About this episode

This episode explores the fall of the French monarchy on August 10, 1792, and the events leading to King Louis XVI's downfall.

August 10, 1792. At midnight, a single church bell begins to ring in Paris. Then another. And another. It's not a call to mass… it's a call to arms. For three years, King Louis XVI and his family have been living as prisoners in a palace, under virtual house arrest at the Tuileries, while France fights over one seething question: can the monarchy survive the Revolution? The radicals have issued a deadline: get rid of the king by the end of August 9th, or we'll take matters into our own hands. The deadline has just passed. Today, midnight for the monarchy. How did France, whose kings were once anointed with holy oil and believed to cure disease by touch, come to loathe Louis XVI so much? And how does centuries of royal rule come crashing down in a single day? Special thanks to our guests: David Andress, professor of modern history at the University of Portsmouth and author of The Terror: Civil War in the French Revolution ; and Marisa Linton, professor of history turned prize-winning novelist. She's the author of Choosing Terror: Virtue, Friendship, and Authenticity in the French Revolution , and her latest novel, Domain of Darkness, will be published this December. To stay…

People in this episode

Guests: David Andress, Marisa Linton

Topics covered

• French Revolution
• monarchy
• historical events
• King Louis XVI
• radical politics

Keywords

• French monarchy
• Louis XVI
• Revolution
• Paris
• historical analysis

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Portsmouth

Books & works: The Terror: Civil War in the French Revolution, Choosing Terror: Virtue, Friendship, and Authenticity in the French Revolution, Domain of Darkness

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