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Question about the real Princesse Lamballe


I read this, (keep in mind I found it on wikipedia!):

"On 3 September, she was brought before a hastily assembled tribunal which demanded she "take an oath to love liberty and equality and to swear hatred to the King and the Queen and to the monarchy".[7] She refused, upon which her trial summarily ended with the words, "Élargissez madame" ("Take madame away"). She was immediately taken to the street and thrown to a group of men who killed her within minutes.
Some reports allege that she was raped and that her breasts were cut off, in addition to other bodily mutilations and that her head was cut off and stuck on a pike. Other reports say that it was brought to a nearby café where it was laid in front of the customers, who were asked to drink in celebration of her death. Other reports state that the head was taken to a barber in order to dress the hair to make it instantly recognizable, though this has been contested. Following this, the head was replaced upon the pike and was paraded beneath Marie Antoinette’s window at the Temple.”

My question is, if this did happen, why did she have to suffer such a brutal and vicious death and Marie Antoinette was hanged? Both deaths were terrible but clearly Princess Lamballe suffered a much worse fate. I would think there would be more animosity towards Marie, since she was the queen.

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[deleted]

I think you're right about her murder being planned. That's really sad but happened all too often in those days. I hadn't thought about the queen being protected until the trial though. Although she wasn't saved from being executed, having that protection may have saved her from being killed in such a brutal way. And I too feel that many documents were destroyed. Sad.

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[deleted]

Merrygold,
"Murdering people was a money-maker back then, and with someone killed, their property and assets could be sold and the money would line the pockets of the lawyers and executioners."

It was a well-worn tactic for wealthy and greedy landowners to acquire more land. Often they were rewarded with any material goodies the accused had accumulated; after all, they were ridding their environs of the occult, netherworld, Satan worshippers. A common method of trial was to toss the accused into a body of water (e.g., river). If the accused floated and survived, the devil was "obviously" helping them escape death. Subsequent hanging or burning cured that. If the person drowned, he/she was deemed to be innocent because it was proven that they were not protected by evil powers.

Eventually, kings, queens, and popes realized even more evil-doers would be eradicated thru the Inquisitions. The Church accumulated much land and wealth this way. Pretty brutal.


Some movies are released; others sneak out.

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[deleted]

Lamballe's death occurred when the Paris commune did speedy 10 minute trials on all the prisoners in Paris, and if they showed allegiance to the republic they would be spared, if they didn't they would be condemend to death, which is what happened to Lamballe and the crowd took care of it.

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...why did she have to suffer such a brutal and vicious death and Marie Antoinette was hanged?

Queen Marie-Antoinette was beheaded, not hanged, after a politicised show-trial the outcome of which was pre-ordained. She had to die because she was, after the King, the principal political symbol of the Old Régime.

The Princesse de Lamballe was simply lynched because, though hated by the crowds, she was of no political importance to the powers-that-be. Part of the hatred was owed to the fact that Mme de Lamballe refused point-blanc to be a witness against the Queen.

Neither of these executions had anything to do with reasoned justice.
















Scostatevi profani! Melpomene son io...


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