Louis Charles, also known as Louis XVII, was the son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. He was born in 1785, but was in 1789, was imprisoned with the rest of his family in the tower of the Square du Temple. Interactions between Marie and her son were watched over by guards loyal to the National Assembly.
In 1793, Louis XVI was guillotined. Louis Charles was taken from Marie Antoinette and placed into the care of a cobbler named Antonine Simon, who was tasked with turning him into a citizen of the new French Republic. In 1795, he died of what was determined to be a scrofulous infection. Today, we would say he died from a swelling of the cervical lymph nodes, caused by tuberculosis. His body was in such an appalling condition that it even shocked the doctor performing the autopsy.
But what if after his birth, Louis Charles was smuggled out of France through covert means and he was raised in Austria until 1814, when Napoleon was exiled to Elba, allowing him to become King instead of his uncle?
In 1793, Louis XVI was guillotined. Louis Charles was taken from Marie Antoinette and placed into the care of a cobbler named Antonine Simon, who was tasked with turning him into a citizen of the new French Republic. In 1795, he died of what was determined to be a scrofulous infection. Today, we would say he died from a swelling of the cervical lymph nodes, caused by tuberculosis. His body was in such an appalling condition that it even shocked the doctor performing the autopsy.
But what if after his birth, Louis Charles was smuggled out of France through covert means and he was raised in Austria until 1814, when Napoleon was exiled to Elba, allowing him to become King instead of his uncle?
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