rbzpr

[rbzpr]

civique

As I recently ended my previous project, rbzpr, I want to introduce my new blog: civique. On it, I will share bits and pieces of my research, which is focused on the French Revolution. While my former blog was based on translating various primary & secondary sources, as well as on doing extensive independent research – which is no longer feasible in this form, as I explained here –, this blog will be my place to share interesting books, quotes and images that I stumble upon in the course of my historical studies at university, as well as of my own research; thus, it will me a bit more informal and casual than my old blog.

[rbzpr]

I just wanted to say how much I appreciate this blog! I've studied the French Revolution non-stop for about 2 years now, it's one of my great passions. I've always wanted to find more resources and English translations of sources I have wanted to read. This blog is really helpful!

Hello, citizen! Thanks for your message, as well as for your kind words. :) It has always been my intention to contribute to making more sources available to non-Francophone people, so I am really glad to hear that you appreciate my work. In any case, as I finished my work on this blog some time ago, you may want to check out my new blog civique, where I will continue to share bits and pieces from my research. (There’s not much there yet, but I am working on it.)

Again, thanks for your message! Have a nice day, citizens!

[rbzpr]

Sansculottides: Jour du Travail

The fête du travail should be focused on industry, physical labour, and production of useful things.

In honour of this holiday, I will list some of my works & projects about the Revolution.

RBZPR: Introduction

Robespierre’s Notebook

Session of 9 Thermidor

French Revolution Wikipedia Project

Fragments on the Republican Institutions

Regicide

Digital Art

Paris & the Revolution

French Republican Calendar CCXXIV

Robespierre’s Speech of 8 Thermidor

Translations: Writings & Speeches

Sansculottides

Book recommendations

Portraits & Portrayals

Who’s Your Favourite?

The Historical Inaccuracy of Assassin’s Creed Unity

Thermidor: Another Point of View

Saint-Just’s Notes 

French Revolution: The Cartoon

Robespierre’s Notes against the Dantonists

Desmoulins’ Notes on the Report of  Saint-Just

Playing Cards of the French Republic

Revolutionary Bookmarks

eBooks on the Revolution

Statistics on the Terror

Robespierre’s Periods of Illness 

Robespierre’s speech of 1 Thermidor

Revolutionary Artworks by Béricourt

Revolutionary Timetables

Robespierrisme: History Project

Currently Reading

Fabre d’Églantine on the Sansculottides

1789 - 1795

Couthon’s Speech of 6 Thermidor

Robespierrisme: Literature on the French Revolution

Éléonore Duplay: Research Project

Saint-Just (Friedrich Nietzsche, 1862)

Revolutionary Playing Cards

Robespierre (movie)

Revolutionary Women of 1789

Revolutionary Terror & Terrorism

Google: People also ask

Game of the French Revolution

Revolutionary Women: Françoise Dupont

Robespierre (Albert Mathiez)

French Revolution: Primary Sources

Manuscripts of Robespierre

Robespierre’s books on 9 Thermidor

Tableaux civiques

Ici on s’honore du titre de citoyen

Couthon: History Project

Republican Marriage

The Triumph of the Montagne

“The Reign of Terror”: Myths & Misconceptions

Georges Couthon: Biography

Danton’s Corruption: Research Project

Fragment of a poem on the handkerchief (M. Robespierre)

Revolutionary vignettes

Republican Education: Learning to Read & Write

Hymn on the abolition of slavery

French Republican Pedagogy

The Defender of the Constitution: Translation Project

Hymn of the Montagnards to the Jacobins

Revolutionary school supplies

Mournful song of a mother

A comedy, The converted Aristocrat (Georges Couthon)

French Revolution: Who was … ?

Citoyennes

The Origins of the Jacobin Club

Report of the Committees of Public Safety & General Security on the “conspiracy of Robespierre etc.” (10 Thermidor, Year II)

Robespierre on the Abolition of the Death Penalty

Robespierre’s notes on different deputies

Departure of the French Amazons (1792)

Louis Antoine Saint-Just: Biography

Civic clothing by Jacques-Louis David

Augustin Bon Joseph Robespierre: Biography

Philippe François Joseph Lebas: Biography

The first abolition of slavery in 1794

Notes written by Robespierre

Nobility & racism under the Ancien Régime

Robespierre on the Cult of the Supreme Being (7 May 1794)

RBZPR: Anniversary

Maximilien Robespierre: Contextualizing Quotes

Bulletin des Lois (#29): 9 Thermidor, Year II

Revolutionary drinking song (1793)

Session of 9 Thermidor at the National Convention

Discover Arras: in the footsteps of Robespierre

The Journeys of the bonnet rouge (1792)

Robespierre’s speeches for the Festival of the Supreme Being

Petition for a Robespierre Museum in Arras

Thermidor Project

9 Thermidor

10 Thermidor

Robespierre’s execution: primary accounts

Horace Desmoulins

Barère on Robespierre, Saint-Just, Couthon & Lebas

Sansculottes: Sources

Institutions & Elections

French Revolution: Books & Primary Sources

Garnier de l'Aube

Musée de la Révolution française: 360° Virtual Tour

Revolutionary Initials

French Republican Calendar CCXXV

RBZPR: Chapter I

The Girondins: The September Massacres

The « Girondins » : Moderates?

