Who is behind Key to the Bastille?
Shows documented founders, leaders, board members, funders and owners.
Not who made decisions, or why.
A connection is not evidence of wrongdoing.
On the record
Sourced links that no one presents as their own account, as recorded so far. Others may exist.
Owners
-
Marquis de Lafayette
acquired
Jul 1789
Primary record
1
The editors write "supposedly" of how the key came to him.
- George Washington acquired Aug 1790 Primary record 1
Proof 1 source
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To George Washington from Lafayette, 17 March 1790, National Archives, Founders Online, 17 Mar 1790.
Primary record
Archived copy
The key sent by Lafayette to GW was the main key to the Bastille, supposedly carried from the Bastille to the Paris town hall after the fall of the prison on 14 July 1789 and there presented to Lafayette.
The two gifts, together with letters from Lafayette and Paine, arrived in New York in August 1790
How this answer is built
Lines on the record come first: sourced links that no one presents as their own account, each with its strongest source. Then every account recorded here gets its own column, A to Z, none ranked above another. A column quotes only that account's own words and shows the strength of its own sources. Disputed lines are listed apart, with the reason, and lines still being verified come last. Neither is counted. Withdrawn lines are never shown.
When a list is longer than the page shows, the links the public methodology ranks strongest stay (methodology 0.3), and the rest open in the explorer.
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