Marie-Maurille de Sombreuil

Maurille de Sombreuil, also referred to as Marie-Maurille de Sombreuil or Mademoiselle de Sombreuil (1767 – 15 May 1823), was a French and daughter of Charles François de Virot de Sombreuil. Sombreuil and her father were imprisoned at Prison de l'Abbaye during the September Massacres in 1792, and her father was almost executed by the crowd. According to legend, Sombreuil made a deal with the to drink a glass of blood in exchange for her father's life. Other versions of the story say that she merely drank a glass of wine stained with blood. Still, she became known as the or "the heroine of the glass of blood", and the legend of her bravery inspired poetry and art.

During the Reign of Terror in 1793, Sombreuil's father and brother Stanislas were arrested. Accused of counter-revolutionary activity, they were convicted alongside 52 other defendants and guillotined while being made to wear the , or red robe, of "assassins". Without the support of her family, Sombreuil struggled financially and ultimately had to sell her family's . She married her cousin Count Charles de Villelume, an émigré, and lived in exile in England and Germany until they were eventually able to return to France. After she died, her heart was transferred to the Musée de l'Armée in Les Invalides and displayed in a funeral urn.

Biography

Early life

Maurille de Sombreuil was born in the autumn of 1767 at in Bonnac-la-Côte. She was baptized as Jeanne-Jacques-Marie-Anne-Françoise on 14 February 1768. However, her family preferred to call her Maurille, after her godfather. Her father Charles François de Virot de Sombreuil was a general under Louis XVI and governor of in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, and her mother was Marie-Magdeleine des Flottes de Leychoisier. She had two younger brothers: (born 1768) and Charles Eugène (born 1770).

Heroine of the glass of blood (1792)

On 16 August 1792, Sombreuil's father Charles François de Virot was arrested for participating in the defense of Tuileries Palace and imprisoned in the Prison de l'Abbaye. Fearing for the health of her elderly father, she requested and was granted permission to be jailed alongside him. As soon as she drank the contents of the glass, the legend says that the crowd cheered and dropped their weapons. Thereafter, she was referred to as "" or "the heroine of the glass of blood", and her story inspired artists and writers, including Jacques Delille and Victor Hugo. She is buried at . In 1851, her heart was transferred to the in Les Invalides, where it remains on display in a funeral urn. Jean Duplessis-Bertaux engraved a scene showing Sombreuil defending her father, captioned with two lines from Legouvé's poem: .

Poetry

Victor Hugo wrote "La Mort de Mademoiselle de Sombreuil" in his Odes et Ballades. Gabriel-Marie Legouvé dedicated a stanza to Sombreuil in . Jacques Delille referenced Sombreuil's legend in La Pitié, Chant III, verse 13.