Session of 16 Pluviôse, Year II (4 February 1794)

Decree on the abolition of slavery (4 February 1794)

Women’s roles in the Revolutionary Army

Women in the Revolutionary Army

David’s La Mort de Marat

Session of the Jacobin Club on 3 Thermidor, Year II

Robespierre and the “Reign of Terror”

The Abolition of Slavery: primary & secondary sources

Robespierre’s “catechism”

A Souvenir of the Revolution

The « Deputies of Colour » at the National Convention

Manuscript of Robespierre

French Revolution: Research Kit

On councils (Maximilien Robespierre)

Jean-Baptiste Belley & Jean-Baptiste Mills

La Maison de Robespierre

Robespierre’s intervention in favour of the arrested signatories

Letter of the arrested signatories to Robespierre

The empty cup (Maximilien Robespierre)

The Thermidorians: Research Project

The Carmagnole of the Robespierrists

Admission of the deputies of Saint-Domingue to the National Convention

Procès-verbal of the election of the deputies of Saint-Domingue

La Constitution de la Lune (Le Cousin Jacques)

Wallpapers of the Revolution

Aftermath of Robespierre’s speech of 8 Thermidor

Speech of the young citoyenne Joséphine Fontanier

Proclamation of the Commune of Paris to the French People

Revolutionary Everyday Items

Hanriot’s letter to the adjutant general of the 6th legion (9 Thermidor)

A Revolutionary Coin

Oranges in the late 18th century

Procès-verbal of the session held by the General Council of the Commune (9 Thermidor)

The meaning(s) of patrie in the context of the late 18th century

Revolutionary Buttons

Letter from Charlotte to Augustin Robespierre (18 Messidor Year II)

Letter from Robespierre to an unknown woman (6 June 1788)

Portrait of Robespierre (Merlin de Thionville)

Marie Couthon’s speech (14 July 1790)

The Head or the Ear of a Pig (Romeau)

Couthon’s speech (22 September 1792)

Draft of the French Constitution of 1791: Robespierre’s Annotations

French Republican Calendar: Year CCXXVI

Rousseau and the patrie

Proclamation of the National Convention (9 Thermidor, Year II)

Fréron’s notes on Robespierre

Robespierre against Fouché (26 Messidor Year II)

Report on the “conspiracy” of Robespierre &c. (9 Thermidor, Year II)

Mourir en député (1792 - 1799)

The Infernal Club: First Session (Pilpay)

Syllabaire républicain (Anonymous)

Robespierre on the assassination attempts (6 Prairial, Year II)

Robespierre’s proposed reforms of the Constitution (July 1792)

Léonard Bourdon at the National Convention (10 Thermidor, Year II)

Dialogue of the Tigress Antoinette with the Guillotine (1793)

Robespierre’s Tail (Méhée de La Touche)

Jean Debry’s proposed Legion of Tyrannicides (26 August 1792)

The Constitution of 1793 or The Fulfilled Vows

Execrable Portraits of the traitor Robespierre &c. (Dussault)

Barras on the journées of Thermidor (27 Thermidor, Year II)

A Relic of Thermidor

The Mountain (Anonymous, 1794)

Hymn of the Citizens of Colour (1794)

Facts collected in the last moments of Robespierre and of his faction, from 9 to 10 Thermidor (Anonymous)

On the fall of Robespierre and his accomplices (C. Dejean)

Barère on the reorganisation of the Committees (14 Thermidor, Year II)

Barère’s defence of the Revolutionary Government against the charge of dictatorship (11 Germinal, Year II)

Anonymous letter to Robespierre

Augustin Robespierre to the Comité de Surveillance (22 April 1793)

On Robespierre’s conspiracy (Rouget de Lisle)

The Montagnards (A. Valcour)

Program of the Festival of Liberty (1795)

The tomb of the sans-culottes (Ducray-Duminil)

Medical report on Georges Couthon’s injuries (10 Thermidor, Year II)

Foussedoire, Representative of the People (1794)

The Republican Months (1794)

Speech of Citoyenne Lucidor Corbin (30 Pluviôse, Year II)

Food for thought for the crowned charlatans (1793)

A Republican Tradition: Calf’s Head on 21 January

Response to Le Réveil du Peuple (Year III)

légende noire: archive project

Procès-verbal of the General Council (23 Pluviôse, Year II)

(updated: 16/02/2018)

[rbzpr]

Medallion of Robespierre (David d’Angers)

In profile facing to the right, Robespierre’s face has a different expression, moreover [his head] is crowned by an oak crown with the most beautiful effect. David d'Angers could not have paid a more significant homage to the Incorruptible. He remembered that Robespierre had really received an oak crown from the people, and he wanted to consecrate this memory of the heroic times of the Revolution. It was on 30 September 1791, the day when the Constituent Assembly ended its glorious career. At four o’clock the president Thouret rose, and, amidst a religious silence, delivered these words: « The National Assembly declares that it has fulfilled its mission, and that all of its sessions are closed. » The deputies left, and an immense crowd expected them on the terrace of the Tuileries.

