23 âą she/her âą Swedish âą apolitical Interests go to the years 1793â1794 during the French Revolution. Mostly Robespierre and Desmoulins. Trying to back the majority of my posts with a (preferably primary) source.
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There exists a sister of Robespierre; her name appears on the list of the king's pensioners; she receives from the monarch's munilicence 4000 francs per year. Far be it from me to conceal a reproachful connection between the name of the pensioner and the benefit, I do not even want anyone to suspect me of thinking that this pension could have been better invested. Since I have named the one who enjoys it, justice imposes on me the duty to proclaim that she never used the little credence she had retained over her brother's mind, except to reduce the number of victims; but if, instead of moaning in solitude over the crimes of her brother and the horrible death that was the price, this sister, allowing herself to be led astray by brotherly love, a feeling as pious, as respectable and more disinterested than conjugal tenderness, dragged to your bar a people of writers who, for 25 years, have added to the name of Robespierre all the epithets that horror can provide; if she came to tell you: âAvenge the memory of my brother, defamed by his slanderers; where is the legal proof of the crimes attributed to him? What judicial investigation has established them? What judgment has branded him? My brother perished on the scaffold, but as a result of the most atrocious invention of revolutionary genius, by being outlawed. Struck by this homicidal decree, on the night of the 9th to the 10th of Thermidor, on the 10th he was delivered to the executioners without interrogation, without prior judgment. Only the identity was recognized, and yet a dreadful wound prevented him from articulating his name. He made a movement of his head, and this gesture was his death warrant. What! It is not enough that my brother was murdered, must he also be dedicated to the execration of the universe and of posterity? Must he be defamed! Avenge him, the law commands you to!"
La Quotidienne, number 231 (August 19 1819), page 4.
Saint-Just writes at his leisure in his bath, in his boudoir; he spends a fortnight plotting my assassination â while I have nowhere to set down my writing desk, and only a few hours to defend my life.
We do know that Saint-Just in March 1794 moved into an apartment that indeed had a bathroom (see this post), so thatâs probably where this gossip comes from.
âIs it I who have thrown patriots into prison and have carried the Terror into every walk of life? Is it I whoâwhile shielding treason and neglecting the crimes of the aristocracyâhave waged war upon peaceful citizens, who have magnified into crime private opinion and trifling offence, pretending to see guilt on every hand until the Revolution has become abhorred by the people themselves? When the victims of their tyranny would complain, they would excuse themselves by saying: Robespierre wills it; we are not to blame. They said to the nobles: it is he who has proscribed you. To the patriots: he wants to save the nobles. To the priests: he alone persecutes you; without him you would be left in peace and could triumph. To the fanatics: he wants to destroy religion. To patriots whom they persecuted: He has ordered it, or does not want to have it stopped. All manner of complaints were sent to me regarding wrongs which I lacked the power to right, and people were told: your fate depends on him alone. They said: look at these pitiful condemned! Who is responsible for their fate? Robespierre! They particularly set out to prove that the Revolutionary Tribunal was a bloody assize created and controlled by me alone, for the purpose of executing both the just and the unjust, for it was considered useful to raise up enemies against me among men both good and evil. Hardly an individual has been arrested, hardly a citizen vexed, but he was told: behold the author of your woes! But for him you would be free and happy. In all the prisons in all of the departments this plan of attack was followed. It was I who had done everything, required everything, commanded everything, for it should not be forgotten that I bear the title of Dictator.â
â Robespierreâs Speech of 8 Thermidor, from Robespierre and the Fourth Estate by Ralph Korngold. (via robespierristwildean)
This passage is so interesting to me. On one hand, it sounds like Robespierre is protesting against âthe terror,â saying his enemies are the ones really behind it. On the other hand, we know he had definitely been part of the problem here, both by sponsoring the law of 22 prairial, as well as through playing a part in the so called prison conspiracies (victims of which, if Iâve counted things correctly, make out almost 1/3 of all people executed during âthe great terrorâ).
