Giuseppe Fieschi
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Giuseppe Marco Fieschi (13 December 1790 â€“ 19 February 1836) was a Corsican mass murderer, and the chief conspirator in an attempted assassination of King Louis-Philippe of France on 28 July 1835. The attack on the King and his entourage, which made use of a unique volley gun known as the " infernal machine," killed 18 people, but the King only received a minor wound and Fieschi was quickly captured. He and two other conspirators were subsequently tried and executed.


Biography

Fieschi was born on 13 December 1790 in Bocognano, a commune on the island of
Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
. His parents were Louis and Marie Lucie, of Pomonti. He had two brothers, Thomas and Anthony. Thomas was killed in the Battle of Wagram. Anthony was mute from birth. Giuseppe spent his childhood and adolescence as a shepherd. In 1808 he joined a Corsican regiment and was sent to Naples, then to Russia to fight in the Napoleonic Wars. In 1812 he held the rank of sergeant. He was discharged from the army in 1814 and returned to Corsica. In September 1815, he was one of around 1000 followers who joined former King of Naples Joachim Murat in an attempt to regain his kingdom, this ended a month later with Murat's capture and execution by forces of Ferdinand IV of Naples.Bouveroin suggests Fieschi played a treacherous role in this. According to Harsin, Fieschi escaped execution and was deported to France, where he was eventually sentenced in 1816 to 10 years in jail for the theft of a steer. There he met a female inmate, Laurence Petit. Upon his release in 1826 he moved to Lyon, Petit's hometown. Shortly after the July Revolution, Fieschi moved to Paris, calling himself a political prisoner, a deceit that allowed for unchallenged movement. There, he maintained a lifelong affair with his stepdaughter Nina, which led to the break-up of his relationship with her mother, Laurence. He obtained a small post in Paris by means of forged papers, but eventually lost his job and pensions that he had fraudulently obtained from the government.


Attempted assassination of Louis Philippe I

In 1831, Fieschi met his later-to-be co-conspirator Pierre Morey, a neighbour. Morey was a 61-year-old saddler who had been involved in Republican politics. He had been arrested but released in 1816 after falling under suspicion of plotting the assassination of the
Bourbons The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanish ...
. He was later tried and acquitted of the murder of an Austrian soldier. In 1830, he took part in the July Revolution that put King Louis-Phillipe in power.Harsin 2002, p. 150. The two contrived the plan for an " infernal machine", a volley gun with 25 gun-barrels which could be fired simultaneously. Morey took the plan to Theodore Pepin, chief of the
Society of the Rights of Man The Society of the Rights of Man (french: Société des droits de l'homme, SDH) was a French republican association with Jacobin roots, formed during the July Revolution in 1830, replacing another republican association, the Society of the Friends ...
''Section Rome''. After a meeting, they decided to build the weapon, splitting the cost of 500 francs between Pepin and Morey, with the penniless Fieschi building it and being paid for it. The gun was built in the place it was intended to be used – a four-room apartment on the third floor of No. 50
Boulevard du Temple The Boulevard du Temple, formerly nicknamed the "Boulevard du Crime", is a thoroughfare in Paris that separates the 3rd arrondissement from the 11th. It runs from the Place de la République to the Place Pasdeloup, and its name refers to the ne ...
. This was on the expected route the King and his entourage would take during the annual review of the Paris National Guard. The annual review, which commemorated the 1830 July revolution, took place on 28 July 1835. Louis-Philippe was passing along the Boulevard du Temple, which connected
Place de la République The Place de la République (known as the Place du Château d'Eau until 1879) is a square in Paris, located on the border between the 3rd, 10th and 11th arrondissements. The square has an area of .Warner, p. 250 Named after the First, Second a ...
to the Bastille. He was accompanied by three of his sons, the
Duke of Orleans Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
, the
Duke of Nemours Duke of Nemours was a title in the Peerage of France. The name refers to Nemours in the ÃŽle-de-France region of north-central France. History In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Lordship of Nemours, in the Gatinais, France, was a possession of th ...
, and the
Prince de Joinville The first known lord of Joinville (French ''sire'' or ''seigneur de Joinville'') in the county of Champagne appears in the middle of the eleventh century. The former lordship was raised into the Principality of Joinville under the House of Guis ...
, and a large number of staff and senior officers. Fieschi was waiting for them, 24 barrels of his gun were each loaded with eight round balls and additional slugs. When the royal party passed in the street below, he fired the gun. Not all the barrels fired, but the gun still produced a volley of around 400 projectiles. Eighteen people were killed at the scene, or later died from their wounds, including Lieutenant Colonel Rieussec together with eight other officers of the 8th Legion,
Marshal Mortier Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...
, and Colonel Raffet, General Girard, Captain Villate, General La Chasse de Vérigny and , father of notable architect Henri Labrouste. A further 22 people were injured, with at least four requiring limbs to be amputated. The King was one of the injured, but the wound was minor – a bullet or buckshot only grazed his forehead,Harsin 2002, p. 148. although the horse he was riding was severely wounded, and died several days later. The King continued with the day's events and reviewed the National Guard as planned. Many of the dead and injured were carried into the
Jardin Turc The Jardin Turc ("Turkish Garden") in the boulevard du Temple, Paris, was a celebrated café and music garden that was a popular rendezvous in the city's Marais district from the time of the First French Empire throughout the 19th century. From fo ...
, a famous cafe that was situated nearby,Bouveiron 1835, p. 9, Report of M. Lepage, Gunsmith to the King Four of the gun's 25 barrels burst when fired, four others did not fire, and a further one was not loaded as it lacked a touch hole.Bouveiron 1835, pp. 67–68, Report of M. Lepage, Gunsmith to the King This meant the number of deaths and injuries was lower than might have been the case had all components functioned. The gun barrels that exploded caused considerable damage to the room in which the weapon was fired. Fieschi received severe head, facial and hand wounds and he was quickly captured. Two of his fingers later had to be amputated.


