[FLIGHT TO VARENNES]:

[FLIGHT TO VARENNES]: Jean Baptiste Drouet (1763-1824) French Politician of the Revolution. Best remembered for the part he played in the arrest of King Louis XVI during the Flight to Varennes. D.S., Drouet, with seven lines autograph annotation, two pages, 4to, Sainte-Menehould, 16th February 1809, to Morel, in French. The document being a medical certificate issued by doctor Bouillon from the Sainte Menehould hospital, Drouet signing in his capacity as sub-prefect of the Marne department. Countersigned by the Mayor Christophe de Mauriage. With several ink stamps. VG £200-300 The royal Flight to Varennes, 20th-21st June 1791, was a significant episode in the French Revolution in which King Louis XVI, the Queen Marie Antoinette and their immediate family attempted unsuccessfully to escape from Paris in order to initiate a counter-revolution. They were arrested at Varennes after having been recognized at their previous stop in Sainte-Menehould by Jean Baptiste Drouet. The incident was a turning point after which popular hostility towards the monarchy, as well as towards the King and Queen, provoked charges of treason that ultimately led to his execution in 179.