« Robespierre », Ernest Hamel wrote, « was well-known and well recognisable, since his portrait was exhibited in the windows of all printsellers. When he appeared, offering his arm to Pétion, then his faithful friend, one surrounded both of them; one embraced them ; and, amidst cries of Long live liberty! Long live the nation!, one placed oak crowns on their heads. A mother, having a very young child in her arms, broke through the crowd, went straight to Robespierre and placed it in his hands, as if she had wanted that this father of liberty blesses, through her child, the new generation [that] had the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of the Revolution. Visibly moved, Pétion and Robespierre sought to evade this triumph, all the more honourable for them as it was completely spontaneous, and attempted to slip away via a bystreet... »

Les portraits de Robespierre (Hippolyte Buffenoir), chapter II, in: Annales révolutionnaires, vol. 1, p. 460.

Source: cautopates

[rbzpr]

Procès-verbal of the session of the General Council of the Commune (23 Pluviôse, Year II)

Excerpt from the procès-verbal of the session of the General Council of the Commune of 23 Pluviôse, Year II of the Republic.

The three Representatives of the People, deputies from the Colonies, the one black, the other métis, and the third white, enter the General Council of the Commune, and, in the name of their constituents, they present the feelings of affection and esteem that the virtues [and] the courage of the people of Paris and of its magistrates have inspired in them.

Speech of the métis Deputy at the General Council of the Commune of Paris.

Citizens Magistrates of the people,

We come to consolidate a pact of union and fraternity with the people of Paris, in the name of the 6 or 7 hundred thousand individuals who inhabit Saint-Domingue ; it has started the revolution, it has fought the tyrant, it has overthrown despotism, and it has served the cause of liberty and equality so well, that the Republic is finally one and indivisible. We come to pay the homage of our administration to it, for its glorious works and for its successes ; it is by hearing the account of its efforts [and] of its victories, that we have found, within ourselves, the energy which characterises the free man, the republican, and which was smothered by the degradation wherein we were buried. It is to the progress of the spirit which it has developed, that we owe the fortunate regeneration which has, firstly, made us citizens, and which finally comes to restore the name men to our brothers, in exchange for the one of slaves. This odious word will no longer sully the dictionary of the French ; henceforth, there will, in all parts of France, only be a people of friends and brothers.

The name of the People of Paris will, in our memory, eternally unite with the idea of liberty, of the French Republic, of the National Convention, and with the one of the submission and the inalterable attachment to one's laws.

People of Paris, these are the feelings that I present to you, in the name of my brothers, and I present them in the hands of your magistrates.

Signed, MILLS.

Speech of the black deputy.

Citizens,

I was a slave in my childhood. 36 years ago, I became free through my industry ; I was bought [by] myself. Since, in the course of my life, I felt worthy of being French.

I served my patrie with the esteem of my leaders of the last war, in the campaign of New England, under General d'Estaing. In the very memorable days of the last 20 and 21 June (old style), when the traitor Galbaud, at the head of the counter-revolutionaries, wanted to have the delegates of France slaughtered ; I armed myself with my brothers in order to defend them ; my blood flowed for the French Republic, for the noble cause of liberty: I do not claim to make myself a merit out of it, I only did my duty.

Having barely escaped the dangers of my wounds, I was appointed, by my concitoyens, in order to represent them in France and to bring you the homage of their devotion and their eternal fidelity to the French Nation ; citizens, these are my only titles ; this is my glory.

I have only one thing to tell you: it is the tricolour flag that has called us to liberty ; it is under its auspices that we have regained this liberty, our heritage and the treasure of our posterity ; as [long as] a single drop of blood will be left in our veins, I swear to you, in the name of my brothers, that this flag will always float on our shores and in our mountains.

Signed, BELLEY.

Speech of the white deputy.

Citizens,

When all French [people] were free, between 6 and 7 hundred thousand individuals were still slaves in Saint-Domingue, and just as many on our other islands. – They were surrounded by evils ; they were on French territory as in a foreign country ; they did not have the permission to have a patrie ; they fertilised French soil ; they contributed to the prosperity of the metropolis, and they did not draw any benefit from their sweat ; they did not have anything, not even hope.

I have had the pleasure of pleading their cause, and of attaching them to France ; the National Convention has been their liberator, it has broken their chains, it has restored the Rights of Man to them ; for them, misfortune is not eternal: nature lies in the joy of seeing such a beautiful triumph ; my happiness is complete.

In addition to my bliss, having been born in Paris, I find myself amidst my concitoyens, my compatriots ; I have nothing left to desire, if not their esteem, and to prove myself worthy of them in the Convention ; and until my last breath, I will be [worthy], I swear it, and I will keep my oaths.

Signed, DUFAY.

The president responds: « Citizens, the Rights of Man were violated for a long time ; crooks [and] kings had, through a long slavery, debased humankind ; they did not blush about trading humans. Thanks to our sacred revolution, we have recovered our rights, [and] we will keep them ; unite with us ; let us form an unwavering faisceau ; let us vow the death of the tyrants. Soon, our pledges will be fulfilled, and earth, [having been] purged of the monsters that sully it, will henceforth only offer the touching sight of truly free men. »

Then, CHAUMETTE takes the floor, and says: 

« In the days when, for pusillanimous souls, it was dangerous to proclaim the Rights of Man and to apply them to People of Colour, the Commune of Paris, braving both prejudices and fears, dared to welcome, in its midst, the victims of egotism, and received from them, as a reward for their attachment, the flag that you see hanging over our heads. The visit of our brothers, the deputies of Saint-Domingue, compensates us today for the feigned disdain that we have experienced, when, at the bar of the National Convention, we led the Americans, preceded by a woman of 114 years of age..., a woman who bore the trace of a century of misfortunes on her face, of a century of crimes on behalf of our unfortunate fathers, or rather the seal of their own enslavement ; but then, the Convention was not itself: it could only dedicate its efforts to delivering the French People from the tyranny of the federalists who infected everything, even the senate itself.