At the same time, while Robespierre says there have been unjustified arrests in his speech, he never (as far as Iâm aware) says there have been unjustified executions. I read this passage as implying he does not think revolutionary justice/emergency laws can be softened yet:
The revolutionary government merits all your attention: would it be destroyed today, tomorrow liberty would be no more. It is not necessary to slander it, but to remind it of its principle, to simplify it, to decrease the innumerable crowd of its agents, above all to purge them: it is necessary to return security to the people, but not to its enemies. Itâs not about impeding the justice of the people by new shapes; the penal law necessary has to have something vague, because, the present character of conspirators being dissimulation and hypocrisy, it is necessary that justice can seize them in all shapes. A single way of conspiring let unpunished would render illusory and would compromise the salvation of the fatherland.Â
I can definitely agree that itâs pretty speculative to say that there was a deliberate effort by his enemies to up the carnage & blame it on him, because thatâs speculating on intent that we canât necessarily see in the historical record. But I think McPhee points out, for example, that Billaud signed more arrest warrants during this time than Robespierre (p.217) and also his defense of the imprisoned Girondin supporters against continued calls for them to be dealt with. Which doesnât, of course, either absolve him of shared responsibility nor prove sabotage. But the fact that people who seem at least equally responsible ended up being the ones to attack him, and also heap blame on him for the bloodshed, at least somewhat supports the argument in the first quote. Maybe it was opportunism more than conspiracy, but I donât think the speculation of âsabotageâ is totally groundless.
Also, on a personal level, I just have so much trouble grappling with the questions of responsibility and paranoia, suspicion, etc. given that there literally were still widespread conspiracies seeking to destroy the revolution. Of course, in a way, suspicion and fear did the royalistsâ work for them; from a retrospective POV, itâs easy to say they mightâve been better off to calm down and stop pointing fingers; a slower, more thorough process of justice wouldâve better exposed the real threats while exonerating the innocent or low-level individuals who were used by the royalists abroad (like everyone Batz used). But itâs so hard to imagine being in that moment and knowing that there are very real threats (and now knowing that there were even more than they were aware of!), and corruption and abuses and not even being able to trust the people who are supposed to be your allies, who have worked at your side, perpetuated the same system youâre working in, but now you see them trying to shift blame, shift responsibilityâŠ
But looking at the page you cited, it seems McPhee might be referring to all arrest warrants and not just those from during âthe great terror.â I just wish we knew more exactly how he got these numbers⊠đ«
20 June/2 Messidor -Â BarĂšre, Billaud and Robespierre sign a decree ordering the release and return to duty of six people, as well as the arrest and replacement of two people. A different decree signed by Robespierre, Billaud-Varennes and Couthon orders the arrest of one person, and finally, two signed by Robespierre and Billaud-Varennes order the arrest of first one person, and after that all members of the municipality of Ensisheim (Ibid, volume 14, page 413-415).Â
21 June/3 Messidor - Robespierre signs a decree ordering the arrest of one person (Ibid, volume 14, page 435-436
24 June/6 Messidor â Two decrees signed by Robespierre only order the arrest of a total of four people. (Ibid, volume 14, page 496-497
26 June/8 Messidor - two decrees signed by Robespierre and Billaud-Varennes order the arrest of two people, as well as the transfer to Paris and interrogation of one suspect. Ibid, volume 14, page 539-540
27 June/9 Messidor - At the CPS, a decree signed by Collot dâHerbois, Billaud-Varennes and BarĂšre orders the arrest of three people. Another decree signed by Billaud and BarĂšre orders the arrest of four people. (Ibid, volume 14, page 553, 556)
29 June/11 Messidor - a decree signed by Billaud-Varennes, Robespierre and Couthon orders the arrest of one person. Three decrees signed by Robespierre only order the arrest of a total of three people. (Ibid, volume 14, page 589-590)
30 June/12 Messidor - A decree signed by Robespierre and Billaud-Varennes orders arrest and transfer to Paris of one person, one signed by Carnot, Robespierre, BarÚre and Saint-Just orders the arrest of one person and two decrees signed by Robespierre only order the arrest of a total of six people (Ibid, volume 14, page 608-609)
2 July/14 Messidor â A joint decree of the CPS and CGS orders the arrest of Naulin, vice-president for the Revolutionary Tribunal in Paris. The decree is signed by Bayle, Vadier, Robespierre, Carnot, BarĂšre, C-A Prieur, Lebas, Saint-Just, Louis du Bas-Rhin, Dubarran, Billaud-Varennes, Ălie Lacoste, Gr. Jagot, Amar, Collot dâHerbois and Voulland (Ibid, volume 14, page 650). A decree signed by Saint-Just orders the arrest of one person (Ibid, volume 14, page 654-655)