Trial and execution

After his capture, Fieschi gave a false name, claiming to be Jacques Girard, born in Lodève. It was only after some days that his true identity was discovered when he was recognized by the Inspector General of Prisons, Olivier Dufresne, while he was being held in the
Conciergerie The Conciergerie () ( en, Lodge) is a former courthouse and prison in Paris, France, located on the west of the Île de la Cité, below the Palais de Justice. It was originally part of the former royal palace, the Palais de la Cité, which also ...
. Fieschi's trial became a great spectacle and Fieschi enjoyed his stardom. During the trial, he named his accomplices, displayed much bravado, and expected or pretended to expect ultimate pardon. He was represented by the Corsican lawyer François-Marie Patorni, and Parisian lawyers
Gustave Louis Chaix d'Est-Ange Gustave Louis Adolphe Victor Aristide Charles Chaix d'Est-Ange (11 April 1800, Reims - 14 December 1876, Paris) was a French lawyer and politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an electe ...
and . He was condemned to death, and was guillotined on 19 February 1836 together with Pierre Morey and Theodore Pépin. Pepin died first, then Morey. Fieschi was the last, and used his last moments for a speech. Fieschi's head was given to a doctor at
Bicêtre Hospital The Bicêtre Hospital is located in Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It lies 4.5 km (2.8 miles) from the center of Paris. The Bicêtre Hospital was originally planned as a military hospital, with constru ...
for study purposes. Before his death, Pepin made several confessions about revolutionary groups which led to subsequent arrests and trials. Another accomplice was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment and one was acquitted. No fewer than seven plots against the life of Louis Philippe had been discovered by the police within the year, and apologists were not wanting in the revolutionary press for the crime of Fieschi.


Legacy

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, a number of newspaper editors and writers were arrested, including
Armand Carrel Armand Carrel (8 May 1800 – 25 July 1836) was a French journalist and political writer. Early life Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Armand Carrel was born at Rouen. His father was a wealthy merchant, and he received a liberal education at the '' Lycà ...
, but they were soon released. Fourteen victims of Fieschi's attack were interred in the vaults of
Les Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides ( en, "house of invalids"), commonly called Les Invalides (), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as ...
, which is usually the place of interment for French military leaders which the nation wishes to honor. Horace Vernet, the King's painter, was ordered to make a drawing of the assassination attempt, which Eugene Louis Lami executed. Fieschi's head was painted by the French painter Jacques Raymond Brascassat the day after the execution. A death mask was also made to record Fieschi's facial features. A copy of this is preserved in England at Norwich Castle; the mask shows evidence of the facial and head injuries he received. Another copy was part of the collection of the Edinburgh Phrenological Society and is now in the possession of the University of Edinburgh. A postmortem examination of Fieschi's brain was carried out by the anatomists
Louis Pierre Gratiolet Louis Pierre Gratiolet (; 6 July 1815 – 16 February 1865) was a French anatomist and zoologist who was a native of Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, Gironde. He succeeded Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1805-1861) as professor of zoology to the Faculty ...
and François Leuret, to determine if it exhibited features that might explain his behavior. A plaque at n° 50 Boulevard du Temple commemorates the event. Giuseppe Fieschi was honored in a religious service at a Moscow church at the prompting of Soviet General Kotskov, the inventor of the Katyusha rocket launcher. Fieschi's volley gun, which became known as the ''Machine infernale'', is now part of the collection of the
Musée des Archives Nationales The Musée des Archives Nationales, formerly known as the Musée de l'Histoire de France (), is a state museum of France, French history operated by the Archives nationales (France), Archives Nationales. The museum features exhibitions drawn from ...
in Paris.


See also

* July Monarchy


References


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fieschi, Giuseppe Marco 1790 births 1836 deaths Crime in Paris Deaths by firearm in France French mass murderers Executed French people Executed mass murderers Executed people from Corsica Failed assassins French military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars People executed by France by decapitation People executed by the July Monarchy People from Haute-Corse Terrorist incidents in France Louis Philippe I