Marquis Bernard-Rene Jourdan de Launay (8 April 1740 – 14 July 1789) was a French nobleman who was Governor of the Bastille from 1776 until his death in 1789.
Biography[]
Bernard-Rene Jourdan was the son of the Marquis of Launay and was appointed to an honorary position in the musketeers at the age of eight. He replaced the governor Jumilhac as governor of the Bastille prison in 1776 and was not only in charge of the prisoners but also the vast gunpowder storage under the castle.
Death[]
Launay's head on a pike
Launay was the Governor of the Bastille during the time of the outbreak of rioting. In July 1789, the rioting people of Paris stormed the armory and armed themselves with 15,000 muskets; they had no gunpowder to fire their guns. They resolved to storm the Bastille prison and take advantage of the gunpowder storages in the basement. Launay ordered his men to fire on the crowds, who were heavily-equipped, starting a battle. The storming of the Bastille of 14 July 1789 was the flashpoint of the French Revolution, and the people of Paris were aided in the storming by Arno Dorian, a member of the Assassin Order. Dorian killed all of Launay's accompanying soldiers, and Launay threatened to blow up some gunpowder barrels (which would kill both him and Arno), but he was scared to do so, and Arno put out the light on the stick. Launay was spared by Arno, but was left to the mercy of the crowd. He surrendered, but when he kneed an unemployed cook in the groin, the crowd beheaded him and his head was mounted on a pike.