I remember it well, it was the year after the expulsion of the kings, that Rome, upon the motion of Valerius Publicola, pronounced the laws on the liberation [of the slaves] ; and, among us, it was in the year after the death of the tyrant, that the very name slave has been destroyed.

Citizens, we have more than one Valerius Publicola, more than all his assembled works: we have a National Convention, which does not content itself with making laws on the liberation, but which, with a single word, pronounced the abolition of slavery ; we have a Publicola Convention!... long live the Convention... long live the Publicola Convention!... (The people from the tribunes repeats it.) Long live the Publicola Convention!...

And you, men from the Colonies, applaud with us to the works of a new people which wants to make our concitoyens forget the crimes of the old man ; no, no, the murderous nabot will no longer crush the ankle of the unfortunate slave's foot. Ah! he shall depart immediately, this fortunate being, which, as the voice of our legislators, will also be the voice of the sacred laws or nature in our Colonies ; he shall fly, he shall cry Liberty! – He shall advance in the home of arrogant avidity ; he shall set forth with the speed of light upon the barbarous piqueur, while crying: stop, you wretch, you are striking a free man...

Oh you, unfortunate mothers, obliged to curse your fertility, rest assured, your children will be citizens ; the source of crimes is exhausted: no, you will no longer smother your children in order to shield them from slavery and from the murderous whip ; you will no longer smother them in order to shield them from the long ordeal of life ; you will nourish them for the patrie, you will nourish them so that they can enjoy their liberty and bless their liberators. And you, Black Men, you... (I must use your expression) you will no longer swallow your tongue, in order to be able to hide your degradation and your torments under the tomb ; on the contrary, you will preserve them in order to pronounce the death sentence of tyranny, in order to inveigh against your oppressors, regardless of the skin with which nature has covered them ; you will preserve them in order to proclaim, in both worlds, the immortal declaration of the Rights of Man, [which has been] buried for you for too long under the jumble of astute speeches, and the tiresome paperwork of the long process of humanity against despotism.

For you, Commune of Paris, enjoy, for a moment, the little good that you have done. It is nothing, this is true, in comparison with what our Legislators have done ; but nature, which makes the Cedar of the Lebanon grow, also grants asylum to the simple violet, under the shadowy vaults of our forest. Our legislators deposit, at the feet of the Patrie, at the feet of liberty, the immortal trophies of their glory. Let us gather the humble field flower, and let us also bring our offering to the common divinity. The legislator proclaims, in the name of the French People, the rights of humanity, and marks his works with new good deeds ; we shall be allowed to celebrate them ; let us sing of sacred equality, and our songs shall resound in the mountains of the land of the children of the sun.

One the next Décadi, [30 Pluviôse], as our decrees command, we will assemble with our brothers, in the Temple of Reason, in order to read out the Rights of Man there and to sing the hymns of liberty. Let us also celebrate the abolition of slavery there. I propose that a member of the General Council delivers a speech on this subject, and that this festival is dedicated to celebrating this pleasant period of our revolution. »

The Council, adopting the proposal of the national agent, decides that he will himself be invited to deliver the speech that he proposes ; that all constitutional authorities, the electoral body, the sections, the popular societies, the civil and revolutionary committees, will be invited to this festival: finally, decides that the administration of public works will take the measures [that are] necessary for the order that is to be observed there.

[Brief account of the Festival of 30 Pluviôse]

And on Décadi, 30 Pluviôse, the People of Paris gathered with its magistrates, in the Temple of Reason. The crowd was immense. Upon the arrival of the deputation of the National Convention, which included the deputies of the Colonies, repeated cries of Long live the National Convention, and applause, mingling with the noise of the instruments of war, resounded in the vaults of the building and were repeated outside.

The citoyens and citoyennes of Colour were placed, along with the deputation of the National Convention, in an enclosure [that was] decorated with garlands and crowns.

The ceremony began with an overture by Gossec, performed by the National Institute of Music. The president of the Council then read the declaration of the Rights of Man.

After this reading, another piece of music was performed ; during which the most pleasant effusions of fraternity manifested themselves. Cries of Long live the Republic put an end to this touching scene.

The secrétaire-greffier then read out the analysis of all the beautiful deeds that the past month had witnessed. Another piece of music followed. Finally, Citizen Chaumette delivered [his famous] speech, which was often interrupted by applause: tears of affection flowed from all eyes, they were charming. Once the speech ended, the citizens of colour came to give the kiss of fraternity to the orator. A black child, lifted by the arms [of the citizens] and thus handed over to the Representatives of the People, produced the greatest effect ; but soon, the Men of Colour, followed by the municipality, advanced to the sound of a military march, beside the Representatives of the People, their hands carrying the crowns that they presented to them. It would have been necessary to have seen this beautiful scene, in order to really feel it. Men of all colours, formerly slaves, pressed between the arms of the Representatives of the French People, soaked with their tears... The arms of all spectators raised towards the sky, cries of Long live the Republic, Long live the Convention [were] repeated a thousand times... On this day, the Legislators must have felt how expressive the gratitude of the People is.

