Birth of Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien Robespierre was a French lawyer and statesman, who became one of the most widely known, influential, and controversial figures of the French Revolution.
Robespierre played an important part in the fall of the French monarchy.
However, politicians and the French public, eventually turned against him……
Maximilien de Robespierre was born on 6th May 1758 in Arras, Artois.
His lawyer father François Maximilien Barthélémy de Robespierre married Jacqueline Marguerite Carrault in January 1758.
Maximilien, the eldest of their four children, was born four months after their marriage.
Robespierre studied law for three years, at the Sorbonne, distinguishing himself academically.
Robespierre was elected to the National Assembly in 1789, where he became notorious as an outspoken radical in favour of individual rights.
After calling for the death of Louis XVI, Robespierre led the Jacobins and the Committee of Public Safety, establishing the Reign of Terror.
A royalist pamphlet, described Robespierre as a “lawyer for bandits, rebels and murderers”.
As befitting his time in power, Robespierre’s demise was the product of a conspiracy among his fellow politicians.
To justify their actions, they painted Robespierre as an egomaniac, and a fanatic.
Robespierre and his followers were arrested and imprisoned.
While imprisoned, Robespierre sustained an injury to his jaw.
There are two conflicting accounts of how Robespierre was wounded.
The first one puts forward that Robespierre had tried to kill himself with a pistol.
The second one is that he was shot by an officer, Charles~André Meda.
He claimed to have fired the pistol shot which broke Robespierre’s jaw.
On 28th July 1794, Robespierre’s life ended on the guillotine.
It was the very same instrument of death, to which he had condemned so many others ~ including King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
Around 6pm, Robespierre was taken to the Place de la Révolution ~ now the Place de la Concorde.
A mob screaming curses accompanied the procession.
His face still swollen, Robespierre kept his eyes closed.
When clearing Robespierre’s neck, exEcutioner Charles~Henri Sanson, tore off the bandage that was holding Robespierre’s shattered jaw in place, causing him to produce agonising screams, until his death.
Robespierre’s demise effectively brought the Reign of Terror in France, to an end.
A rumour suggested Robespierre was guillotined on his back, so that he saw the falling blade, but there is no proof this was the case.
After he was b~headed, applause and joyous cries arose from the crowd, and reportedly lasted for fifteen minutes.
Robespierre was later buried in a common grave, at the newly opened Errancis Cemetery.
In the mid-19th century, his skeletal remains were transferred to the Catacombs of Paris.