Varennes sur seine louis xvi biography

Attempted escape by the French royal family during the French Revolution

The royal Flight to Varennes (French: Fuite à Varennes) during the night of 20–21 June 1791 was a significant event in the French Revolution in which King Louis XVI of France, Queen Marie Antoinette, and their immediate family unsuccessfully attempted to escape from Paris to Montmédy, where the King wished to initiate a counter-revolution by joining up with royalist troops.

They escaped as far as the small town of Varennes-en-Argonne, where they were arrested after being recognized at their previous stop in Sainte-Menehould.

Louis xvi death

This incident was a turning point after which popular hostility towards the French monarchy as an institution, as well as towards the King and Queen as individuals, became much more pronounced. The King's attempted flight provoked charges of treason that ultimately led to his execution in 1793.

The escape failed due to a series of misadventures, delays