After a drum roll, everyone resumed their place, and the Men of Colour, always pressed around the representatives of the People, remained in this attitude, during the Hymn to Liberty, which closed this interesting festival.

Upon leaving the Temple, the crowd had grown outside ; the nearby squares and streets were filled with Republicans who, in their turn, demonstrated their gratitude to the popular representation, as well as the role which they played in the festival that had just been celebrated.

[rbzpr]

This barely surviving plane tree was probably planted in the tiny village of Tamniès, north of Sarlat [in Dordogne], to mark the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. It grows in front of the parish church, from where it was photographed. It is now probably the only living ‘liberty tree’ from that point of the Revolution.

Liberty or Death: The French Revolution (Peter McPhee)

[rbzpr]

Song of the Sans-culottes (circa 1794)

By Aristide Valcour.

Tune: C’est ce qui nous console.

Amis, assez et trop long-tems, / Friends, long enough and for too long,

Sous le règne affreux des tyrans, / Under the awful reign of tyrants,

On chanta les despotes: (bis) / One sang the praises of the despots:

Sous celui de l’Egalité, / Under the one of Equality,

Des Lois et de la Liberté, / Of the Laws and of Liberty,

Chantons les Sans-culottes. (bis) / Let us sing about the Sans-culottes.

Si l’on ne voit plus à Paris / If, in Paris, one no longer sees

Des insolens petits marquis, / Insolent small marquises,

Ni tyrans à calottes, (bis) / Nor tyrants wearing zucchettos,

En brisant ce joug infernal, / If, in breaking this infernal yoke,

Si le pauvre au riche est égal, / The poor is equal to the rich,

C’est grâce aux Sans-culottes. (bis) / It is thanks to the Sans-culottes.

Leurs fronts à la terre attachés, / Their heads, attached to the ground,

Dans la poussière étoient cachés, / Were hidden in the dust,

À l’aspect des despotes: (bis) / In the eyes of the despots:

Levons-nous, ont-ils dit un jour; / Let us rise, they said one day,

A bas, messieurs, chacun son tour: / Down, messieurs, wait your turn:

Vivent les Sans-culottes! (bis) / Long live the Sans-culottes!

Malgré le quatorze juillet, / In spite of 14 July,

Nous étions trompés en effet / We were deceived, in fact,

Par de faux patriotes; (bis) / By false patriots;

II nous falloit la Saint-Laurent, / We needed Saint-Laurent,

Et de ce jour l’évènement / And the event of this day

N’est dû qu’aux Sans-culottes. (bis) / Is only due to the Sans-culottes.

Ce jour fit reculer Brunswick, / This day made Brunswick retreat,

Donna la chasse à Frédéric, / [And] gave chase to Frederick,

A tous leurs nulsifrotes; (bis) / To all their nulsifrotes [sic];

Adieu leur voyage à Paris; / Farewell to their journey to Paris;

Mais pourquoi n’avoient-ils pas pris / But why had they not taken

Conseil des Sans-culottes? (bis) / Advice from the Sans-culottes?

La tête de Capet tomba; / The head of Capet fell;

Son sceptre d’airain se courba / His iron sceptre bowed

Devant les Patriotes. (bis) / Before the Patriots.

Au règne désastreux des rois, / The disastrous reign of the kings,

Succéda le règne des Lois / Is succeeded by the reign of the Laws

De par les Sans-culottes. (bis) / By virtue of the Sans-culottes.

Dumouriez voulut à son tour / Dumoriez wanted, in his turn,

À Paris venir faire un tour / To pay a visit to Paris

Contre les Patriotes; (bis) / Against the Patriots;

C’est que Dumouriez n’avoit pas / But Dumoriez had not

Prévu que ses braves soldats / Foreseen that his brave soldiers

Étoient tous Sans-culottes. (bis) / Were all Sans-culottes.

Des traîtres siegéaient au sénat; / Traitors sat in the senate;

On les nommait hommes d’état; / One called them statesmen;

Ils servaient les despotes: (bis) / They served the despots:

Paris en masse se leva; / Paris rose en masse ;

Tout disparut, il ne resta / They all disappeared, there remain

Que les vrais Sans-culottes. (bis) / Only the true Sans-culottes.

De la montagne, sans efforts, / From the Mountain, effortlessly,

Sortit à l’instant ce trésor, / This treasure comes in this moment,

L’espoir des patriotes: / The hope of the patriots:

Car mes amis, à qui doit-on / For, my friends, to whom do we

Enfin la constitution? / At last owe the constitution?

Aux membres Sans-culottes. (bis) / To the Sans-culotte members.

La première offerte à nous yeux / The first one presented to our eyes,

Était faite pour ces messieurs, / Was made for these messieurs,

Bas valets des despotes; (bis) / Base servants of the despots;

Celle-ci veut l’égalité, / This one wants equality,

Consolide la liberté / Consolidates liberty

Et tout est Sans-culottes. (bis) / And all are Sans-culottes.

Nous l’acceptons avec transport, / We joyfully accept it,

La maintiendrons jusqu’à la mort, / We will preserve it until death,

En dépit des despotes; (bis) / In spite of the despots;

Amis, leur règne va cesser, / Friends, their reign will cease

Et le nôtre va commencer: / And ours will begin

Vivent les Sans-culottes. (bis) Long live the Sans-culottes.

