The Trial and Execution of Louis XVI
Citizen Louis Capet is convicted by his own former subjects and guillotined in the Place de la Revolution
Quick facts
- Location
- Place de la Revolution, Paris
- Date
- 21 January 1793
- Guilt vote
- 693 votes, none for innocence
- Executioner
- Charles-Henri Sanson
What happened
The Convention summoned Louis XVI, now tried as the private citizen Louis Capet, to appear before it on 11 December 1792, charged with plotting against the nation before the Bastille fell, conspiring in the Flight to Varennes, and permitting bloodshed in the Champ de Mars Massacre and the storming of the Tuileries. On 15 January 1793 the Convention voted guilt by 693 votes with no votes for innocence; a motion to allow an appeal to the people failed 424 to 283, and the death sentence carried by a narrow margin. Louis was executed by guillotine at the Place de la Revolution, today's Place de la Concorde, around 10am on 21 January 1793, with executioner Charles-Henri Sanson carrying out the sentence.
Why it matters
The first and only execution of a French king by his own subjects ended a millennium of uninterrupted monarchy and made reconciliation with Europe's other crowned heads far harder, expanding the war that had already begun with Austria. It also hardened the Convention's factional split, since Girondin deputies who had favored exile or a popular referendum were now marked as suspect by the more radical Montagnards.
How we know
World History Encyclopedia's detailed account of the trial draws on the Convention's own recorded vote tallies and eyewitness description of the execution itself.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Trial and Execution of Louis XVI · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, Ohio State University. The Execution of Louis XVI · Reputable sourceorigins.osu.edu · The domain "origins.osu.edu" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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