3 July/15 Messidor â A decree signed by Sant-Just orders the arrest of one person, one signed by BarĂšre and C-A Prieur orders the arrest of three people, and a joint CPS and CGS arrest signed by Billaud-Varennes, Collot dâHerbois, Vadier, Amar, Jagot, Bayle, BarĂšre, Carnot, C-A Prieur, Dubarran and Voulland orders the arrest of one person (Ibid, volume 14, page 686, 694-695)
7 July/19 Messidor â a decree signed by Saint-Just orders the arrest of one person. Another decree signed by BarĂšre, Billaud-Varennes and C-A Prieur orders the arrest of three people (Ibid page 775-776)
9 July/21 Messidor â Saint-Just orders the arrest and transfer to Paris of one person (Ibid, volume 15, page 29)
10 July/22 Messidor â a decree signed by Couthon, Billaud-Varennes, Carnot, BarĂšre and Saint-Just orders the arrest of one person, while one signed by Lindet orders the arrest of another person (Ibid,page 50, 53)
11 July/23 Messidor â A decree signed by BarĂšre orders for a person to be put under house arrest (Ibid, volume 15, page 80)
12 July/23 Messidor â A decree signed by Saint-Just, Carnot and Collot dâHerbois orders the national agent of Autun to arrest members of the commune of the city and send them to the CPS (Ibid, volume 15, page 107)
14 July/26 Messidor â Four separate decrees signed by Saint-Just only order the arrest of a total of six people. A decree signed by Saint-Just, Billaud-Varennes, Carnot and C-A Prieur orders the arrest of one person (Ibid, volume 15, page 163-165)
15 July/27 Messidor -Â four decrees signed by Saint-Just only calls for the arrest of 5+ people. One signed by Collot, Couthon, Billaud-Varennes, Carnot and C-A Prieur orders the arrest of one person (Ibid, volume 15, page 180-183)
16 July/28 Messidor â A decree signed by Lindet orders for the arrest and transfer to Paris of one person. Three other decrees signed by Saint-Just only orders for the arrest of twelve people (house arrest for eleven of them) (Ibid, volume 15, page 214, 217-218)
18 July/30 Messidor â Couthon, Saint-Just and Carnot order the arrest of two people. A decree signed by C-A Prieur orders the arrest of one person. (Ibid, volume 15, page 259-260)
20 July/2 Thermidor â a decree signed Billaud-Varennes, Saint-Just, Carnot and BarĂšre orders the arrest of one person (Ibid, volume 15, page 315)
21 July/3 Thermidor â Collot dâHerbois signs a decree ordering the arrest of one person, Saint-Just signs one ordering the arrest of two. One signed by Collot dâHerbois, Saint-Just, Couthon and C-A Prieur orders the arrest of one person. (Ibid, volume 15, page 327-333)
24 July/6 Thermidor â A decree signs by Lindet orders the arrest of one person (Ibid, volume 15, page 403)
25 July/7 Thermidor â a decree signed Saint-Just and Carnot orders the arrest of one person (Ibid,page 416-417)
26 July/8 Thermidor â a decree signed by Lindet, Collot dâHerbois and C-A Prieur orders the arrest two people (Ibid, volume 15 page 444)
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âIs it I who have thrown patriots into prison and have carried the Terror into every walk of life? Is it I whoâwhile shielding treason and neglecting the crimes of the aristocracyâhave waged war upon peaceful citizens, who have magnified into crime private opinion and trifling offence, pretending to see guilt on every hand until the Revolution has become abhorred by the people themselves? When the victims of their tyranny would complain, they would excuse themselves by saying: Robespierre wills it; we are not to blame. They said to the nobles: it is he who has proscribed you. To the patriots: he wants to save the nobles. To the priests: he alone persecutes you; without him you would be left in peace and could triumph. To the fanatics: he wants to destroy religion. To patriots whom they persecuted: He has ordered it, or does not want to have it stopped. All manner of complaints were sent to me regarding wrongs which I lacked the power to right, and people were told: your fate depends on him alone. They said: look at these pitiful condemned! Who is responsible for their fate? Robespierre! They particularly set out to prove that the Revolutionary Tribunal was a bloody assize created and controlled by me alone, for the purpose of executing both the just and the unjust, for it was considered useful to raise up enemies against me among men both good and evil. Hardly an individual has been arrested, hardly a citizen vexed, but he was told: behold the author of your woes! But for him you would be free and happy. In all the prisons in all of the departments this plan of attack was followed. It was I who had done everything, required everything, commanded everything, for it should not be forgotten that I bear the title of Dictator.â
â Robespierreâs Speech of 8 Thermidor, from Robespierre and the Fourth Estate by Ralph Korngold. (via robespierristwildean)
This passage is so interesting to me. On one hand, it sounds like Robespierre is protesting against âthe terror,â saying his enemies are the ones really behind it. On the other hand, we know he had definitely been part of the problem here, both by sponsoring the law of 22 prairial, as well as through playing a part in the so called prison conspiracies (victims of which, if Iâve counted things correctly, make out almost 1/3 of all people executed during âthe great terrorâ).
