A coloured engraving shows the runaway royal family busted by French democrats. Large Louis and extravagant Marie Antoinette were apprehended in Varennes, just miles from the Austrian border. Some say the strong scent of the queen's perfume gave their whereabouts away.
The guillotine is named for Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotin, who endeavored to commission a device that would deliver a swift and honorable death to people of all classes. Before the French Revolution, only nobles were executed by decapitation -- other lower-class capital criminals were subjected to burning, drowning and maiming.
Sensational revolutionary journalist Jean Paul Marat was murdered by Charlotte Corday as he lay soaking in a medicinal bath. She committed this premeditated murder with a dinner knife, hoping his death would signal the end of the revolution.
Charlotte Corday was sentenced to die at the guillotine on July 17, 1793, for the murder of Marat. The executioner claimed that the eyes in Corday's severed head glared defiantly at him. This set a precedent for the executioner to order the victim to blink his or her eyes after the blade came down; supposedly, people could blink for 30 seconds after they'd been decapitated.
Maximilien de Robespierre, an Enlightenment thinker, dared to ask why only the Third Estate had to pay taxes. He would later demand for people to worship reason and to join the Cult of the Supreme Being, much less sensible things to ask.
*Multiple Choice Test on the videos Friday, 14th October.
*Write a well-researched essay on the Causes and Consequences of the French Revolution.
*Remember to mention the contribution of four Enlightenment thinkers in your essay.
*Remember to mention the contribution of four Enlightenment thinkers in your essay.
Due Friday 21st October.
