The Compromising of Louis XVI: The Armoire de Fer and the French Revolution (Exeter Studies in History) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0859892980 ISBN 13: 9780859892988

Publisher: University of Exeter Press, 1989

Synopsis

In November 1792, an iron wall-safe, or armoire de fer, was discovered hidden within a wall in the Tulieries palace. It contained secret correspondence which Louis XVI had kept from the outbreak of the Revolution until he overthrew on 10 August. The discovery of the armoire de fer gravely compromised the cause of the King, who was awaiting trial, and who would be executed on 21 January 1793. Much cited by historians of every viewpoint writing on the Revolution, the actual contents of the armoire are often misrepresented and remain surprisingly little-known.In this fresh and innovatory study, Andrew Freeman provides a cool and dispassionate survey of the contents of the armoire de fer, and finds contents which throw new light on the mentality of Louis XVI. The King emerges as a more thoughtful and perspective critic of the discovery of the armoire in the political context of 1792, and shows that the secrecy which the existence of such a cache of documents represented was perhaps more damaging than their actual content. The volume contains a representative sample of documents culled directly from the contents of the armoire. Many of these have never been published before and all are available in English translation for the first time.

About this title

Synopsis

Analyzes the correspondence that was discovered late in 1792 in an iron wallsafe (armoire de fer) and was used against Louis XVI at his trial. The volume contains lengthy extracts from the source, many previously unpublished, and provides an insight into a critical episode of the Revolution.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Exeter Press
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0859892980
• ISBN 13: 9780859892988
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 108
• Editor: Freeman Andrew