French king deposed and tried during the Revolution
The National Convention ruled on 3 December 1792 that it would try Louis XVI itself; convicted of high treason by vote, he was guillotined on 21 January 1793.
King of France from 1774, Louis XVI summoned the Estates-General in 1789 amid a fiscal crisis. He accepted the Constitution of 1791, but the Flight to Varennes and foreign war deepened distrust of the crown. The monarchy was suspended in 1792; the National Convention convicted him and he was executed in January 1793.
Also known as: Louis Capet
Activities and affiliations
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1774–1792
French monarchy state institutionsKing of France and NavarreHeads of state and government of FranceMain
Monarchs and royalty
Career Timeline
- 1774.05.10–1792.09.21King of France from 1774 until the monarchy was abolished in September 1792.
- 1789Summoned the Estates-General amid fiscal crisis and, after the storming of the Bastille, recognized the National Assembly’s legislative authority.
- 1791His flight to Varennes failed in June; he accepted the constitution, and a constitutional monarchy was declared in September.
- 1792Arrested in the insurrection of 10 August and held in the Temple; on 21 September the National Convention abolished the monarchy.
- 1792–1793The National Convention ruled on 3 December that it would try him; trial opened on 11 December and he was convicted of high treason.
- 1793Executed by guillotine on 21 January at the Place de la Révolution in Paris.
Related historical events
Revolutionary choices and political context
Louis XVI summoned the Estates-General because the crown could no longer resolve fiscal crisis by established means. Once representatives turned it into a National Assembly and recast privilege, taxation, and sovereignty, the summons became the Revolution’s beginning rather than a means of restoring royal authority. His acceptance of the Constitution of 1791 was an unstable compromise over limited monarchy, not the end of conflict.
The Flight to Varennes destroyed confidence that the king would act within constitutional order. After war and the insurrection of 1792, the Convention abolished monarchy and tried him. The trial concerned not only individual guilt but a political and constitutional conflict over whether sovereignty lay with a king or a nation.