Louis XVII (english)

Louis XVII

   Since 21 january 1793, Louis-Charles, son of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, was fatherless and though he was supposed to be the new king Louis XVII, of course he wouldn’t be recognised by the new french republic. In fact, the reality is much more different, since the royal family was emprisoned in the tower of the Temple, after the palace of Tuileries - where they were forced to live since the 6 october 1789 - was attacked the 10 augustus 1792.

   The painting on the front page of the article of Alain Decaux depict the moment when Louis-Charles was separeted from his mother, Marie-Antoinette, his aunt, madame Elisabeth, sister of Louis XVI, and his sister Marie-Therese. This tragic moment happened the 3 july 1793. On that day, five superintendent entered the fourth storey of the tower, where the rest of the royal family lived since the death of the king. The young boy, indeed, lived with his father before, a storey below.

   After Louis-Charles was seperated from his mother, he was forced to live with the shoemaker Simon and his wife. It has since be proven that those people tried their best to give a normal and tolerable life to the child. In any case, they are no more considered to have been a kind of Thenardier towards the young boy. Nevertheless, Louis-Charles never came out from his prison and died a year later, victim of tuberculosis.