At the same time, while Robespierre says there have been unjustified arrests in his speech, he never (as far as Iâm aware) says there have been unjustified executions. I read this passage as implying he does not think revolutionary justice/emergency laws can be softened yet:
The revolutionary government merits all your attention: would it be destroyed today, tomorrow liberty would be no more. It is not necessary to slander it, but to remind it of its principle, to simplify it, to decrease the innumerable crowd of its agents, above all to purge them: it is necessary to return security to the people, but not to its enemies. Itâs not about impeding the justice of the people by new shapes; the penal law necessary has to have something vague, because, the present character of conspirators being dissimulation and hypocrisy, it is necessary that justice can seize them in all shapes. A single way of conspiring let unpunished would render illusory and would compromise the salvation of the fatherland.Â
What could people get executed for during âthe terrorâ? Part 2: Arras
A continuation of the investigation regarding what contemporary court documents tell us about this in popular culture rather mythologized topic. Part 1 was about the tribunal in Cambrai and can be found here.
This is a compilation of sentences handed out by the Revolutionary Tribunal in Arras, that existed between 9 March and 12 July 1794, and judged people from the entire department of Pas-de-Calais. An earlier tribunal had existed in the city between 3 July 1793 and 7 March 1794, and had sentenced 47 people to death and acquitted 41 (Paris, volume 1, page 237-238). This new tribunal would however ramp up the process considerably â during its 126 day existence a total of 459 people between the ages of 16 to 89 were brought before it. 324 were sentenced to death, 133 acquitted Divided by month, the sentences look the following assuming Iâve counted all this right:
March â 28 death sentences, 20 acquittals, 1 deportation, 1 sentenced to pillory.
April â 65 death sentences, 16 acquittals.
May â 114 death sentences, 30 acquittals.
June â 86 death sentences, 47 acquittals.
July â 31 death sentences, 20 acquittals.
The source for all the sentences is the two volume work La terreur dans le Pas-de-Calais et dans le Nord: Histoire de Joseph Le Bon et des tribunaux dâArras et de Cambrai (1864) by historian Auguste Joseph Paris (volume 1, volume 2).Â
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9 March â Marie-Ernestine-Françoise de ModĂšne, 65, is sentenced to death, having been found guilty of âcomplicity in emigration.â (Paris, volume 1, page 239-241)
11 March â the tribunal acquits four people, one suspected of  "removing an iron fitting from the ChĂąteau d'Achiet-le-Petit, which was under official seal,â one who was found with a counter-revolutionary song, one suspected of âhaving wanted to propagate royalism through his remarks,â and one who was accused of âinsulting the mayor of Ablain.â (Paris, volume 1, page 241)
16 March â a trader by the name BenoĂźt-Louis-Joseph Lallart de Berlette, 48, is acquitted, having been suspected of distributing false assignats (Paris, volume 1, page 252-255)
22 March â former priest Adrien-Vincent Cary, 54, is executed after having been found guilty of âattempt against the internal security of the state,â due to in 1792 having written a letter to a friend where he spoke against the new divorce laws and asked âWhat will be the end of this spirit of irreligion, libertinism, madness, and rage?" (Cary defended his stance at his trial, declaring he âwould have rather left his position than sin against the law if he had not been able to reconcile it with his dutyâ). A man suspected of making royalist remarks is acquitted, and a man who has stuffed bad clover into the hay bales delivered for his contingent is sentenced to deportation for life. (Paris, volume 1, page 261-262)
23 March â two men are sentenced to death: marshal Augustin-Joseph, count of Mailly dâHaucourt, 89, for on 12 November 1792 having written a letter to his son where he stated  "that the honor of his name and personally of his branch would have been raised to the highest degree without the circumstances; but that, if his hopes had not been fulfilled, they were still not annihilated, and that a happy day would bring them back, not to his head, but to that of his son,â and mulquiner J. B Billoir, 28, for having been found with false assignats. Billoirâs nephew, suspected of having been his accomplice, is acquitted. (Paris, volume 1, page 262-264)
