Concombre, Septidi, 7 Messidor, An CCXIV

[cachecache.livejournal.com]

Group discussion time!

So...we all know that sometime between 9 Thermidor and 10 Thermidor, Robespierre obtained a not-so-pleasant bullet wound to his jaw. Some people said he tried (and obviously failed) to commit suicide before he could be guillotined while others said he was shot by someone (either a guard, someone who tried to save him but missed really horrible, or just someone who wasn't a big Robesy fan). Which account do you believe?

Something else I've heard is that right before the blade came down on his head, the executioner reached down and ripped of Robespierre's bandage, making so that his last few seconds on earth were spent screaming in pain. That wasn't very nice.

Comments

[jonahmama.livejournal.com]

Well, I think if he was shot by someone OTHER than one of the guards, that would almost certainly had to have been Le Bas before he committed suicide. But that would mean they had it prearranged, which I highly doubt. Maybe I could see Robespierre committing suicide as a spur-of-the moment decision (maybe), but with forethought? This man who said time and again that he would be glad to die for the Republic? That he *looked forward* to being publicly executed? As for Saint-Just, he was not armed. Of all those arrested in the Convention, only Le Bas was able to go home before going to the Hotel de Ville, and grab weapons. This is actually well documented.

As for Couthon - also well-documented. He tried to "escape" by getting out of his wheelchair and going down the stairs in the commotion. Unfortunately he lost his balance, fell down several flights of stairs, and had a big gash in his forehead (probably also a fractured skull). It was bandaged prior to his execution. As I recall, (keep in mind, I don't have research actually in front of me as I type this :) ) he also experienced great pain when he was taken out of his wheelchair and carried up to the scaffold and made to lie down straight. I don't recall exactly which debilitating disease he had, though I seem to remember MS? Of course at the time they would not have had an exact diagnosis.

[daughtermestizo.livejournal.com]

Saint-Just was armed. He had a knife; they asked him to hand it over when they arrested him.

I believe Couthon had meningitis.

[jonahmama.livejournal.com]

I didn't remember the knife, though that sounds very plausible. But would probably not work too well to inflict a bullet would. :) Actually I am curious, why do you believe that such a devoted colleague (and perhaps more than a friend) might have done such a thing - so clearly against what Robespierre would have wanted? And then, when he failed to kill Robespierre, not shown any sign of remorse or sadness, just stood there impassive? I guess it's possible he could have gotten his hands on the gun, but why committ this horrible act against someone he knew well and loved?

And I am sure you are absolutely right about the meningitis. I had it confused with MS (they both start with M and are debilitating neurological conditions?). ;)

[daughtermestizo.livejournal.com]

Well, the other two stories are unlikely, but I suspect Maxime was shot at close-range. Perhaps it was not pre-arranged before that night. Perhaps, despairing, they had planned some sort of...murder-suicide? In any case, if ANYONE close-by shot Maxime by any form of his own will, it would have to be someone like Saint-Just. I doubt Maxime would trust anyone else like that. And Saint-Just DID cry (or at least get teary-eyed) over Maxime later.

Perhaps it's my romantic imagination talking. >_>

[jonahmama.livejournal.com]

Gave this even a bit more thought. Unfortunately in your scenario, Saint-Just, who has been hunting and soldiering since his youth, who is very, very comfortable with guns, who has led armies in battle riding in the front lines, misses his best friend's head at point-blank range. For some unknown reason, he doesn't aim for the heart or the temple (as would anyone in their right mind if they were trying to kill someone), but instead fires into Robespierre's jaw by mistake. I guess if we are looking for the absolute worst marksman in the room, we'd probably have to default back to Maxime trying to committ suicide and failing. Or, there is always the theory of the just-barely-trained guardsmen seeing someone lift a gun, and just randomly firing in that direction - and hitting Robespierre from a few feet away by mistake. I give up, you decide... :)

[daughtermestizo.livejournal.com]

No, no, I imagine something shocked him at the last moment. In several accounts (at least that I've read) it says Maxime was shot just as soldiers burst into the room. Factoring that in, it's possibly Saint-Just's hand slipped. Or failing that, that Maxime moved. The second is more likely, I think. Saint-Just was probably aiming for the temple.