{"id":8009,"date":"2025-05-05T19:16:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T19:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/?p=8009"},"modified":"2025-05-05T19:32:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T19:32:13","slug":"a-king-by-any-other-name-would-die-as-duly-or-the-top-10-nicknames-of-louis-xvi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/2025\/05\/05\/a-king-by-any-other-name-would-die-as-duly-or-the-top-10-nicknames-of-louis-xvi\/","title":{"rendered":"A king by any other name would die as duly, or the top 10 nicknames of Louis XVI"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

The following is written by Libraries student employee Brianna Bowers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The few short months from the fall of 1792 to January 1793, in which heated debate and a final vote decided that Louis XVI would be guillotined, held centuries of progress. Our world would not be recognizable without the French Revolution. The University of Iowa has thousands of pamphlets from this exciting, tumultuous period, and many of the pamphlets are still being processed. As a student worker in Special Collections and Archives, I am currently taking down the information on each pamphlet to upload them into InfoHawk+, and I have come across some interesting things along the way. The collection of speeches given at the National Convention, debating what to do about Louis XVI, has no standardized way to refer to the man on trial. As his royal title was thrown into uncertainty, new names abounded. Below are 10 names that delegates called their ex-king, from clever to boring and from ruthless to obvious, ranked from awesome to awful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Louis le dernier [Louis the Last]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This is alliterative in English\u2014\u201cLouis the Last.\u201d It seems like the French had enough by their sixteenth Louis. Louis le dernier wasn\u2019t actually the last king Louis, but the effect of calling him \u201cthe last\u201d did implicitly condemn the following reigns as illegitimate.<\/p>\n\n\n

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You can find this name on the above pamphlet: (box 79:1-80:10 item 79:44), \u201cConvention nationale. opinion de lanjuinais, D\u00e9put\u00e9 d’Ille et Vilaine, Sur Louis le dernier. Imprim\u00e9e par ordre de la Convention nationale. Nunquam de morte hominis cunctatio longa est. 31 D\u00e9cembre 1792, l’an premier de la R\u00e9publique.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Louis Capet<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Referring to royalty with a common first and last name was a slight, implying that their status was reduced to be equal with everyone else\u2019s. This last name did come from Louis\u2019 family history. Louis was part of the Bourbon dynasty, which derived from the Capetian dynasty. The Capetian dynasty was founded by Hugues Capet (c. 940-996 \u1d04.\u1d07.). There isn\u2019t consensus on how Hugues Capet got his last name. The heraldist Herv\u00e9 Pinoteau is credited with finding the first use of Capet as a dynasty name in the writings of Ralph de Diceto, from about 200 years after Hugues Capet\u2019s death<\/a>, with Capet possibly deriving from the \u201ccappa\u201d (a kind of cape) of St Martin of Tours<\/a>. Other theories derive Capet from words meaning small head, stubborn, or to torment\/harass.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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You can find a pamphlet with this nickname in the image above: (box 79:1-80:10, item 79:57), \u201cConvention nationale. opinion de laurent lecointre, D\u00e9put\u00e9 du d\u00e9partement de Seine & Oise, \u00e0 la Convention Nationale; Sur le jugement de Louis Capet. Imprim\u00e9e par ordre de la Convention Nationale. Quant \u00e0 moi, je ne connois pas cette justice qui frappe, en souriant, un coupable obscur, & qui se prosterne devant un illustre criminel.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Louis le tra\u00eetre [Louis the Traitor]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A few years before his trial and execution, Louis was widely seen as a father to his people, divinely ordained, and even a protector of the common people against the aristocracy. His resistance to the Revolution and attempt to flee to Austria in 1791 to raise an army to restore his throne to its former power turned the people against him. His fall from \u201clong live the king\u201d to the guillotine was hard, fast, and avertable.<\/p>\n\n\n

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You can find a pamphlet that uses this name in the image above and in Special Collections: (box 79:1-80:10, item 79:78), \u201cConvention nationale. un mot sur louis le traitre, ou le dernier, et sa famille, Par c. l. masuyer, D\u00e9put\u00e9 de Saone-et-Loire; Imprim\u00e9 en vertu du d\u00e9cret de la Convention.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

dernier roi [last king]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This name is reaching for what \u201cLouis le dernier\u201d achieved in condemning Louis to be the last king. However, it isn\u2019t quite as striking. The lack of his first name, Louis, makes the title feel impersonal, and it was already untrue since there were kings alive and kicking in other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Find this name in the pamphlet above: (box 79:1-80:10, item 80:5), \u201cConvention nationale. mon avis sur le jugement du dernier roi; Imprim\u00e9 par ordre de la Convention nationale. Je dis ce qui se passe dans mon ame Et ce que je crois \u00eatre la v\u00e9rit\u00e9. J. J. Rousseau.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Capet<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A man in this time would often be referred to by only his last name. So, like Louis Capet, this name is intended to lower his status. It strips him of his first name, which had been used by French kings for centuries and was what people knew him as. However, I\u2019m docking a few points for a lack of specificity.<\/p>\n\n\n

