oct 16, 1793 - Marie Antoinette is executed

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Marie is found guilty by the revolutionary tribunal.

Indictment of the royal family was among the first aggressive legal actions taken during the Reign of Terror. Their presence threatened Jacobin control and stood opposed to the virtuous image of republican revolution. Their deposition was symbolic in that the revolution opposed any semblance of autocracy, all social classes found suspect of opposition would be persecuted, and that fear was the choice tool for imposing virtue.

As depicted by Jacques-Louis David bellow, Marie Antoinette was denigrated before the public. They cut up her hair and stuck her in rags, a sharp contrast to her typical opulent choice of fashion. By making execution and trial a public ceremony, the revolution instilled fear onto its enemies but also onto its citizens many of whom were arbitrarily denounced by the public eye.

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