The gruesome public execution of Robert-Francois Damiens in 1757 stands as one of history's most brutal spectacles, a chilling warning from the French monarchy to its subjects.
The Assassination Attempt on the King
On 5 January 1757, Robert-Francois Damiens, a man disillusioned with the French crown, put a reckless plan into action. He managed to infiltrate the king's entourage during a journey from the Palace of Versailles. As King Louis XV prepared to enter his carriage, Damiens exploited the crowded scene to rush past the Swiss Guards. He stabbed the monarch with a small penknife, inflicting only a minor wound thanks to the king's thick winter clothing. Damiens made no effort to escape and was apprehended immediately.
A Prolonged and Horrific Punishment
Condemned for the attempted regicide, Damiens was sentenced to a torturous death by being drawn and quartered at the Place de Greve in Paris. Before the main event, he endured days of unimaginable agony. His tormentors forced him into crushing leg irons, applied red-hot pincers to his flesh, and poured a horrifying mixture of burning sulphur, molten lead, wax, and boiling oil into his open wounds.
The execution itself did not go smoothly. The horses tasked with tearing his limbs apart failed to do so, forcing the executioners to sever his tendons. Historical records suggest Damiens might still have been conscious when his final arm was removed. Once dismembered, his torso was burned at the stake before a cheering crowd. His haunting final words were reportedly: “O death, why art thou so long in coming?”
The Severe Repercussions for His Family
The monarchy's vengeance extended far beyond Damiens himself. His entire family was punished severely. The house where he was born was razed to the ground, with orders that it never be rebuilt. His father, wife, and daughter were banished from France for life, on pain of death if they returned. His siblings were forced to change their surnames and assume new identities to escape the stigma associated with their relation to the would-be assassin.
For centuries, the story of Damiens has served as a stark symbol of the extreme brutality employed by the pre-revolutionary French justice system to maintain royal authority.
