How was Louis xvii involved in the reign of terror?

Answer 1

Louis XVII was the young son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. He was separated from his mother while they were both imprisoned in the Temple prison, mainly to torture Marie Antoinette who could barely live without her son by her side, but also to brainwash the young boy. When he was separated from his mother he was 7 years old and he had just lost his father (Louis XVI) as he was executed by guillotine, making him the official succeeding King of France. He was put in a new cel in the Temple, a few stories lower than his mother, who could still see her son sometimes as she peeked out of a crack in the wall. She was not allowed to call out to him. The brainwashing of the young boy was easy, as his guard monsieur Simon abused him, threatened him and fed him alcohol. He also taught the boy revolutionary songs, filthy language and to curse his mother. They even got him so far as to sign a document which said that his mother had sexually abused him, which was absolute nonsense but the revolutionists needed something of a reason to get Marie Antoinette to be condemned to the guillotine. He was being neglected and put in a dark room which was barricaded like the cage of a wild animal. The story runs that food was passed through the bars to the child, who survived in spite of the accumulated filth of his surroundings. He eventually died in that prison aged 10. His heart was taken out of his body (which was the custom with princes of the blood) and is still today to be seen in a large crystal bowl at the St Denis Cathedral in Paris.