‘I killed one man to save 100,000’ – Charlotte Corday

In Paris on 13 July 1793, Charlotte Corday gained admission to the flat of Jean-Paul Marat and, after a 15-minute conversation with Marat while he was in the bath, stabbed him to death.

Corday was a supporter of the Girondins and witnesses claim that she clearly hated Marat and the Montagnards

The assassination of Marat was a major factor in creating the paranoid atmosphere that led to the ‘Reign of Terror’.

Included below are three newspaper articles from 1793 that report on the assassination, the trial of Corday (spelt Corde in the reports) and the funeral of Marat – and we’ve also included an illustration of Marat, Robespierre and Danton.

Oxford Journal – Saturday 27 July 1793

Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000073/17930727/004/0001

Hereford Journal – Wednesday 31 July 1793

Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000398/17930731/007/0002

Newcastle Courant – Saturday 10 August 1793

Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000085/17930810/012/0002

The Graphic – Saturday 02 May 1874

Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000057/18740502/012/0009