The Enduring Mystery of King Louis XVI’s Blood
Known as the last King of France, for being married to Marie Antoinette, and for how he was executed during the French Revolution, King Louis XVI left a lasting legacy.
However, despite rich records of how he lived, the most fascinating element of his life might be the mystery created by a gruesome souvenir collected at the site of his death.
Who was Louis XVI?
Born into royal lineage on August 23rd, 1754 in the palace of Versaille, Louis Auguste de France was the third son of Louis, Dauphin of France and the grandson of Louis XV. Louis XVI also came from royalty on his mothers side of the family, as she was the daughter of the King of Poland. At an early age, Louis was bestowed with junior status in the french court, and thus given the title Duc de Berry.
Louis was renowned for being a shy boy. This was possibly due to the relatively little attention that he received from his parents. Louis’ older brother - Louis duc de Bourgogne - was originally intended to be King, however, his death at the age of nine made Louis XVI the heir apparent. For this reason, he was given every possible privilege in life, such as tutorage from French noblemen in subjects such as Latin, history, and astronomy. He even reached fluency in Italian and english.
Unfortunately, Louis’ father and mother died from tuberculosis when he was young, thus, the essential groundwork was never properly set for him to become a successful ruler. In fact, his tutors often reinforced the idea that his shyness was a sign of restraint and gravity; therefore Louis never overcame his timidity and remained indecisive by nature.
In 1770, Louis XVI married Marie Antoinette, a pairing orchestrated to consolidate an alliance between France and Austria. Thus, shortly after their marriage, Louis became king of France after his grandfathers, Louis XV’s, death.
Louis XVI’s reign
Although Louis XVI was well educated and had a sensitivity towards his subject’s needs and an interest in how foreign policy should be implicated, he had neither the strength of character or the countenance in his opinions to argue the opinions of court factions or support any form of political reformation.
In 1774, Louis blocked any form of major societal change by reversing attempts to reduce the power of the parlements (France’s highest law courts and courts of appeal). Furthermore, Louis’ focus on foreign policy required him to borrow heavily and drove France to the brink of financial collapse. Thus, he focused on extreme monetary, economic, and administrative reforms. In combination with accusations of frivolity and extravagance against Marie Antoinette, the popular opinion of the monarchy became extremely sour.
In an attempt to avoid the impending crisis, Louis XVI agreed to take measures to increase taxes. In response, the Third Estate (the commoners) declared that they alone had the right to represent France. However, rumours abounded that the King was planning to block their assembly.
This led to the famous storming of the Bastille, as to the commoners, the prison had become a symbol of the royal oppression of the lower classes. This day, 14th July, is now commemorated as a national holiday and the beginning of the French Revolution.
Shortly after the storming of the Bastille, Louis and his family were tracked down by an angry mob at their castle at Versaille and forced to return to Paris. Subsequent attempts to escape solidified the crowd's beliefs that Louis had been treasonous, therefore compelling him to accept the new constitution.
In the months and years that followed, the revolution became more radical and extreme in nature. Eventually, the monarchy was completely dissolved and France was made a republic. On the 21st January, 1793, after weeks of trial, Louis XVI was executed due to being found guilty of treason.
Louis XVI’s execution
On his execution day, Louis XVI - by then known as Louis Capet - was brought to a guillotine in a public square between the Champs-Elysees and the Tuileries. More than one hundred thousand gathered to witness the former king meet the fatal blade. After a brief, yet impassioned speech, the executioner tied Louis’ hands behind his back, cut his hair, and dropped the blade.
One of the witnessing crowd - a Parisian named Maximilien Bourdaloue - rushed forwards along with many others and frantically dipped a handkerchief into the pooling blood. On returning home, Bourdaloue safely stored his treasured handkerchief inside a container shaped like a gourd which bears an inscription about how and where the gruesome souvenir was collected.
Despite the handkerchief not lasting the test of time, the container has been stained by Louis’ blood to this day. Dried blood was scraped from the gourd bottle and has been found to contain unusually high and rare markers for the Y-DNA haplogroup G2a (We do the same form of analysis at My True Ancestry!).
However, despite the inscription and DNA analysis, there was no proof that the blood was actually that of Louis XVI. How could a DNA analysis conclusively prove that the blood belonged to the King unless there was something or someone to compare it to?
Henri IV’s severed head
One of Louis XVI’s most famous ancestors - Henri IV - was likely best known for signing the Edict of Nantes in 1598, but now, he is probably most famous for what happened to his head after his death.
The Edict of Nantes was designed to orchestrate peace between French protestants and Catholics after many contentious years of battle. Yet it did little to protect Henry IV, as in 1610 he was assassinated by a catholic extremist and buried in the royal chapel at Saint-Denis.
However, during the French Revolution, there was a clear distaste for anyone of royal lineage - both alive and dead - and the remains of all royals buried at the chapel were unearthed from their tombs and tossed into a pit.
Due to a morbid fascination, one keepsake was salvaged from the chapel - Henri IV’s head. It had been passed down through generations by private collectors and was only positively identified in 2010. Radiocarbon dating placed it between the years 1450 and 1650.
Recent DNA analysis of the mummified head revealed that Henri also possessed the rare Y-DNA haplogroup G2a, and thus evidenced that Louis XVI was one of his descendents.
This analysis confirmed with ninety-five per cent confidence that the owner of the mummified head and the blood in the gourd were related. Thus supporting the belief that the gourd container held the blood of the executed former King of France.
However, skeptics argued that this DNA match could have occurred by chance, as the profile was considered quite limited.
Further support for the DNA link
The fate of Louis XVI’s son fascinated the people of France for many years. However, a recent study has finally cracked the riddle. Louis XVII was imprisoned after his parent’s death and eventually succumbed to tuberculosis. His heart was somewhat macabrely stored in a crystal vase in the Cathedral Basilica of St.Denis. However, many refuted that the remains were those of Louis XVII, as there were rumours that the boy escaped during the riots and was swapped for another youth.
Thanks to DNA analyses which compared the heart to hair cut from Marie Antoinette when she was a little girl, the remains have been confirmed to be that of Louis XVII.
More recently, a re-analysis of the existing DNA, as well as that of three living descendents of Henry IV and Louis XVI generated the most comprehensive DNA profiles to date. Each individual was determined to have the Y haplogroup R1b1b2a1a1b (R-Z381), and two of these descendents were connected to Louis XVI’s great grandfather, the Duke of Burgundy.
The third was reportedly a descendant of Henri IV’s son, Louis XIII. However, there were a number of differences found between the DNA of these descendents and the royal remains. Unfortunately, this contradicts the rare DNA match found between the head of Henri IV and Louis XVI’s blood.
It has been theorised that there may have been consistent levels of infidelity in the French royal family. Thus, the lack of a DNA match is not definitive evidence that the blood of Louis XVI and the head of Henri IV are not connected. Hence, the mystery continues.
The DNA spotlight that we provide at My True Ancestry is the same as the one done on Louis XVI’s blood - take our DNA analysis today and find out if your lineage could be drawn back to Louis XVI!
