December 26, 1792

Trial of Louis XVI

Louis XVI's defense is presented to the National Convention

The day long labelled "the trial begins" was actually the day the defense finished.

26 December 1792, at the bar of the Convention

On 26 December 1792, Louis XVI was brought from the Temple prison to the bar of the National Convention in the Manège at the Tuileries for the presentation of his defense.

Raymond de Sèze delivered the principal speech. Its title page states that it was pronounced at the Convention's bar on Wednesday, 26 December 1792, and printed by order of the Convention.

The argument, and the king's own words

De Sèze argued that pre-constitutional acts could not be tried under later rules, that the Constitution had declared the king inviolable, and that ministerial responsibility covered many subsequent governmental acts.

After his counsel finished, Louis told the Convention that his conscience reproached him with nothing, and rejected the accusation that he had wanted the people's blood shed, particularly on 10 August.

Not the beginning

The Convention had resolved to judge Louis on 3 December and interrogated him on 11 December, when Jean-Baptiste Robert Lindet's accusation report supplied the charges, the secretary Jean-Baptiste Mailhe read the accusation headings and Bertrand Barère conducted the questioning.

Louis and his three official advocates — François Denis Tronchet, Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes and de Sèze — returned to the Temple after making their case.

The pleading phase was over. The deputies turned to arguments and roll-call votes on guilt, popular ratification and punishment during January 1793.

Sources

Researched 24 Aug 2026 5 sources not yet audited

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet and rewritten from that sheet. This article has not yet had an independent model audit. How the pipeline works →

What the sources leave uncertain

The date 26 December is secure, but the supplied event title is wrong.
Different chronologies call 3 December the start because the Convention resolved to judge Louis then; others use 11 December, when he appeared, heard the accusations and was interrogated. Neither supports 26 December as the trial's beginning.
The often-repeated claim that de Sèze spoke for exactly three hours appears in later narratives; it was not retained as a verified number here.