I don't know if this makes any sense and you don't have to answer if you don't feel comfortable but one thing I'll never understand is why Louis-Charles was treated the way he was or how it got to that point that they essentially abused him to death? How do you do that to a child? Sorry for the strange question, I have been thinking about this a lot lately.
It's not strange to ask at all, no worries. This answer got a bit long!
note: Discussion of child abuse and potential sexual assault
So in terms of Louis Charles' treatment, we have two "phases," so to speak. The phase in which he was under the abusive "care" of Simon, and the phase in which he was kept in more or less solitary confinement.
What is essential to know is that after Simon left his position at the Temple, the treatment of Louis Charles was technically speaking not different from Marie Therese's after the removal of Madame Elisabeth, in that:
Both were left in solitary confinement and not given companions or in Charles' case, a caretaker.
Both were subject to random searches at all hours of the night; both were denied any sort of comforts like candles for night time, a stove to keep warm, anything to keep their mind occupied*
Essentially, they were not being, that we know of, physically abused at this point (as Louis Charles had been under Simon) but they were neglected psychologically and given only minimum essentials to live but not exactly thrive as human beings.
*Therese, however, had the luxury of staying in the room she'd been in with Elisabeth, which still had some books, she had things to clean with, etc. Charles was thrown into a bare room and was not given things to do.
So why is it that Louis Charles mental and physical health suffered so extremely, whereas Marie Therese did experience psychological effects but seemed to be otherwise okay, health-wise?
We must first consider that Louis Charles, like his brother Joseph, may have been predisposed to tuberculosis and poor health. Physical and emotional abuse would have naturally exacerbated these issues.
But I also believe that the primary differences that resulted in why Marie Therese came out "okay" and Louis Charles suffered after they were both thrown into solitary confinement-type situations are:
Louis Charles was 8 years old and Marie Therese was 15 at the time each of them were left alone in the Temple. Therese had been given instruction and guidance on how to care for herself alone in prison, and Louis Charles had not.
Therese had been specifically instructed by her aunt on how to keep herself mentally and physically engaged, and how to do little things throughout the day to keep the room clean and keep herself occupied.
After Elisabeth was taken, she was able to use this knowledge and instruction, although there's no denying that this was still an intensely stressful and distressing period for her. According to one memoirist, Elisabeth had even specifically instructed her niece to never to be caught in a state of undress or caught in her bed by the guards who would come into their room at all hours of the night--which you can imagine, carries the implication that Elisabeth warned Therese about the possibility of being assaulted.
Louis Charles went from being in the care of his family, to being in the 'care' of a man who abused him but was still in the presence of adults who fed him and directed him, to being totally abandoned to his own devices. He had no conception of how to care for himself, and was certainly not in the state of mind to learn after being abused for months and then tossed into a room where his significant human interactions were someone shouting at him to wake up to make sure he was alive.
Therese made sure to wash herself and tidy herself up. Therese did things throughout the day to keep her mind and body occupied. Louis Charles, a confused and abused child, ended up sitting in his bed to the point of developing bed sores, muscle weakness, insect bites, and so on. He doesn’t know how to occupy himself in an empty cell with nothing to do.
In short, Therese was older and had the blueprints to taking care of herself. Louis Charles was a recently abused child who didn’t know what to do or how to do it.
Louis Charles had been subject to emotional and physical abuse for the past several months, on top of being ripped away from his mother and family in an hours-long ordeal prior to the start of his abuse. That horrible ordeal came a few months after the execution of his father; all of which you can imagine would have been incredibly impactful on a child's mind and body.
This is a child who had been protected in the bosom of his family for as long as possible despite the events of the revolution, who had been looked after and cared for with kindness and love--and who was then thrust violently and traumatically into the "caregiving" of a man who mercilessly beat him, whipped him, humiliated him, and psychologically abused him by encouraging him to sing songs and make nasty remarks regarding his parents and family.
Then this child was manipulated into accusing his mother and aunt of sexual abuse, and when he no longer served a purpose, he was tossed into more or less solitary confinement. He did not have the emotional or physical capacity to handle this type of treatment.
There’s a quote from a man who was sent to assess the child’s condition, who said that Louis Charles’ “look had especially so strong a feature of resignation and indifference, that it seemed to say, what does it matter to me? Dispatch your victim.” It is easy to imagine that Louis Charles, a confused, abused and now abandoned child, sank into depression that led to his inability to even try to care for himself after the horrific events he has just endured.
As for why Louis Charles was treated so terribly… or why no one stepped in to care for him until the particular period that they did, I think there's a combination of resentment and nastiness with certain parties, combined with fear and apathy in others.
Simon and the other men who mistreated him prior to his being shut up in a room appeared to do so out of malice and enjoyment. Simon's directive was to 'make him forgot' his royal status.
I don't think, based on what we know about Simon's treatment of Louis Charles, that it's reaching to presume that Simon seemed to enjoy having a child who was destined for the throne of France under his thumb, degrading him and treating him in a way that wouldn't have been fathomable before. Other men who participated in the abuse seemed to have the same attitude. They can take out their own humiliation and anger on Louis Charles, the son of a king, a child of former privilege.
And then after he is put into solitary confinement, well.. who is going to speak up for him? Who has the courage and lack of fear?
A tutor who spoke up for him to the National Assembly, protesting against the abuse he witnessed in the fall of 1793, was arrested and ended up leaving Paris after his release.
Marie Antoinette's lawyers were arrested during her trial, a guard was arrested for giving her water and taking her arm in a dark stairwell. Etc.
There is definitely an atmosphere of "caring or appearing to care in the slightest bit about the former royalty is dangerous."
Who is going to speak up against the treatment of the presumed king of France, a royalist symbol, at the risk of their own freedom or possibly life? You would be putting your own life on the line. If you have family to care for or friends, perhaps their life or well-being would be in jeopardy as well.
For others, it may have simply been apathy towards a child who was dehumanized into a symbolic figure--who cares about the "royal cub," after all, with everything else going on in the country? He's alive, isn't he? I also wonder if there wasn’t some annoyance in it... that is the reason why Simon wanted out, he was having his freedom restricted because of his role in being Louis Charles’ caretaker. Perhaps the guards at the Temple were annoyed at the extra pressure and restriction that came with their post, which increased their apathy.
It’s unfortunate that no one was willing or able to stick up for him until he was so far gone. If he had been able to get treatment and care earlier, perhaps he would have survived. Or if he’d been at least allowed to stay with his sister.
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