18th Century Executioner Recounts His First Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered Execution

The execution of François Damiens (1757), who attempted to kill King Louis XV, a horrifying spectacle where he was Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered, as recounted by his executioner, Charles-Henri Sanson. Sanson would later oversee some of the most infamous executions in French history. As the royal executioner during the reign of King Louis XVI and subsequently the High Executioner of the First French Republic, Sanson carried out capital punishment in Paris for over four decades. He personally executed nearly 3,000 individuals, including King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, during the tumultuous French Revolution and Reign of Terror. Primary Sources: Memoirs of the Sansons Other Sources: Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault 00:00 Attempted Regicide 02:09 Executioners account of Interrogation and torture 08:19 Executioners account of Damiens being Hanged, Drawn and Quartered 16:29 The Executioner: Charles-Henri Sanson