9 Chapter 8 End of the Monarchy

Chapter 8 End of the Monarchy Life in the prison tower was very different from what the royal family had always known. The tower had a bedroom on the second floor for the king and his son, and bedrooms and a bathroom on the third floor for Marie Antoinette, Madame Royale, and Madame Elisabeth. They all ate breakfast together. Louis and Marie Antoinette taught their children lessons. They got fresh air on

the lawn and read or sewed at night. Even though they were prisoners, servants still treated them as royals. Meanwhile, a newly formed National Convention declared France a republic. Leaders were to be elected by the people. There was no place for a king and queen in this type of government. The king was stripped of all power. The king was put on trial for treason, or working against the interests of his country. The

court sentenced him to death by guillotine (GEE-yoh-teen). On the evening of January 20, 1793, the king said good-bye to his family. He promised he would see them in the morning one last time, but he never did. Marie Antoinette heard drumrolls and the cheers of the French people from the tower window. She knew Louis had been killed.

THE GUILLOTINE THE GUILLOTINE WAS A WOODEN STRUCTURE, WITH TWO HIGH POSTS THAT HELD A SHARP BLADE BETWEEN THEM. NAMED FOR JOSEPH IGNACE GUILLOTIN, A FRENCH ANATOMY PROFESSOR, THE DEVICE WAS FIRST USED IN 1792. THE SHARP AND SLANTED BLADE SLICED OFF A PRISONER'S HEAD WITH ONE CLEAN CUT. THIS WAS CONSIDERED TO BE A LESS PAINFUL WAY TO DIE THAN OTHER METHODS OF EXECUTION. THE GUILLOTINE WAS STILL USED IN FRANCE UNTIL THE 1980S!

That July, officials took Marie Antoinette's son away from her. They locked Louis Charles alone in the second-floor bedroom, where a cruel new tutor was in charge of him. In August, officials removed Marie Antoinette from the tower and took her to a new prison. Two soldiers sat with her in her small cell on constant watch. Marie Antoinette was brought to trial in October 1793, four years after leaving her home in Versailles. She had changed a lot since she had been crowned queen eighteen years earlier. Her patched dress, frail body, and white hair made her look much older than her thirty-seven years.

She was accused of many crimes. Witnesses claimed that she had been plotting against France from the moment she arrived from Austria. They accused her of spying. They accused her of sending gold to her brother, the emperor of Austria. They blamed her for the king's poor decisions and mocked her extravagant lifestyle. No one had any proof of these crimes. But everyone was looking for someone to blame for all of the problems of France. Killing the king had not been enough. Marie Antoinette was sentenced to death as well. Like Louis, her head would be cut off in public by guillotine.