Source: Hymnes adoptées par la section du Panthéon Français [...].

[rbzpr]

The Abolition of Slavery (4 February 1794)

Today marks the anniversary of 4 February 1794 (16 Pluviôse, Year II), when the National Convention voted the aboliton of slavery in all French colonies. In honour of this memorable day, I have compiled some primary and secondary sources concerning the event. Feel free to add things, citizens! 

primary sources:

Speech on the abolition of slavery (Louis-Pierre Dufay)

Session of 16 Pluviôse, Year II

Decree on the abolition of slavery, 16 Pluviôse Year II

Fraternity (Anonymous)

Hymn on the abolition of slavery (Anonymous)

Moi Égal à toi // En Liberté comme toi (Anonymous)

Allegory of the abolition of slavery of 1794 (Anonymous)

Land of Slaves – Land of Liberty (F. Bonneville)

Song of a Liberated Slave (Coupigny)

Speech at the Festival of 30 Pluviôse, Year II (Lucidor Corbin)

Hymn of the Citizens of Colour (Lucidor Corbin)

secondary sources:

Comment la Convention a-t-elle voté l'abolition de l'esclavage […] ? (Yves Bénot)

The first abolition of slavery in 1794 (Luce-Marie Albigès)

The first abolition of slavery

The spirit of ‘89 (Timothy Tackett)

The abolition of slavery (Florence Gauthier)

The festival of the abolition of slavery in Paris (Luce-Marie Albigès)

Have a nice day, citizens! Vive la Révolution!

[rbzpr]

Land of Slaves – Land of Liberty (1794)

Having arrived there, we do not retreat.

Commemoration of the Abolition of Slavery of 4 February 1794.

Attributed to François Bonneville, Bibliothèque nationale de France.

[rbzpr]

Foussedoire, Representative of the People in the Departments of Haut- and Bas-Rhin (1794)

André Foussedoire, a Montagnard deputy en mission, published this address on 19 August 1794. He had been sent on a mission to Alsace in the spring of 1794, in the course of which he implemented a number of (seemingly, rather unpopular) measures. In this address, he attacks the violent prejudice against Jews among citizens of Haut- and Bas-Rhin.

Citizens,

It is with the emphasis of profound indignation that I have to complain about the humiliations that one exercises in these Departments against men that malevolence or ineptitude always endeavour to classify under the denomination Jews. One renews, every day, every moment, these reproaches of agiotage, of usury, of superstition against them, which most of them have ceased to deserve, since the national will, based on natural equity, has returned them to the dignity of their being, & has granted them the glorious title French Citizens.

It has equally been assured to me, that one has gone as far as to say, in the sessions of Popular Societies, that these individuals were all scoundrels [and] crooks; that, within a few days, [and] by decree of the National Convention, they had to be chased from the Republic, & that their debtors were exempted from keeping any commitment towards them; that, in accordance with an order of the Department, contrary to all principles, they have, for a long time, constantly endured a miscarriage of justice; that, in a public auction, an Administrative Commissioner, trampling under foot both the law & his duties, opposed himself to a supposed Jew having a possession, which had fallen to him in the course of bids.

That a tribunal has a tribunal has passed against one of them, who, in truth, was convicted of the offence that he had been warned of, an almost barbarous judgement, whose utterance contains expressions [that are] as hateful as [they are] impolitic, assertions [that are] equally false & counter-revolutionary, & in order to place the last stroke on this rapidly sketched picture, that one has taken indecency as far as to exhume the corpse of one of these men, who, desiring the law, had been deposed in a cemetery.

No doubt, Citizens, these outrageous injustices & these reprehensible excesses sully only a few thoughtless functionaries, [who are] unworthy of your confidence, and a few individuals [who are] blinded by their prejudice or their ignorance; but it is no less urgent to publish them & to take the repressive measures that humanity and justice require under these circumstances.

Citizens, may public censorship be exerted over all those who, irrespective of principles, offend their brothers through hatred or through prejudice; & as for me, when using the authority that I have been entrusted with, I will not forget [to do] anything in order to enforce the law which equally protects all Frenchmen.

Signed, FOUSSEDOIRE.

Source: IMPRIMÉ QUI DÉNONCE TRAITEMENT DES JUIFS EN ALSACE

[rbzpr]

The Republican Months (circa 1794)

Cheveux blancs, le front chauve et le corps tout voûté, White hair, his forehead bare and his body completely stooped,

Nivôse tout transi par la glace arrêté, Nivôse, completely numbed by the ice, stops,

Appelle pluviôse; il l'appelle et le prie Calls for Pluviôse; he calls him and prays him

De fondre les glaçons en répandant la pluie. To melt the icicles by spreading the rain.

Elle tombe, et bientôt dissipant les frimats,  It falls, and soon, dispersing the freezing fogs,

Ventôse invite Flore à revoir nos climats. Ventôse invites Flora to see our climates again.

Le riant germinal féconde les semences, Germinal, laughing, fertilises the seeds,

Promet, fait concevoir de douces espérances;  Promises, [and] makes [them] conceive sweet hopes;

Et Flore, et Floréal , son époux fortuné,  And Flora, and Floréal, her fortunate spouse,

L’un et l'autre le front de roses couronné, Both of their foreheads crowned with roses,

Couvrent de mille fleurs la terre rajeunie. Cover the rejuvenated earth with a thousand flowers,

Voyez-vous prairial reverdir la prairie? Can you see Prairial making the meadow green again?

