One of the main things that come to mind when we think about the french revolution is the numerous executions that took place then. You may also remember famous characters like Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Maximilien Robespierre, and Napoleon Bonaparte.
But a very important figure from the french revolution that may not readily come to mind is the executioner who performed most of the executions during the french revolution.
His name was Charles Henri Sanson, and during his career he executed a staggering 2918 people by his own hand. He was the official High executioner in France for most of the french revolution.
But how did Charles Henri Sanson become the most famous executioner in the world, and what was his life like. Well that's what we're going to discuss today.
How Charles Henri Sanson become an executioner
What was the life of an Executioner like
Key moments in Charles life
How Charles Henri Sanson became an executioner
Charles Henri Sanson was the 4th generation of a line of executioners in France. The line started with his Great grandfather and was passed on until it got to him.
Note that all the men who served in the different generations had “Charles Sanson” as part of their name. For example Charles Henri Sanson's father's name was Charles Baptiste Sanson.
Back then in western Europe (except in Britain), executioners were viewed and treated with contempt. Nobody wanted to have anything to do with executioners or even those related to them.
This was a problem for Charles Henri Sanson and it might have been part of the reason why he hated the family profession.
Yes Charles Henri Sanson didn't want to become an Executioner. He wanted to be educated and he pursued a career in medicine.
One of the schools Charles attended early in life was a convent school at Rouen. However, as earlier mentioned, executioners were very unpopular. So when the school found out that Henri's father was an executioner, Henri had to leave the school to save its reputation.
Henri didn't give up, he began to be privately educated. However, when his father became sick, he had to quit his pursuit of medicine and concentrate on the hated family business to earn a living for his family.
Henri's life and Career
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Charles Henri Sanson had two sons who were going to inherit the family business from him.
The first was Gabriel, but he died when he fell off the scaffold as he displayed a severed head to a crowd. The second son who finally succeeded Henri was also named Henri.
Starting in 1778 Charles Henri Sanson was high executioner in France for 17 years, but he started executing sentences way before then. For example In 1757 Henri assisted his uncle Nicolas-Charles-Gabriel Sanson to execute Robert-François Damiens. The execution was very gruesome, and Henri's uncle quit being an executioner after this execution.
Henri was known as “The Great Sanson” He killed so many people that in an audience with Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the questions he was asked was about how he sleeps at night. Henri simply replied;
“If emperors, kings, and dictators can sleep well, why shouldn’t an executioner?”
Henri during the french revolution
The french revolution was an important point in Henri’s life. As power shifted from the Monarchy to the Revolutionaries, Henri also had to shift who he worked for even though it meant executing people he had executed for in the past.
Being the heir to a line of executioners, refusing to execute those the majority wanted dead would have brought both shame and danger to himself and his family members.
During the revolution, the amount of executions went up exponentially. This was problematic to Henri.
He owned and maintained his own equipment which broke down after heavy usage, and the equipment wasn't cheap to repair. Also there was a lot of physical exertion that went into executing a ton of people.
So when a man named Joseph-Ignace Guillotin proposed the Guillotine, Henri Jumped at the idea. He led the inspection of this head chopping machine and was the first to try it on a live person.
Multiple head chops followed, but under the revolutionary ideology, Henri's use of the Guillotine raised his status from Outcast to citizen.
Charles Henri Sanson and King Louis XVI
Out of all the executions performed by Charles Henri Sanson, one of the most important and most controversial is the execution of King Louis XVI.
When Louis XVI was still a young child, Charles Henri Sanson had helped to dismember the man who tried to assassinate his father King Louis XV. Now it was time for Henri to execute him.
At this point Henri wasn't a fan of the monarchy, but he was still reluctant. He obviously couldn't refuse to perform the execution for reasons we have already stated, but he waited for precise instructions.
When Louis XVI got to the scaffold, Henri first chopped off a part of his hair before proceeding to chop off his head.
There is a possibility that Louis XVI’s head was not served immediately. There is record that Henri had to apply pressure to the blade to get a clean cut. Either way, Henri proceeded to display Louis XVI’s head to the crowd after it had been severed.
Henri carried out a lot more executions after this. These included that of Charlotte Corday, those who were executed during the reign of terror under Robespierre and even Robespierre himself.
Henri passed on the family business to his son Henri Sanson. Henri (son) was the one who executed Marie Antoinette.
So now you know a little more about one of the most famous executioners in history. I hope you enjoyed reading this article.
See you next time.
