About

A former Oratorian priest and constitutional curé, Joseph Le Bon left the priesthood and married in 1792. After serving as mayor of Arras, he entered the Convention in July 1793 as a substitute deputy for Pas-de-Calais. Sent as a representative on mission to Pas-de-Calais and the Nord, he reorganised local authorities and closely supervised the revolutionary tribunals operating at Arras and Cambrai, approving juror lists and intervening in their proceedings. By July 1794, these tribunals had sent more than five hundred people to the guillotine. Recalled and arrested after 9 Thermidor, Le Bon was tried at Amiens on fourteen charges arising from his conduct on mission. Convicted of abuses of authority, he was guillotined there on 16 October 1795. Many stories of personal cruelty circulated during his prosecution, while the familiar image of him drinking blood originated in hostile pamphlets and allegorical prints rather than contemporary evidence of an actual incident.