Messidor a donne le signal aux faneurs, Messidor gave the signal to the haymakers,

Il a remis la faux aux mains des moissonneurs. He put the scythe into the hands of the harvesters again.

Cependant thermidor quand on remplit nos granges, Nonetheless, Thermidor, when one fills our barns,

Colore les raisins et murit les vendanges.  Colours the grapes and ripens the harvest.

O mortels! fructidor, vous comblant de ses dons,  Oh mortals! Fructidor, showering you with his gifts,

Regne sur les côteaux, brille dans les vallons: Reigns over the hills, shines in the vales:

Faites dans vos celliers, amis de la bouteille, Friends of the bottle, make, in your cellars,

Couler les flots ambres du nectar de la treille; The amber floods of the nectar of the vine flow:

Vendémiaire est là du matin jusqu'au soir, Vendémiaire is there, from morning to night,

Qui préside lui-même aux travaux du pressoir:  Who presides over the works of the press himself:

Lui seul peut eclairer la vapeur de brumaire,  He alone can illuminate the vapour of Brumaire,

Et peut rendre plus court le règne de frimaire. And can render the reign of Frimaire shorter.

Source: Poésies révolutionnaires et contre-révolutionnaires, t. 1, p. 164f.

[rbzpr]

Several engravings of Robespierre (1851)

Festival to the Supreme Being, p. 297.

Journée of 9 Thermidor, p. 311.

Robespierre, p. 314.

Robespierre is taken to the Committee of Public Safety, p. 316.

Illustrations from Nicolas Villiaumé’s Histoire de la Révolution française: 1789-1796, third edition, 1851.

[rbzpr]

Festival in honour of the republicans who died on 10 August during the siege of the Château des Tuileries (Anonymous)

Memorial service held in the Tuileries Garden on 26 August 1792 for the patriots that were killed in the attack on the Tuileries.

Musée du Louvre, circa 1792.

Source: Fête à l'honneur des républicains morts le 10 août pendant le siège du château des Tuileries

[rbzpr]

Speech of Citoyenne Lucidor Corbin, delivered at the Temple of Reason (30 Pluviôse, Year II)

This speech was delivered by Lucidor Corbin, a Creole citoyenne, during the Festival of the Abolition of Slavery, which the Paris Commune celebrated at the Temple of Reason (formerly Notre-Dame de Paris) on 30 Pluviôse, Year II. The festival celebrated the decree of 16 Pluviôse, by which the National Convention had abolished slavery in the colonies.

French peoples [sic], the great day has arrived, the talisman of feudality is finally broken, Liberty, Equality, reigns over our Hemisphere, all our pains are over, the precious Decree [that has been] passed by our legislators makes us equal to all other people, we are reunited through the bonds of fraternity, our chains are broken, in order to never take them back. Yes, this we swear before our Goddess of Liberty, we will never follow other principles than those of Marat, who was sacrificed by a monster of despotism. Oh Marat, even if you are not present on this day, what joy would shine in your Heart and in your eyes.

But [you], man [who is] cherished in life as well as after your death, be assured that our Hearts equal Altars that we will protect for your virtues. It was you who, through your writings, inspired the sacred love of Liberty in us, for which we will forever preserve an eternal gratitude towards you.

And you, Ogée, free man of Colour, our brother and friend who carried the Decree of 15 May 1790 and who died as the first victim, assassinated by the aristocracy on our Islands, receive the weak homage of our gratitude.

French people, is there a more beautiful day for us to unfold this Symbol of the reunion of the three peoples [i.e. the "tricolour flag" presented by the deputies of Saint-Domingue on 16 Pluviôse], between which the insolent aristocracy had traced a dividing line ; but it is finally shattered, just as the chains that we trample under our feet, and we swear again to defend Liberty [and] Equality, and to support the Republic one and indivisible.  

Source: Discours de la citoyenne Lucidor F. Corbin, créole, républicaine, prononcée [sic] par elle-même au Temple de la Raison, l'an 2e de la liberté

[rbzpr]

Can you give me a list of all those who were executed alongside Madame Elisabeth of France and what happened to their bodies after the fact? Thanks in advance :)

Hello! Thanks for your message, and sorry for the belated reply.

Now, as to your question: I have discovered several lists of those who were executed alongside Élisabeth, with both the number of people and their names varying. I decided to go with a much-cited primary source: Le Moniteur universel, in its issue of 23 Floréal, Year II (12 May 1794), offers a list of those who were condemned by the Revolutionary Tribunal and executed on 21 Floréal (10 May 1794).

