THE "TEMPLE, " A PRISON THAT COULD BE HAVE BEEN WORSE

THE ROYALS ARE CONFINED IN THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS'

13TH-CENTURY STRONGHOLD

The royal gibet is in the background:

    Artist unknown, 1795 / zoom

The fortress and its environs that a wall separates from town  —  the "clos"* du Temple —  toward 1450 and at the end of the 18th century:

*Enclosure

Print sold on Ebay / zoom

  Zoom

A métro station's name is the only trace now.

Imagine the long ride, with jeers along the way: 

Louis the Last and his Family at the Temple on August 13, 1792 / zoom

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But surveillance was less than at the Tuileries, there were no insults, the food was good and for royals the family life was extremely unusual, and welcome.

     The Royal Family in the prison of the Temple by Edward Mathew Ward, 1851 / zoom 

That intimacy may have led Marie-Antoinette, who had called the king "that poor man," to appreciate Louis XVI for his love for his family, self-control and courage.

-- Stefan Zweig, Marie-Antoinette, 1932, "The Temple" 

Internet (gone)

Louis XVI Educates his Son, anonymous / zoom

For the six months when the king was alive 

their lives may have been relatively happy.

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Next,

"I have no tears left to cry"