History Buffs Welcome!
If you’re a history nut like I am you’ll likely be interested in crazy stuff like this. You all know that we’re about ready to publish the first two books on the French Revolution (Where Did They Put the Guillotine?—A Walking Tour of Revolutionary Paris). As part of the journey in writing this book, I’ve come away with some interesting stories.
One of the stories is about the little Dauphin who was murdered at the age of ten while a prisoner in The Temple. Interesting story but the part I want to highlight is about the doctor who performed the autopsy. He cut the heart out of the child (this was common practice back then—the heart would be buried separately from the body) and managed to keep it in his possession for many years. The liquids preserving the heart dried up and as a consequence, the heart shriveled. It was also lost for many years before it resurfaced.
Rumor Has It…
Subsequent to the end of the Revolution, many stories floated around that the Dauphin had escaped by being substituted for another young boy. The royalists clung to this theory for decades. Although not formally crowned, the Dauphin became known as Louis XVII (upon the formal restoration, his uncle became Louis XVIII). When the heart ultimately resurfaced, the question became, was this the heart of the Dauphin? If so, would this prove he died in prison? DNA testing was performed on the heart and confirmed to be his. It put to rest the conspiracy theories and the vial containing the little heart can be viewed at St. Denis, the royal necropolis outside Paris. Read More Blood in a Gourd
