# Flight to Varennes (1791)

URL: https://history-france.com/timeline/1791-flight-to-varennes
Location: Varennes-en-Argonne

Louis XVI’s failed attempt to escape shattered confidence in the constitutional monarchy. Within the broader French Revolution period, The Revolution dismantled legal privilege and absolute monarchy, declared new rights and created a republic. War, popular mobilization, civil conflict and political terror repeatedly transformed the revolutionary state. At this point in the timeline, the relevant governing authority is Louis XVI (King of France). Flight to Varennes is a useful marker in the longer transformation of political authority, society and culture in France. The event is positioned here so visitors can read it alongside changes in government, warfare, society, religion, culture and France’s wider international setting.

## Why it matters
Flight to Varennes is a useful marker in the longer transformation of political authority, society and culture in France.

Ruler at the time: [Louis XVI](https://history-france.com/rulers/louis-xvi)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia topic lookup — Flight to Varennes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=Flight+to+Varennes&go=Go)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — Flight to Varennes](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Flight+to+Varennes)
- [Vie-publique — French institutions and history](https://www.vie-publique.fr/)