24 March â mulquiner François Noiret, 65, and tobacco merchant Jean-Baptiste Thuilliez, 35, are sentenced to death for having distributed false assignats (Paris, volume 1, page 264)
25 March â tailor Antoine Hatu, 66, is sentenced to death for, upon being asked by municipal officiers from where he came, responding âfrom a place where brave men are rare,â and then refusing to show them his passport. When he for that was threatened with imprisonment, he responded that he didn't care about them, that they weren't so proud, that within three weeks he'd have their faces smashed. He had also made similar remarks a few days earlier. Four men suspected of violation of the law of the general maximum are acquitted. (Paris, volume 1, page 264-265)
27 March â two men are sentenced to death: merchant Pierre Antoine Boniface, 55, for having been found with a "counter-revolutionary prophecy that predicted the destruction of the defenders of liberty, that went under the name of children of Brutus,â in his portfolio, and volunteer at the sixth batallion Jean Lepeinteur, 21, for having ârecruited in France for service abroad; he was in possession of various passports given to him by enemy generals.â Three people are acquitted, two of them suspected of minor violations of the law of the general maximum, the third of theft (Paris, volume 1, page 267-268)
28 March â three men, Louis Delmotte, Louis-Joseph Prince, 24, and François Delattre, 23, are executed, all accused of being âagents of the allied powers to distribute counterfeit assignats and incite unrest among rural citizens by setting fire to several dwellings at the time of the fighting that the armies of the Republic were to have with the slaves of despotism.â (Paris, volume 1, page 268-269)
30 March â two men are sentenced to death: commander of engineer brigade Bernard Gillet 37, for having neglected to "fortify various outposts of the vanguard, for having reported to the commander-in-chief that the posts were safe from any attack and thereby aided the progress of the enemy armies" and battalion chief Louis Rochette, 37, for âhaving affected to treat wounded soldiers of the French army poorly, while conveniently placing one of our most bitter enemies, the lieutenant-colonel of the Gobourg regiment; which aroused general discontent among the defenders of the homelandâ (both Gillet and Rochette objected to these charges). Brigadier general Pierre Gratien, 32, is acquitted after having been suspected of having "refused to march against the satellites of despotism and to execute the order of the divisional general by withdrawing three-quarters of a league to the rear, thereby delaying the victory by at least four hours, and facilitating the enemy's retreat by providing them with the means to save their artillery under cover of night." (Paris, volume 1, page 271-275)
31 March â lawyer Louis-Marie-Joseph Liger, 45, is condemned to death for âhaving maintained, under the cover of Buchotte (the general executed two days earlier), a correspondence with the enemies of the government and having attempted to corrupt said Buchotte by giving him, either on loan or otherwise, a sum large enough to cause this officer to misbehave in his duties.â (Paris, volume 1, page 275-279)
5 April â six people are executed â the lawyer François-Joseph Blanquart, 45, for being the editor behind a petition dated April 29 1789 which asked for the privileges of the Provincial Estates of Artois to be perserved, and also for being âinstigator of the destruction of the people's sovereignty, and, from the time of the Revolution to the present day, the most zealous royalist. Furthermore, he had aided non-juring priests by providing them with financial assistance,â as well as the five ex-nobles Ignace Godefroy, count of Lannoy de Gaucourt, chevalier de Saint-Louis, 73, d'Ange-Ghislain de Beaulaincourt, comte de Maries, 54, Henri-Evrard, baron de Wasservas dâHaplincourt, 56, Louis-Ignace-Joseph Lesergeant dâHendecourtm 64, and Lamoral-EugĂšne-François-Marie, baron deâAid de Remy, 61, for âhaving signed the shameful petition of April [29] 1789, and for having allowed it to remain in a public repository without any repudiation since the time it was signed.â Two other ex-nobles who had signed the petition are acquitted. (Paris, volume 1, page 285-294)
