After the execution of the King, the Queen Marie-Antionette was kept in prison and separated from her children. Finally on October 14, 1793 she was brought to trial and found guilty of treason.
Louis XVI became King of France on May 20, 1774. Prior to the Revolution, the most noteworthy act of his reign was the assistance France rendered to the American colonies in their war for independence from Great Britain. At first, the King was greeted as a popular reformer who agreed to a constitutional framework of government. Accelerating radicalism, rumors of his opposition to revolutionary principals, and a host of scurrilous pamphlets purportedly describing his personal habits and those of his wife diminished his popularity as the revolution progressed. His fate was sealed when the royal family was arrested in Varennes during an attempt to flee France. After much debate the Convention declared royalty abolished and tried the King for treason against the nation in January of 1793. The King was found guilty and executed January 21, 1793.
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| La mort de Louis XVI. tragedie en trois actes by Etienne Aignan, is a contemporary play describing the trial and execution of the king. |