A. Duwaes, aged 55, born in Kesnist [sic] in Westphalia, widow of Laigle, [living] in Montagne-du-Bel-Air;

Anne-Elisabeth Capet, aged 30, born in Versailles, sister of the last tyrant;

L.-P. Leneuf-Sourdeval, aged 69, from Caen, former Count in Chatou;

A.-N. Lamoignon, aged 67, born and living in Paris, widow of Sénosan, former marquis;

C.-L.-A. Bessin, aged 64, born and living in Paris, legally separated from Crussol d’Amboise, former marquis;

G. Follope, aged 64, from Eucalix, near Yvetot, municipal officer of the Commune of Paris, pharmacist [at] porte Honoré;

D. Buard, [...] aged 52, living on her earnings, born and living in Paris, rue Florentin;

L.-P.-M. Letellier, called Bullier, aged 22, former nobleman, born and living in Paris, formerly employed in the dressing of troops;

C. Gressy-Chamillon, aged 33, from Courlons, near Sens, former noble, sublieutenant at the former Régiment de Vieille-Marine, trader;

T. Hall, aged 26, born and living in Seury, manufacturer;

A.-F. Loménie, aged 36, born and living in Marseille, former Count, former colonel of the Régiment des chasseurs from Champagne, in Brienne;

A.-H.-A. Montmorin, aged 22, from Versailles, sublieutenant in the 5th Régiment des chasseurs à cheval, in Passy, district of Sens;

J.-B. Lhote, aged 46, from Forges in Clermontois, servant and agent of Serilly, in Paris;

M. Loménie, aged 30, born in Marseille, coadjutor of the former Archbishop of Sens;

A.-J.-F. Megret de Serilly, aged 48, from Paris, former trésorier général de la guerre, farmer.

A.-J.-M. Megret d’Etigny, aged 46, born in Paris, former nobleman, aide-major at the former Régiment des Gardes-Francaises, in Sens;

C. Loménie, aged 33, from Marseille, knight of the former order of Saint-Louis, of the order of Cincinnatus, in Brienne;

F.-G. Taneff, aged 50, from Chadin, department of Puy-de-Dôme, widow of Montmorin, former minister of foreign affairs, in Passy, at the house of the aforementioned Serilly;

A.-M.-G. Loménie, aged 29, from Paris, divorced from Canisy, in Sens and in Paris, rue Georges;

M.-A.-C. Rosset, aged 44, from Rochefort, wife of C.-C. Rosset-Cercy, navy officer, domiciled in Sens;

E.-J. Lhermite, aged 65, born in Paris, wife of Rossay, former Count, lieutenant-colonel of the former Carabiniers, maréchal de camp, émigré, domiciled in Sens;

C.-L. Lhermite-de-Chambertrand, aged 60, born and living in Sens, former canon of the metropolis of Sens;

A.-M.-L. Thomas, aged 31, from Paris, wife of Serilly, in Passy;

J.-R. Dubois, aged 41, from Mercy, district of Reims, servant of d’Etigny;

(It should be noted that the list of the Moniteur are not infallible when it comes to orthography, the spelling of names, or biographical data. Furthermore, as I said, since there are several different lists, this one may be incomplete.)

As to their bodies, as was common for those who were guillotined in Paris, they were buried in a common grave at the Errancis Cemetery in Paris. Later, during the Restoration, Élisabeth’s brother Louis XVIII searched for her remains, albeit in vain; around 1848, the remains of those who had been buried at Errancis Cemetery were moved to the Paris Catacombs, so it can be assumed that Élisabeth, along with those who were executed with her, are buried there today.

I hope I have been able to answer your question. Have a nice day, citizens!

[rbzpr]

A Republican Tradition: Calf's Head on 21 January

This day marks the anniversary of the death of Louis Capet (formerly called Louis XVI), who was executed on 21 January 1793. Traditionally, this event is commemorated in republican circles by holding a calf’s head dinner.

The tradition traces back to a pamphlet titled La tête ou l'oreille de cochon, which was published by a certain Romeau in 1794: therein, he proposes, among other things, to celebrate the death of the tyrant by eating the ear or head of a pig every year on 21 January. The equation of Louis Capet with a pig was a common trope in the revolutionary press, and the image of the roi-cochon can be found in numerous contemporary caricatures.

It is not entirely clear when the pig’s head was replaced by the one of a calf in the tradition. According to Flaubert’s L'Éducation sentimentale (1869), the calf’s head dinner is based on a tradition invented by English republicans, who thereby commemorated the execution of Charles I (30 January 1649).

In France, this ritual gained popularity on the eve of the Revolution of 1848 ; as the July Monarchy became increasingly reactionary and repressive under Guizot’s cabinet, the opposition organised a campaign of calf’s head dinners. This mobilised the republican circles and, ultimately, contributed to the outbreak of the February Revolution and the end of the July Monarchy.

While this tradition has lost much of its popularity over time – there is even an anecdote about Michelle Vovelle’s vain attempt to organise a dîner de la tête de veau at the Sorbonne in 1986 –, it is still celebrated today in certain republican circles, particularly in France.

Sources: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

[rbzpr]

Vive la République!

How was it possible to renounce the thesis of royal inviolability? It is certain that the constitution declared the king’s person inviolable and only held ministers responsible, though for certain acts it stated that the king “was esteemed to have abdicated” and decreed his removal. But this constitutional procedure supposes that the constitution is not affected at its roots. If the king’s crimes, if his treason don’t place the nation and freedom in mortal danger, if royalty could survive the king, then yes, it is in accordance with the constitution that the king must be judged, since the constitution remains. But if the king by a long conspiracy has ruined the constitution itself; if through his connivance with foreigners armed to destroy it he has virtually killed it; if the just anger incited by his crime has forced the exasperated and defiant people to a new revolution, how is it possible to apply to a king a constitution of which, because of him, almost nothing remains?

The Trial of the King (Jean Jaurès)