28 April â two men are sentenced to death: merchant François Widehem, 36, for having at his house â1, a strip of paper which, by combining different words, presented this infamous motto: This is the rendezvous of blood, 2, a paper on which were written eight verses which, read in their entirety, gave a patriotic meaning, but cut in half, an aristocratic meaning; 3, an image representing two flaming hearts,â and former mayor of Samer Jacques Blanquart de la BarriĂšre, 42, for having "protested against the decree suspending executive power in the hands of the last tyrant; [and] stated unequivocally that his hand would sooner wither than allow such an infamous decree to ever sully the records of the district of Boulogne, of which he was then the public prosecutor; he had always been a fervent royalist and aristocrat." (Panis, volume 2, page 35-36)
4 May â merchant Jacques-Joseph Barbion, 48, is executed for âhaving declared to the inhabitants of his village that the representative Le Bon would never return to the canton because he would have been told off, and that besides Le Bon never visited the same place twice. He had even dared to tell a citizen who was telling him about all the good Le Bon had done in the department that, if he had him in his hands, he would have taken his life.â (Paris, volume 2, page 46)
8 May â hunter Sylvain-Joseph Mouflin, 20, and second lieutenant Jean-Antoine Ruaux, 23, are sentenced to death, the first for âhaving fabricated a decree exempting him from requisition,â the second for âhaving carefully preserved a white coat with two fleur-de-lis on the cuffs, and using an insulting description against the Jacobins." One man, accused of having "abused the name of Dumont and Le Bon to annoy the mayor and the inhabitants of Sangatte,â is acquitted (Paris, volume 2, page 121).
11 May â The tribunal sentences three men to death â farmer Pierre-François Balin, 45, for âhaving written threatening letters against the authorities of Laventie and [appearing] to be the author of a placard on which there was a threat to burn down the houses of the patriots,â cobbler Antoine-Joseph Brasseur, 38, for âhaving delivered to the defenders of the homeland two pairs of poor quality shoes whose soles were lined with old leather,â and brewer Nicolas Lambert, 44, for his connections with suspects, notably Thellier de Poncheville, whose arrest he had protested against. He had also always shown âaristocratic feelingsâ when he went on business in the countryside. (Paris, volume 2, page 123-124)
12 May â three men are sentenced to death â cobbler Charles Caby, 29, for âhaving supplied eighteen pairs of poor quality shoes to the defenders of the homeland,â lieutenant colonel Pierre Claessens, 21, for âhaving said that representative of the people Duquesnoy had unjustly made general Gillet perish by acting as judge and witness in this affair, and that he was to take revenge even if that meant being exterminated,â as well as for âhaving wanted to seduce his comrades to obtain a passport and claimed that with a stamp he carried, he could collect money from the paymasters and travel throughout the Republic,â and merchant Aldegonde Lemaire, 43, âfor having said: If it were a question of exterminating the patriots, I would fire the cannons myself." One person is acquitted, mayor of Willerval Prosper Dubarcq, kept under arrest since March 25 1794 for "his connections with Glaessens to whom he had provided money."  (Paris, volume 2, page 124)
13 May â two men are sentenced to death â ex-chevalier of Saint-Louis BenoĂźt-Joseph Carault, 62, for having kept a package containing âdifferent certificates by the two last Capets, who decorated themselves with the name of kings,â certificates which he couldnât have kept for anything but âcounter-revolutionary plansâ and therefore are a âclear proof of his aristocracy,â and former administrator of the Saint-Omer department Jean-Marie Lefebvre, 45, âfor having maintained a royalist correspondence with the deputy Personne; for having incurred, during his administration, the enmity of colleagues aligned with the leadership of the Mountain which he sought to overthrow by espousing the doctrines of Brissot and Vergniaud; and for having been bold enough to request a certificate attesting to his conduct while in office.â One man is acquitted, accused of "having disregarded the order and the authority of Le Bon to escape requisition.â (Paris, volume 2, page 124-129)
18 May â the tribunal acquits six people accused of stealing, possessing false assignats, having been denounced at a popular society and saying his servant was his property respectively, and sentences one person to death, Ălisabeth Herbout, 38, for having given dinner to a since guillotined man, a benedictine, a former noble and a carthusian. (Paris, volume 2, page 138-139)
