Damiens was born in a village near Arras in Artois, and enlisted in the army at an early age. After his discharge, he became a domestic servant at the college of the Jesuits in Paris, and was dismissed from this as well as from other employments for misconduct, earning him the epithet of Robert le Diable (Robert the Devil). During the disputes of Pope Clement XI with the Parlement of Paris, Damien's mind seems to have been excited by the ecclesiastical ferment which followed the refusal of the clergy to grant the sacraments to the Jansenists and Convulsionnaires; and he appears to have thought that peace would be restored by the death of the King. He, however, asserted, perhaps with truth, that he only intended to frighten the King without wounding him severely.
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Damiens was born in a village near Arras in Artois, and enlisted in the army at an early age. After his discharge, he became a domestic servant at the college of the Jesuits in Paris, and was dismissed from this as well as from other employments for misconduct, earning him the epithet of Robert le Diable (Robert the Devil). During the disputes of Pope Clement XI with the Parlement of Paris, Damien's mind seems to have been excited by the ecclesiastical ferment which followed the refusal of the clergy to grant the sacraments to the Jansenists and Convulsionnaires; and he appears to have thought that peace would be restored by the death of the King. He, however, asserted, perhaps with truth, that he only intended to frighten the King without wounding him severely.
© Copyright Wikipédia authors - This article is under licence CC BY-SA 3.0