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You can find an example on a pamphlet that uses this name in the image above and in Special Collections: (box 81:14-82:27, item 81:33), \u201cConvention nationale. opinion de louis turreau, D\u00e9put\u00e9 du D\u00e9partement de l’Yonne, Sur Capet; Imprim\u00e9e par ordre de la convention nationale.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

le ci-devant roi [The former King]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This one does its duty. It\u2019s specific enough that we all know who we are talking about. No frills, no nonsense.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Discover this nickname in the above pamphlet: (box 77:76-78:80, item 78:19), \u201cConvention nationale. opinion de jean de bry, d\u00e9put\u00e9 du d\u00e9partement de l’aisne, Sur la question: Le ci-devant roi sera-t-il jug\u00e9? Imprim\u00e9e par ordre de la Convention nationale. Jus mal\u00e8 faciendi c\u00f9m sit regi nullum, manet jus populi natur\u00e1 supremum. Milton: Pro populo anglicano defensio.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Louis XVI<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A classic. This is Louis\u2019s royal title. But as much as it is classic, it is also basic. This is a counter-revolutionary and a former monarch at that. Show some disrespect!<\/p>\n\n\n

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(Box 77:66-78:80, item 78:30), \u201cConvention nationale. opinion de camille desmoulins, D\u00e9put\u00e9 de Paris \u00e0 la Convention, Sur le Jugement de Louis XVI; Imprim\u00e9e par ordre de la Convention nationale. Il n’y a de sacr\u00e9 et d’inviolable que l’innocence. Qu’on me montre dans toute l’histoire un monument plus auguste, et qui inspire une terreur plus sainte, plus salutaire pour le glaive de la justice, que la colonne que les Arcadiens, apr\u00e8s avoir mis \u00e0 mort leur roi Aristod\u00e8me, \u00e9rig\u00e8rent dans le temple de Jupiter Lycien, et sur laquelle on lisoit cette inscription: Les rois parjures sont punis t\u00f4t ou tard. Avec l’aide de Jupiter, on a enfin d\u00e9couvert la perfidie de celui-ci qui trahissoit Mess\u00e8ne. Grand Jupiter, louanges vous soient rendues! Discours de la Lanterne aux Parisiens, 1790.\u201d (This pamphlet is not from 1790, Camille is quoting a speech he made previously in the title.)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Roi [king]<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t a terribly specific nickname. Which king? There were many other countries that had kings at the time after all. Besides, doesn\u2019t this imply that Louis is still the rightful king? A virtuous revolutionary would never endorse the existence of a king, even in a nickname.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Find this pamphlet that uses the name in the image above and in Special Collections: (box 80:11-81:13, item 80:38), \u201cConvention nationale. opinion Du Citoyen p\u00e9tion, Sur le Roi; Imprim\u00e9e par ordre de la Convention nationale.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Louis<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

And if there were other kings, there were certainly <\/em>other people named Louis. The briefest<\/em> glance at members of the National Convention, the body putting Louis on trial, gives us Louis Portiez, Louis-Antoine Saint-Just, Louis Turreau, Louis Louchet, and Louis-Marie R\u00e9veill\u00e8re-Lepaux, the very man who wrote the pamphlet calling the former king just plain Louis. Calling him just Louis is so basic, not to mention a logistical nightmare. Seriously, there were so many French men named Louis from 1792 to 1793! While we\u2019re on the topic of his given name, Louis means famous in battle<\/a> or loot bringer, and is derived from Old German.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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You can find a pamphlet that uses this name in the image above and in Special Collections: (box 79:1-80:10, item 79:47), \u201cConvention nationale. opinion de l. m. revelli\u00e8re-l\u00e9peaux, d\u00e9put\u00e9 de maine-et-loire, Sur la question de l’appel au Peuple du Jugement de Louis. Imprim\u00e9e par ordre de la Convention. 7 Janvier, l’an deuxi\u00e8me de la R\u00e9publique.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Louis Hugues<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This is a full name just like the names of normal plebeians. It is the same idea as calling him Louis Capet. Perhaps the name Hugues was derived from the same ancestor, Hugues Capet. But it wasn\u2019t as popular because the people were already using Louis Capet. When I hear the name Louis Hugues, I think, \u201cLouis Who?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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You can find a pamphlet that uses this name in the image above and in Special Collections: (box 79:1-80:10, item 79:37), \u201cConvention nationale. opinion de j. p. lacombe-saint-michel, d\u00e9put\u00e9 du tarn, Sur le jugement de Louis Hugues; Imprim\u00e9e par ordre de la Convention.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following is written by Libraries student employee Brianna Bowers. The few short months from the fall of 1792 to January 1793, in which heated debate and a final vote decided that Louis XVI would be guillotined, held centuries of progress. Our world would not be recognizable without the French Revolution. The University of IowaContinue reading “A king by any other name would die as duly, or the top 10 nicknames of Louis XVI”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":219,"featured_media":8022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,497],"tags":[829,828,830,831,674,776],"syndication":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8009"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/219"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8009"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8024,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8009\/revisions\/8024"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8009"},{"taxonomy":"syndication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/syndication?post=8009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}