Governor of the Bastille he wrote to the Lieutenant-General of Police: "The head of Monsieur La Riviere is always heated and I begin to despair that his poor head may not heal without the remedy ... With profound respect ... " On the sidelines the magistrate wrote: "To hang" Bernard-Rene Jourdan de Launay was the last Governor of the Bastille and took his post in October 1776. He paid Jumilhac 300,000 livres for his post as governor. The Marquis de Launay was born in the Bastille in 1740. His father, René Jourdan de Launay, had already been governor for twelve years and died there
French Revolution a symbol of royal power. After several hours of combat, the prison fell that afternoon. Despite ordering a ceasefire, which prevented a mutual massacre, Governor Marquis Bernard-René de Launay was beaten, stabbed and decapitated; his head was placed on a pike and paraded about the city. Although the fortress had held only seven prisoners (four forgers, two noblemen kept for immoral behaviour, and a murder suspect) the Bastille served as a potent symbol of everything hated under the "Ancien Régime". Returning to the Hôtel de Ville (city hall), the mob accused the "prévôt des marchands" (roughly, mayor) Jacques de Flesselles