DAMIENS, ROBERT FRANgOIS French man who made an attempt on the life of Louis XV. on Jan. 5, 1757. As the king was entering his carriage, he rushed forward and stabbed him with a knife, inflicting only a slight wound. His mind seems to have been unhinged by the ecclesiastical contro versies of the moment. He was condemned as a regicide, and sen tenced to be torn in pieces by horses in the Place de Greve. Be fore being put to death he was barbarously tortured.
See Pieces originales et procedures du proces fait a Robert Francois Damiens (Paris, 1757).