couple continued as they travelled Europe and in 1808 they took up residence together at Hartwell House in England, with Marguerite following in her ceaseless quest to renew her acquaintance with Marie Joséphine. However, Louis had not grown any more fond of his wife's closest friend and refused to allow the women to see one another.

Marie Joséphine of Savoy by Jean-Baptiste André Gautier d'Agoty, 1775

Marie Joséphine's physical condition deteriorated badly throughout the years in Europe and her life in England was a secluded one, blighted by ill health. As her death approached she took to her bed and received visitors from the French court, making her peace with each. She also made efforts to reconcile with her husband, who remained with her through her final days.

The funeral of Marie Joséphine was held at Westminster Abbey and was an enormous event. attended by French courtiers and the English royal family alike. Initially laid to rest in Westminster Abbey, she would not rest here long and was reburied twelve months later in Cagliari Cathedral, Sardinia, a queen who had never assumed a throne. 

Life in the Georgian Court, true tales of 18th century royalty, is available at the links below.

Pen and Sword
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Book Depository (free worldwide shipping)

"Short in stature, deformed in person, and hideous in face": Jean-Paul Marat

Jean-Paul Marat (Boudry, Switzerland, 24th May 1743 - Paris, France, 13th July 1793)

 Jean-Paul Marat by Joseph Boze, 1793

"Short in stature, deformed in person, and hideous in face",  physician, scientist, journalist, radical and victim of an audacious assassination, Marat's life was blighted by illness, controversy and thwarted ambition.

Highly ambitious and with a gift for making influential connections, Marat left home at the age of 16 with no formal qualifications and nothing but the desire to succeed. The young man travelled through Europe, teaching in Bordeaux and undertaking medical training in Paris before his travels took him to London and the artistic circle of Angelika Kauffmann. Remaining in England, he began to write on the subject of slavery, eventually producing the highly-acclaimed Chains of Slavery in 1773.

Finally on his way, Marat returned to Paris and established a medical practice, eventually winning the lucrative position as a physician in the household of the comte d'Artois, later to become King Charles X. Not satisfied to rest on his already considerable laurels, Marat embarked on a programme of scientific discovery, extending his intellectual and political circle and continuing to publish increasingly radical works. Just as he abandoned his medical career in favour of science, so too would this new direction eventually be set aside in preference of a career in journalism, Marat's attentions now firmly set on the politics of revolution.

The increasingly radical Marat began publishing his own newspaper, L'Ami du Peuple, in 1789. The paper was highly critical of Girondin leaders and he eventually found himself forced into hiding, fearing their vengeance. Not content with life as a journalist, Marat moved into politics when he was elected to the National Convention in 1792. His criticisms of the Girondins grew in both fury and scale and he began to call for violent action against them, a tactic that swiftly led to his arrest and imprisonment. Brought before the Tribunal, the persuasive, passionate Marat spoke in his own defence and when he was acquitted, his supporters celebrated uproariously.

However, Marat's always poor constitution was further weakened by the stress of his experiences and he began to be plagued by a debilitating skin condition that left him covered in itchy, suppurating blisters. He increasingly took to his bath for the sake of comfort, conducting his business from this somewhat unorthodox office. When the Girodins fell in June 1792 Marat was already virtually housebound and increasingly isolated from his political allies, growing distant from the centre of power.

The Death of Marat by Jacques-Louis David, 1793

On 13th July 1793 Charlotte Corday visited Marat's home, offering confidential information on the remaining, fugitive Girodins. The young woman was admitted to the bathroom which had become his virtually permanent residence and there followed a short conversation, after which she drew a knife from her corset and plunged it into his chest. Within seconds Jean-Paul Marat was dead, the victim of a royalist Girondin who had achieved what his other enemies could not, to finally silence the ambitious radical for good.

Four days later Marie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d'Armont went to the guillotine, telling her trial that she had "killed one man to save 100,000."

In death, Marat briefly achieved the importance he had sought all his life. Immortalised in paint and sculpture, his funeral was attended by the most influential figures in Paris and he was held up as a martyr to the revolutionary cause. Eventually though this flame of adoration dimmed and Marat passed into memory, his name forever linked with that of Charlotte Corday, the woman who took his life on a summer day in 1793.

Charlotte Corday by Jean-Jacques Hauer

It seems that Charlotte really struck a cord with the Gin Laners, earning herself her own entry. Read the story of Charlotte's life here!