When the King Took Flight

[To view this image, refer to
the print version of this title.]

Arrest of the King and His Family Deserting the Kingdom. Townspeople and
national guardsmen in Varennes have halted the king's carriage below the
archway of the upper town, as hussar and dragoon cavalrymen arrive to defend the royal family. Events occurring at different times during the night
have been collapsed into a single scene.

Timothy Tackett

For Jean Miller Tackett
and Earl McClellan Tackett

Maps and illustrations
ix

Acknowledgments
xiii

Prologue
I

I Sire, You May Not Pass
3

2 The King of the French
26

3 The King Takes Flight
57

9~ Our Good City of Paris
88

5 The Fathers of the Nation
119

6 Fear and Repression in the Provinces
151

To Judge a King
179

8 The Months and Years After
203

Conclusion: The Power of an Event
219

Abbreviations
227

Notes
229

Bibliography
247

Index
259

MAPS

The flight to Varennes and the return to Paris, June 21-25, 1791 64

Paris in I791 90

The spread of the news of the king's flight, June 1791 154

ILLUSTRATIONS

Arrest of the King and His Family Deserting the Kingdom. Artist
unknown. Musee Carnavalet; photo by Giet, PMVP. ii

Jean-Baptiste Drouet. Naude. Photo by the Bibliotheque Nationale de
France, Paris. 6

Jean-Baptiste Sauce. Artist unknown. Photo by the Bibliotheque
Nationale de France, Paris. 6

Louis XVI at the End of the Old Regime. From a painting by Joseph
Boze. Photo by the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris. 27

Count Axel von Fersen in 1785. L. Pasch the younger. Photo by the
Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris. 34

Louis XVI Taking His Oath to the Constitution at the Champ de Mars,
July 14, z7go. Detail of a painting by Charles Thevenin. Musee
Carnavalet; photo by Andreani, PMVP. 40

Brawl in the Tuileries palace, February 28, 1791. Artist unknown. Musee
Carnavalet; photo by Briant, PMVP. 43

Marquis Francois-Claude-Amour Bouille. Artist unknown. Photo by the
Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris. 5z

Departure of Louis XVI from the Tuileries palace at 12:30 A. M. on June
21, 1791. Artist unknown, in Les revolutions de Paris. Photo by the
Musee de la Revolution Francaise, Vizille. 62

Drouet Recognises the King in Sainte-Menehould. Artist unknown, in Les
revolutions de France et de Brabante. Photo by the Musee de la
Revolution Frangaise, Vizille. .73

The Royal Family Approaches Paris. Jean-Louis Prieur, in Tableaux
historiques de la Revolution francaise. Photo by Helen Chenut. 83

The Royal Family Returns to the Tuileries. Artist unknown. Musee
Carnavalet, photo by PMVP. 84

People Rushing to the Tuileries after Learning of the King's Departure.
Artist unknown. Musee Carnavalet; photo by Ladet, PMVP. 99