logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2024
57m 44s

505. The French Revolution: The Shadow o...

Goalhanger
About this episode

During the "Ancien Regime", royal executioners held an unholy status, and would strike up fear in the crowds as they walked the streets of Paris. But with the Revolution, the role of executioners in society was reformed, and whilst they lost some of their privileges, they were ushered into to a new, universalist France. And as the Revolution brought forward more and more enemies of the state, executioners were faced with more victims than the axe could handle. This, combined with an ever growing debate around the humanity and dignity of executions, would lead to the invention of a killing machine still used by the French state more than 150 years later…


Join Tom and Dominic in the third part of our second season of the French Revolution, as they look at gruesome methods of execution under the French monarchy, the changing role of executioners, how the Guillotine came to loom so large over the fate of so many…


_______

Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG

_______

LIVE SHOWS

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Becki Hills

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Up next
Yesterday
The Trojan War, with Mary Beard
Did the Trojan War - the ten year, cosmic clash between the Greeks and the Trojans, featuring the Olympian gods, kings and heroes - actually happen? Is there any evidence for the existence of the Trojan Horse? And, why is it the war the foundational myth of both ancient Greece an ... Show More
10m 7s
Oct 8
607. Nelson’s Lover: The Scandalous Lady Hamilton
Who was Emma Hamilton, Horatio Nelson’s strikingly beautiful, and famously fashionable mistress? How did she raise herself up from dire poverty, to become a model, actress, dancer, and even an international celebrity? And, why was theirs one of the most famous love affairs of all ... Show More
1h 13m
Oct 5
606. Enoch Powell: Rivers of Blood
Who was Enoch Powell, the deeply controversial British conservative politician? Why is he the father of Brexit, and possibly even Reform? And, how did he come to make his inflammatory ‘Rivers of Blood speech’, in 1968? Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss Enoch Powell - one of th ... Show More
1h 16m
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2025
Fall of Thomas More
In the second of our special episodes exploring the rise and fall of Sir Thomas More, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and Dr. Joanne Paul chart the great Tudor statesman's demise. Despite his silence about Henry VIII's self-proclamation as Supreme Head of the Church of England, More ... Show More
56m 16s
Jan 2025
The Rise of Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte is a household name; a rare example of someone who is as well remembered by his supporters as by his enemies. His life is rich with dramatic irony. He was a key figure in the creation of the First French Republic, yet became a self-appointed Emperor. Surrounded ... Show More
42m 5s
Jul 2021
Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall, "Slave Revolt on Screen: The Haitian Revolution in Film and Video Games" (UP of Mississippi, 2021)
Michel-Rolph Trouillot wrote that “the silencing of the Haitian Revolution is only a chapter within a narrative of global domination. It is part of the history of the West and it is likely to persist, even in attenuated form, as long as the history of the West is not retold in wa ... Show More
1h 12m
Mar 2025
Edward II: King of Incompetence
Gone Medieval begins a gripping 4 part series exploring scandal, power, and betrayal in the Plantagenet Court. This one of England’s most dramatic royal sagas; from the ill-fated reign of Edward II to the rise of his son, Edward III, Matt Lewis and Dr. Eleanor Janega uncover how ... Show More
1h 16m
Feb 2025
233. Blood and Betrayal: Oliver Cromwell's Irish Invasion (Ep 1)
His statue may stand proudly outside the Houses of Parliament in London, but in Ireland, Oliver Cromwell is remembered as “the Devil from over the Sea” for the bloodshed he unleashed there from 1649 to 1653.  Rising to prominence as a Parliamentarian during the English Civil Wars ... Show More
42m 27s
Aug 28
Tudor True Crime: Europe's Most Murderous Dynasty
The rich and powerful Guise family was one of the most treacherous and bloodthirsty in sixteenth-century France. They whipped up religious bigotry, overthrowing the king. They ruled Scotland for nearly 20 years through Mary Queen of Scots, plotting to invade England and overthrow ... Show More
39m 10s
Sep 28
The Victorians, Part 2 of 2
The Victorian era transformed Britain into the world’s foremost industrial and imperial power. The rise of factories saw the expansion of sprawling cities, inhabited by a working class trapped in grinding poverty. But while the ever-growing ranks of impoverished residents were do ... Show More
55m 45s
Oct 3
The Scandalous Royal Mistress Who Ruled France
Is this strangest threesome in royal history?!We're endlessly fascinated with the lives of royal mistresses, and this has to be one of the most notorious.It takes place in 16th century France between Henry II, his wife Catherine de Medici and his much older mistress, Diane de Poi ... Show More
37m 45s
Apr 2025
Pourquoi La Liberté guidant le peuple n’est pas un tableau sur la Révolution de 1789 ?
À première vue, La Liberté guidant le peuple d’Eugène Delacroix semble tout droit sortie de la Révolution française de 1789 : une femme aux seins nus brandit le drapeau tricolore, une foule en armes avance sur des cadavres, et l’ambiance est à l’insurrection. Beaucoup s’imaginent ... Show More
2m 25s
Sep 9
After 1066: The Harrying of the North
Dr. Eleanor Janega unravels the blood-soaked aftermath of the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest of England. Joined by Professor Levi Roach, Eleanor delves into the harrowing campaign, known as the Harrying of the North, where William the Conqueror brutally suppressed the ... Show More
51m 47s