Surely you have ever wondered what would have happened if an event in your life or a historical fact had developed differently. Would your life have changed? Would the course of history have been significantly altered? If the attempt to rescue from prison Marie Antoinette it would have gone well, possibly I wouldn't have lost my head in the guillotine and the history of France would have been different. Join us to learn about the Carnation Complot, the last attempt to save Marie Antoinette from death. that failed.
In Supercurioso we have entered on several occasions into the life of this queen of France who was guillotined by the revolutionaries. If you want to know more about his last moments, we invite you to read the post: The Death of Marie Antoinette | 10 Curiosities of her last days .
The Carnation Conspiracy
The carnation plot, in French "conspot de l'oeillet". also known as the " carnation plot "was the last attempt to save the queen from an increasingly certain death. It took place in 1793 and the queen was imprisoned at the Conciergerie.
The French royal family was transferred in October 1789 from Versailles to the Tuileries Palace in the centre of Paris. After Varennes' attempt to escape, the kings and their sons returned to the Tuileries, but the palace was assaulted in August 1791 and the royal family had to leave it to settle in the Temple prison. From there Louis XVI left on January 21, 1793 to be executed. A few months later Marie Antoinette was transferred to the Conciergerie prison, where the carnation plot took place .
The guardians of the Conciergerie were a compassionate marriage: Toussaint and Marie Anne Richard who did their best to provide the queen with little comforts, but she was continuously watched even inside the cell. In it, only a screen separated her from the guards. The prison administrator was a man named Michonis that allowed visits to the royal prisoner. On 28 August a gentleman loyal to Louis XVI, who had been with her during the attack on the Tuileries on 20 June and the insurrection of 10 August, came to see her: Alexandre Gonsse de Rougeville .
Marie Antoinette recognized him immediately, started a banal conversation in the presence of the guards, during which Rougeville dropped two carnations that he wore on his jacket signaling to the queen to pick them up. A short while later, he was released from the cell. Marie Antoinette found a small piece of paper between her leaves. He read Rougeville's note that he had men and money and would return to prison on Friday. The queen, who had no articles to write on, with a pin pricked a sheet of paper with a reply message: "I am constantly watched; I don't talk to anyone; I trust you". Although Rougeville was able to re-enter a few minutes later, he did not have time to tell her any more that he would come back on Friday to rescue her. Michonis, the administrator, as well as the Richard couple, agreed with the gentleman and planned to collaborate in the monarch's escape. On August 30, Rougeville returned and explained the details of the escape to the queen.
The note written by the queen with the pin was to be given to Rougeville by a prison guard named Jean Gilbert. This was the link that failed the carnation plot. . Although at first he was compromised, he finally chickened out and backed down. Rougeville and Michonis were waiting for her in disguise and Gilbert was to lead Marie Antoinette to them. Having taken the queen out of her cell as they crossed the courtyard, he changed his mind and threatened to call the guard if she did not return to her cubicle. That's how the carnation plot failed. . On September 3, Jean Gilbert himself denounced the facts and his conspiracy comrades. Michonis and the Richard couple, although exculpated by the queen in her statement, were imprisoned. Rougeville fled and was shot in 1814 in Reims. Queen Marie Antoinette died in the guillotine on October 16, 1793.
Do you know the Carnation Conspiracy? Do you think that history would have changed if Marie Antoinette could escape? Share your opinion with us! If you want to know more about this queen, we invite you to read the post: Axel de Fersen | The true and only love of Marie Antoinette .