Episode Details

Charlotte Corday: Angel of Assassination

23 Jan 2024

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It is one of the most famous works of art of the 18th Century, painted by French artist Jacques-Louis David. A man, sitting in his bathtub, slumps slightly to his right. His hands lightly clutch the instruments of his profession – and his power: a pen and a letter. A small wound, just below his right collarbone oozes blood. On the floor, we can see the murder weapon, a stained knife. The image is realistic, yet solemn. It conveys the dignity, even in death, of the man portrayed. His name was Jean-Paul Marat, a friend of the artist, later hailed as a martyr of the French Revolution. Just outside the confines of the frame, the drama is not over yet. A young woman has been beaten, struck with a chair, and thrown to the ground. Until that afternoon, that woman was a young and sheltered aristocrat, whose involvement with the politics of the French Revolution was limited to heated drawing room discussions. But this afternoon, that young woman has decided to take action, and strike at the man who, in her eyes, represents tyranny. Her name is Charlotte Corday, later immortalized by author Alphonse de Lamartine as a brave and gracious angel, enacting God’s justice: ‘The Angel of Assassination’. → Subscribe for new videos at least twice a week! https://www.youtube.com/c/biographics?sub_confirmation=1 Love content? Check out our other YouTube Channels: Geographics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHKRfxkMTqiiv4pF99qGKIw TopTenz: https://www.youtube.com/user/toptenznet Karl's Socials: Fact Fiend: https://www.youtube.com/@FactFiend Wiki Weekends: https://www.youtube.com/@wikiweekends Untitled Side Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@untitledsidechannel Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarlSmallwood Further Reading: https://it.everand.com/article/444669537/The-Murder-That-Reignited-The-Revolution https://it.everand.com/article/444669896/Daughters-Of-The-Storm https://www.jstor.org/stable/42705725 https://www.jstor.org/stable/286725 https://vodkaster.telerama.fr/series-tv/secrets-d-histoire/63521/s02e06 https://www.historyhit.com/the-angel-of-assassination-who-was-charlotte-corday/ https://books.google.fr/books?id=VMkJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA141&dq=%22Charlotte+Corday%22+%2B+lagarde#v=onepage&q=%22Charlotte%20Corday%22%20%2B%20lagarde&f=false https://guides.loc.gov/women-in-the-french-revolution/charlotte-corday https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/obl4he/frenchrevolution/10_marieannecharlotte_corday.html https://francerevisited.com/2012/07/charlotte-corday-and-the-bathtub-assassination-of-jean-paul-marat/

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