A young man of 20 years old will die.
July 1st, 1766. Abbeville. François Jean Lefebvre, knight of the Barre, is 20 years old and he is going to die. He is handsome and insolent. A "libertine". He read sulphurous books and supported the encyclopedia. The court of Abbeville condemned him for "impiety, blasphemy, execrable and abominable sacrilege" at the end of an iniquitous trial.
Suspected of blasphemy, he was sentenced to death.
What triggered this trial were two blasphemies. Stabbing the crucifix on a bridge. A pile of filth on a representation of Christ in the cemetery. These acts unleashed a torrent of anger and hatred. A botched investigation was conducted and the ideal culprits were found. They had to be libertines. Freethinkers". And Le Chevalier de la Barre and his friends are known for that. Two of the Chevalier's friends ran away. He stayed. There is no proof.
What condemns La Barre, however, is his reputation as a free spirit who mocked religion. After a botched trial the Chevalier de la Barre was found guilty of blasphemy. Nothing could save him. Louis XV did not grant a pardon. That summer day in 1766, after torturing him, they cut out his tongue. His head was cut off and his body was burned, not without adding a book by Voltaire to the stake. A way to remind philosophers that they cannot say everything.
