Charlotte Corday(1768 — 1793)
Charlotte Corday
France
8 min read
A Norman Girondin activist, Charlotte Corday assassinated Jean-Paul Marat in his bathtub on July 13, 1793. Convinced she was putting an end to the Terror, she was guillotined four days later at the age of 24.
Famous Quotes
« I killed one man to save a hundred thousand. »
« I knew I was a republican long before the Revolution. »
Key Facts
- Born on July 27, 1768, in Saint-Saturnin-des-Ligneries (Normandy)
- A Girondin sympathizer, opposed to the Montagnards and the Terror
- Assassinated Jean-Paul Marat in his bathtub in Paris on July 13, 1793
- Tried and sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Tribunal
- Guillotined on July 17, 1793, at the age of 24, on the Place de la Révolution
Works & Achievements
A political text written by Charlotte Corday before her departure for Paris, in which she justifies her forthcoming act as a civic deed to save the Republic from the excesses of the Terror. Found among her belongings at the time of her arrest, this document is the principal testimony to her political thinking.
A deeply moving letter written from her prison cell between the 13th and 16th of July, in which she asks her father's forgiveness while affirming the righteousness of her convictions. This document reveals her clarity of mind and composure in the face of a death she knew to be certain.
At her trial, which lasted only a few hours, Charlotte Corday defended her act alone, rejecting any suggestion of accomplices and claiming full individual responsibility. This oral testimony, transcribed in the judicial archives, struck contemporaries with its clarity and coherence.
A letter addressed to the Girondin deputy requesting a letter of introduction for Paris — the first concrete step in carrying out her plan. This letter proves that her act was premeditated several weeks in advance.
Anecdotes
On the morning of July 13, 1793, Charlotte Corday bought an ordinary kitchen knife at the Palais-Royal market in Paris for two francs. She had only arrived in the capital two days earlier from Caen, carrying with her a letter of introduction for a Girondin deputy. No one suspected her intentions.
To gain entry to Marat's home, Corday claimed to have information about a list of Girondin traitors hiding in Normandy. Marat, suffering from a severe skin condition, was working in his medicinal bathtub — a special arrangement that allowed him to continue writing his revolutionary newspaper despite the pain. It was in this position that she stabbed him in the heart.
At her trial before the Revolutionary Tribunal on July 17, 1793, Charlotte Corday maintained a remarkable composure that astonished those present. She refused to implicate any accomplice, proudly declaring that she had acted alone and with full awareness of what she was doing. She was just 24 years old when she was guillotined that same day.
The painter Jacques-Louis David, then a member of the Convention, visited Marat's bedside just hours after the assassination. From this tragic scene was born his masterpiece *The Death of Marat*, painted in a matter of weeks, which transformed the victim into a martyr of the Revolution. Charlotte Corday, the killer, vanishes from the painting — only the letter she had handed him remains visible.
Before leaving Caen for Paris, Charlotte Corday wrote a farewell letter to her father, asking his forgiveness for the pain she was about to cause him. She also wrote a political declaration titled *Address to the French People, Friends of Law and Peace*, which she intended to distribute after the act, explaining her Girondin motives. This document was found on her when she was arrested immediately afterward.
Primary Sources
Forgive me, dear Father, for having disposed of my life without your permission. I have avenged many innocent victims, and prevented many more disasters. The people, once disillusioned, will rejoice at being delivered from a tyrant.
I alone conceived and executed this plan. I needed no one's help to carry out a well-made resolution. I knew that Marat was a villain; I killed one man to save a hundred thousand.
How many more innocents will perish if you do not rise up! Peaceful citizens, if you love the law and your homeland, know that the time has come to act against those who would plunge France into civil war and despotism.
I thank you, citizen, for the letter you gave me for Duperret. I am leaving for Paris with the hope of rendering my homeland a signal service. I count on your discretion.
Key Places
Birthplace of Charlotte Corday on July 27, 1768, born into a modest Norman noble family descended from the playwright Pierre Corneille. She grew up in a rural setting steeped in aristocratic and religious values.
Charlotte Corday was a boarder here from around 1782 to 1791, receiving a careful religious and literary education. It was in the abbey's library that she discovered Plutarch, Rousseau, and the great Enlightenment authors who shaped her convictions.
The city where Charlotte Corday was living in 1793 during the Girondin federalist uprising against Paris. It was through her contact with Girondin deputies who had taken refuge in Caen that she hardened her resolve to act against Marat.
The home address of Jean-Paul Marat, where Charlotte Corday stabbed him on July 13, 1793. She had to insist twice before being admitted, claiming to have information about Girondin traitors in Normandy.
The site where the guillotine stood during the Terror, and where Charlotte Corday was executed on July 17, 1793 at the age of 24 — just four days after the assassination of Marat. Thousands of people attended these public executions.