Talk:Charles-Henri Sanson

Possible source

I came to this page to read up on Sanson after running across his name in an ethics paper by Arthur Isak Applbaum. He makes reference to him as a good executioner but an evil man with references to Applbaum's 1995 and 1999 papers. I don't have these papers at my disposal but I figured someone who is working on this page might appreciate the reference. Warhorus 17:44, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

Henri Sanson

I would like to mention that I have a contemporary newspaper of Louis XVI death, it is reported in the paper that the executioner was called Henri Sauson. I do not know if this is a reporting error as if you say Sanson with a French accent it does sound like Sauson.

You can't be serious! If you pronounce "Sanson" and "Sauson" in French (not using some obscure imaginary French accent from Hollywood movies), the two words sound *very* different. Just line "laws on" and "low son" in English sound very different. Of course, some guy who only knows French though the ridiculous hypothetical French accent commonly cliched in the US comedy shows could not possibly realize that. Why? Because the sounds "an" and "on" in French cannot be pronounced by anglophones who don't have them in their language. The "s" is "Sanson" is as in "ross" while the "s" in Sauson is as "rose" (because it is caught between two vowels). Most likely, "Sauson" was a misprint. Indeed, it is well-known in France that Sanson is the name of the state executioners (in France, while the death penalty was still in effect, i.e. until 1981, the job of executioner was hereditary). 84.72.92.4 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 21:33, 27 February 2009 (UTC).

I just thought that I would add this to see if anyone knows anymore as to whether this is correct or just the reporters error.

Well, considering 1) I am not American nor very familiar with Hollywood French accents and 2) I have been learning French for five years in England, the pronounciation of 'San' which would have a nasal sound on the 'n' could account for the reported 'Sau' in the newspaper article, the reporter may have just written the name phonetically as he would not be familiar with the phonemes in French, especially if he didn't speak it. Therefore he could have used anglophones to represent the sounds he was hearing. So there is the strong possibility that it is simply a typo.

The 's' in Sauson couldn't be pronounced /z/ as in 'rose' as there is no 'e' following it to elongate the sound. So it would remain an /s/ sound as in 'ross'. Just because it is caught between two vowels does not elongate the sound. Unless you are talking about the sound made in French? As the rule you have described does not apply in English. This spelling pattern; VCV would only serve to elongate the first vowel sound (however this could be one of the many exceptions to the rule, there always is one in English!), but due the fact that the 'a' preceeding the 'u' in 'au' creates a diphthong it is more likely to shorten the consonantal sound.

Not knowing alot about French history it is interesting to know that Sanson is the name of the executioners, I was not aware that the job of executioner was passed down through the generations. That then highlights more validity towards the name being Sanson (especially if it is well known in France) and the spelling Sauson being a typo in the text.

If you are interested the newspaper is the Times, dated; Saturday January 26th 1793. —Preceding unsigned comment added by ERB20 (talk • contribs) 23:15, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

ERB20

Wrong dates

Either the father or the son in this article have had their associated dates altered by a century... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.183.135.166 (talk) 01:33, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

Im confuzed

i dont know which Charles- Henri-Sanson was an executioner during the french revolution. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.161.145.44 (talk) 23:54, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

I created a "Family History" section to help with the geneaology. For easy reference, here's a list:

• Charles Sanson
• Charles Sanson II
• Charles John Baptiste Sanson
• Charles Henri Sanson ("The Great Sanson" of the Revolution)
• Henri Sanson
• Henri Clement Sanson

As usual with foreign names, spelling changes sometimes from source to source: "Henri" can be "Henry", "John" can be "Jean", and "Henri Clement" is sometimes inverted to "Clement Henri". SteveStrummer (talk) 21:26, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Had no choice

According to a book I've just finished reading, "Legacy of Death," by a woman named Levy, the Sansons had no choice but to be executioners. Any Sanson who attempted another profession found himself shunned when his identity was discovered, and had little choice but to re-apply to his former trade. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 132.156.43.8 (talk) 13:06, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

Was he a Christian or a Jew?

What was his religion? --Alfred Klose (talk) 15:39, 31 July 2013 (UTC)

According to the (often dubious, but in this regard reliable) memoirs of his grandson, the Sanson family was Catholic Christian. They simply wouldn't have been appointed to a royal office of that kind had they been otherwise. --Saddhiyama (talk) 18:13, 31 July 2013 (UTC)

The Sansons most probably were Christian. However, there are sources to attest that Jews served as executioners in other European countries. For instance, an executioner in Hamburg in the 16th century was called Rosenfeld, which is usually not a Christian name. --Steinireyk (talk) 14:25, 29 June 2016 (UTC)

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