A Case Study of the Suicide of Luis Mendès France, in Bordeaux, in 1695

Abstract

After being condemned and imprisoned in Lisbon by the Portuguese Inquisition, Luis Mendès de França exiled himself in late 1683 to France, where his descendants adopted the family name Mendès France. In 1695, at the age of 55 years, Luis Mendès committed suicide in Bordeaux by a pistol shot that decapitated him. The inquest conducted at that time concluded that Luis Mendès was insane and thus not guilty of the crime of suicide. We hypothesize that he used a flint stone-type pistol loaded with an extraordinarily large quantity of black gunpowder. Using available information on historic firearms, ammunition, and powder, coupled with the preserved testimony of historic figures, we propose a reconstruction of this drama and a diagnostic approach to the psychiatric aspects of the suicide.