Showing posts with label Trial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trial. Show all posts

Seven Charges made against Marie Antoinette



Many people use Yahoo Questions and sometimes some pretty funny ones will pop up during searches. I stumbled on my amazingly relevant Yahoo Question of the Day recently, "What was the deal with Marie Antoinette?"

So the asking party really was wondering if she was executed, which I think we all here can safely answer 'yes.' But what were the grounds for her execution?  Let's take a look at her trial....


The Case of 1771: Part 2


Welcome Back! We are discussing the trial of the comte de Morangies Vs. the Verons.  This case really picked up popularity as it happened because of the subjects - regular citizens vs. the nobility.  The case was an early example of a cause célèbre and reports of it spread quickly about town.  Most everyone was routing for the Verons, and against the noble. If you have not read the first part read it here:   (Part 1)

Part 2
The lieutenant immediately had both Dujonquay and his mother in custody and they were cross examined about the matter.  There was some controversy here, as it seemed they were tirelessly questions and possibly endured some violence when questioning occurred. In the end they both confessed that the receipt's had only been given to them for negotiations, and were not in fact proof of payment.

It did not take long after giving a confession for both mother and son to take it back! They brought the case to the Paris courts to pursue the comte.  The trial was long and drawn out, and the Parisians followed it with peaked interest.  The debate became public, there were pamphlets, and everyone had an opinion. 

It took twenty months to reach a verdict.  The winners of the case were the Verons.  The comte was ordered to pay back the 300,000 livres, as well as interest and extra charges for damages.  This was ridiculous to the comte and he brought the case to the higher Paris courts (let the great debate continue!)

As a result of his ambition to fight these rulings he spent the next four months on trial.  After four months the comte was cleared of charges! An effort well spent!

In addition to being cleared of having to make the enormous payments he was to receive 1000 livres in damages. The Verons (sans grandmother who had passed away in the midst of the debacle at 88 years of age from distress over the whole pickle) received sentences. The boy was banished from the city for three years and the mother had to pay a small fine.

And that concludes the case of 1771!

The Case of 1771: Part I

In 1771 a court case caught the attention of the Parisians and they followed it every day like the Clinton trials. It all started with a noble, Jean-Francois de Molette, comte de Morangies, who was a field marshal in the royal army. The comte owned a bunch of land in the south of France and he wanted to invest in it and make it better - fix things up a bit.

He decided to borrow the money to do this, and he was recommended to go to Francois Liegaurd-Dujonquay. Dujonquay was a young man who worked both with his mother, Genevieve Gaillard-Romain and grandmother who was known as the widow Veron. The boy worked as a money broker and with his family agreed to meet with the comte about a business transaction.

Molette needed a lot of money to put into the land and the parties agreed on 300,000 livres. (This was in September) Shortly after the deal was struck, the comte was unhappy, claiming he was despaie, and had only received 1200 livres of the 300,000! He said that the young Dujonquay (his party referred to as the Verons) had in fact delivered part of the sum, the 1,200, but that had been all. Dujonquay protested and produced 4 receipts, billets a ordre, which showed he had made the full delivery.

Astonished and horrified, the comte took the case to the police lieutenant of Paris...

(Continued in Part 2)