Marquis de Lafayette: A Life From Beginning to End by Hourly History

Author:Hourly History [History, Hourly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hourly History
Published: 2016-10-10T07:00:00+00:00

Put all these factors together and you've got a big problem on your hands. This is where King Louis XVI found himself in 1789. Little did he know at the time how bad it was yet to become.

In July, Lafayette was appointed head of the National Guard of France, which was under the authority of the National Assembly. The king and many who were loyal to him considered Lafayette and his group to be revolutionaries. The common people were behind Lafayette.

In August, the National Assembly approved the Declaration of the Rights of Man. It was rejected by the king in October. A few days later a large crowd of women marched to Versailles, where the king and his family was staying. They were protesting the lack of bread for themselves; behind them marched the National Guard, lead personally by Lafayette.

Once at Versailles, the king accepted the Assembly's vote on their Declaration, but would not take himself to Paris. At dawn the next day the mob broke into the palace. Lafayette brought the royal family out onto the balcony and attempted to get the crowd to calm down.

The crowd wanted the king and his family to move to Paris immediately. When Queen Marie-Antoinette appeared on the balcony, the crowd booed her. She was very unpopular among the common people; through the years this unfortunate queen had used money to purchase for herself all manner of art and residences, which made her increasingly reviled by the citizens of France.

Now, as she stood on the balcony, the crowd called for her to be shot. No one would do this, however; Lafayette was trying to maintain order in a country that was going increasingly becoming radicalized.

Throughout 1790, Lafayette worked tirelessly to keep order within the realm. A new political movement was forming during this time; known as the Jacobins, they would become the most radical of all groups involved in the French Revolution.

A year after the storming of the Bastille in 1790, Lafayette took a civic oath before a huge assembly of people. He vowed to be faithful to the nation, the law, and the king. He also agreed to abide by the constitution decreed by the National Assembly. This oath was also taken by his troops and by the king.

By this point, the royal family was back in Paris and living in Tuileries Palace. This was the usual residence of French monarchs. This opulent palace, which had stood for centuries, would be burned in 1871 and demolished 11 years later.

For now, the king and his family were safe. There was Marie Antoinette and their two surviving children, Marie Therese and Louis Charles, known as the Dauphin, or heir to the throne. These young children could not have been born at a worse time.

In early 1791 there was trouble in another region of France. Lafayette and his National Guard were called away from Paris to check on the unrest. Hundreds of armed nobles came to Tuileries to protect the king. Rumor spread that these nobles were there to start a counter-revolution.

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