Louis XVI of France

Louis XVI (August 23 1754 – January 21 1793), was King of France and Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then King of the French in 1791-1792. Suspended and arrested during the insurrection of the 10th of August, he was tried by the National Convention, found guilty of treason with the enemy, and guillotined on January 21 1793. He is interred in the Chapelle Expiatoire in Paris.

Related Topics:
August 23 - 1754 - January 21 - 1793 - France - Navarre - 1774 - 1791 - 1792 - Insurrection of the 10th of August - National Convention - Guillotined - Chapelle Expiatoire - Paris

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Beloved by the people at first, his indecisiveness and conservatism led the people to reject and persecute him for the perceived tyranny of the former kings of France. During the French Revolution, he was given the family name Capet (a faulty reference to Hugh Capet, the founder of the dynasty), and was called Louis Capet in an attempt to desecrate his status as king. He was also informally nicknamed Louis le Dernier ("Louis the Last"), a derisive use of the traditional nicknaming of French kings. Today, historians and Frenchmen in general have a more nuanced view of Louis XVI, who is seen as an honest man with good intentions but who was probably unfit for the Herculean task of reforming the monarchy, and who was used as a scapegoat by the Revolutionaries.

Related Topics:
French Revolution - Hugh Capet

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