How were the bodies of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette identified in their unmarked graves?
score:15
It seems that a loyalist by the name of Pierre-Louis Olivier Desclozeaux, who lived next to the plot of land where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were buried, wrote down exactly where the two graves were and then bought the plot of land when it came up for sale years later. He then offered the land and his note of where the two were buried to King Louis XVIII and this allowed their bodies to be exhumed.
I was able to find this information in the historical notes section of the book Palace of Justice: An Aristide Ravel Mystery by Susanne Alleyn:
p.300
The fact that Desclozeaux was able to confidently state where the bodies were buried suggests that the two were not actually buried in a "mass grave" but rather in unmarked graves in a plot of land that many others were buried in as well.
Upvote:1
Agree to all the aforementioned.
I’ve been to the small park on that spot & in the Chapelle Expiatoire. Climbing down from ground level, you are led to a small subterranean room that houses a stone sarcophagus, which it is said now contains earth that surrounded the remains of the king’s casket. There are also dried, long-dead floral arrangements placed in small wall niches flanking the sarcophagus. It indicates that the floral tributes were from the early 19th-century when the Chapelle was dedicated.
The Queen wasn’t provided a coffin, just thrown into the dirt. Not much physically could’ve remained of either of them, what with decomposition, the elements & the liberal use of quicklime. They said that a courtier recognized the Queen’s mouth when her head was exhumed, but that was probably wishful thinking. They said there was also a garter in the grave. Whatever-it was all scooped up & reburied at St. Denis.
They were never in mass graves, just unmarked.
Upvote:2
What terminex9 said. The king and queen were buried in unmarked, individual graves in the cemetery, not in the mass graves that were also present. Desclozeaux's notes were proved to be very accurate; when they excavated the spot where Louis was supposedly buried, they found the remains of a coffin buried ten feet deep--far deeper than the standard grave--and covered with an extra-thick layer of quicklime to be sure that the remains decomposed as quickly as possible: all indications that the body buried in that grave was one that they really, really didn't want anyone to find, ever. What the royalists found in 1815 was probably just a few of the larger bones.
More post
- 📝 Why did Russia inherit the USSR status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council with veto power?
- 📝 Are Chinese and Iranian "blocky" writing styles related?
- 📝 How did a criminal trial in the Soviet Union work after World War 2?
- 📝 Is there an accurate "World History Timeline" for all geographic areas?
- 📝 In what year was the conquest of the Incas completed?
- 📝 What types of Poison gasses were used in World War 1?
- 📝 What were Nazi policies around converts to Judaism?
- 📝 Could there have been wars between the Aztecs and the Persians?
- 📝 Did Mithraism and other Roman cults surpass the original Greco-Roman religion in popularity before the rise of Christianity?
- 📝 What was the real name of Bishop Contumeliosus of Riez?
- 📝 What's the oldest treaty still being enforced?
- 📝 Could rōnin become a samurai again?
- 📝 What is the source for the Baal Shem Tov's signature?
- 📝 What kind of ID Number, if any, did the Soviets institute for all their citizens?
- 📝 How did the Japanese populace view the emperor during the Edo Period?
- 📝 What do written sources say about disability in early civilisations?
- 📝 Did Luxemburg have a constitution in 1890?
- 📝 How were British personnel employed in the colonies after independence
- 📝 What is this "d-mac" device?
- 📝 Why couldn't bastards inherit titles?
- 📝 Are there any important biographies of nobodies?
- 📝 How did the upper class stay wealthy in the past?
- 📝 Did Vladimir Lenin have a cat?
- 📝 Why did Burgers' Transvaal try to build rail east?
- 📝 What received constitutional understandings did Pitt break in 1784?
- 📝 How did the Scottish lowlands get their Gaelic name?
- 📝 Did any "tanks in front" tactic exist during WW2?
- 📝 How much did a transatlantic telegram cost in 1914?
- 📝 When did the Romans begin using the sword, as opposed to the axe, for decapitation?
- 📝 Have revolutions been won without the military establishment?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How were the bodies of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette identified in their unmarked graves?
- 📝 Did people from the cities of Uruk, Ur and Sumer have knowledge/recollection of how old their cities were (say, recollection after 2000 BCE)?
- 📝 How were the cities of Milan and Bruges spared by the Black Death?
- 📝 How heavily were the British taxing their American colonies?
- 📝 How many lives were estimated to have been saved by the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs?
- 📝 How were diplomats and their staffs treated when World War II was declared?
- 📝 How expensive were castles? And how were the costs distributed?
- 📝 Were bookshops 'common' in the late 19th century, and how did they differ from modern ones?
- 📝 How accurate and detailed were geographical maps created and updated by the Romans?
- 📝 How were servants to the Kaiser of Imperial Germany treated and where may I find more information on them?
- 📝 How were the British and French armies invited into Belgium in 1914?
- 📝 If salt was scarce and expensive, how did people "salt the earth" to ensure their enemies would stay defeated?
- 📝 How did people say “I have to go to the bathroom” before the bathroom and pipes were common?
- 📝 How dependent were the Germans on horse transport in their invasion of the Soviet Union?
- 📝 How did residents of Estonia and Latvia prove that their family settled in the country prior to 1940, in order to become citizens in 1989?
- 📝 How many pens were used by MacArthur to end the final chapter of World War II and where are they now?
- 📝 Did anyone warn about the potential for stock market crashes in 1929, and if so why were their warnings ignored?
- 📝 How come Incas believed that the Spanish were the incarnation of their “thunder god”?
- 📝 How were interracial relationships between African-Americans and Latinos treated in Southern states before the Loving decision?
- 📝 How were the Morisco refugees from Europe received in North Africa, given that they were foreigners and Christian?
- 📝 Were taxes from senatorial provinces and imperial provinces sent to their respective treasuries in the Roman Empire? (Under the rule of Augustus)
- 📝 How important were Einstein and Szilard and other scientists to the creation and ultimate success of the Manhattan Project?
- 📝 How were the British and French Mandates in the Levantine area involved in WWII?
- 📝 What universities existed in Dutch East Indies, and how available were they to the native population?
- 📝 How did the Greeks and Romans move between their destinations?
- 📝 What were the limitations on possession of wealth in Soviet Russia and how were they enforced?
- 📝 How were maps drawn and printed in the late 19th-early 20th centuries?
- 📝 How many British prisoners of war were taken by the Wehrmacht and how many died?
- 📝 Where and how were the catapults/trebuchets operators trained?
- 📝 What Land Runs were there in the U.S., and were the Indians paid for their land?