22 May â two women are sentenced to death â Isabelle-Françoise Fournier, 62, for âhaving sent ten louis to her son, who had emigrated to England,â and Jeanne Gray, 36, âfor having helped Mme Fournier with the shipment.â (Paris, volume 2, page 198-199)
23 May â Three men are executed â weaver Jean-Baptiste Roland, 75, and carpenter Antoine-François Dumetz, 73, arrested four days earlier âsuspected of having said they didnât want to accept the Constitution,â which they then persisted in not wanting to do during the trial as well, and Charles Micheaux, 42, for âhaving smuggled 2,400 livres worth of counterfeit assignats into France.â (Paris, volume 2, page 200-201)
25 May â two laborers, Louis and Joseph Coutiau, 38 and 32 years old, are âconvicted of having chanted at the carabet Long live the King! Long live the Emperor! Long live Cobourg! To hell with La Carmagnole!â and guillotined. (Paris, volume 2, page 202)
28 May â two people â merchant Charles-Joseph-Albert-Ferdinand Delocre, 40, and his wife Gabrielle-Joseph Jugand, 40, are executed for âhaving said that if the enemy came, they would cry: Long live Louis XVII!, [and] for having treated Lebon like a scoundrel, since he had killed de Vielfort (executed on May 1), in whose service they had formerly served.â Two people are acquitted â a soldier accused of âhaving let a prisoner escapeâ and a laborer charged with âhaving offered different prices at a soap merchant's depending on whether he paid in assignats or in silver.â (Paris, volume 2, page 203-204)
1 June â vicar of Audincthun Jacques-Joseph Piedfort, 25, is executed for âhaving fabricated a baptismal certificate to make himself appear older and evade conscription,â while two men, accused of having distributed false assignats and carried fleurs de lys respectively, are acquitted. (Paris, volume 2, page 204-205)
6 June â five people are acquitted, three accused of having discredited assignats, one of âhaving sought, through his remarks, to demean and dissolve the popular society" and one accused of "having displayed a black cockade and mistreated the person who tore it from him.â (Paris, volume 2, page 207)
13 June â five people are executed: court clerk Jean-Joseph Legay, 48, for having "abandoned his post at the moment of taking the civic oath, presided over a gathering of aristocrats, and refused to accept the Constitution,â knight of Saint-Louis François Vincheguerre, 69, for âhaving maintained close ties with aristocrats, fanatics and suspicious individuals,â Ălisabeth Plunkette, 36, for having âspread the address in which the traitor Capet was congratulated for having vetoed the decree on the oath of priests,â farmer Charles François Dupont, 61, for having âinsulted the commissioners in charge of raising the defenders of the homeland,â and surveyor François-Marie Lourdel, 71, for âhaving said, upon leaving church, that the decree which ordered the deportation of the priests was the decree of the beggars and that the sans-culottes were scoundrels.â Five men suspected of having been Dupontâs accomplices are acquitted. (Paris, volume 2, page 209-212)
14 and 15 June â six people are acquitted, two suspected of "having manufactured a counterfeit stamp,â a merchant who âhad delayed a supply convoy and usurped the honors due to the national representation,â a farmer accused of âhaving sought to debase the assignats and discredit the Convention,â and a fishmonger and farmer who âhad shown contempt for the authorities of that commune, uttered threats, and stolen property belonging to the Republic.â (Paris, volume 2, page 213)
16 June â farmer Jacques Baudry, 33, is executed for âhaving said that he didn't give a damn about the municipality of Saint-Pol since it had voted for the death of Louis Capet; that it was they who had caused his death; that he didnât give a damn about patriots, that honest people were the only ones who went to the guillotine. He had, moreover, wanted to strike a municipal officer with an andiron and laid his hand on the daughter of the house.â (Paris, volume 2, page 213-214)
17 June â five farmers are acquitted, accused of distributing false assignats, of violating the Law of the Maximum, of disparaging the popular society and squandering church furnishings, and of disregarding the law prohibiting the simultaneous holding of municipal office and the position of tax collector, respectively. (Paris, volume 2, page 214)
19 June â six people are executed: hatter François Delacroix, 36, for âhaving insulted patriots, and in particular the defenders of the homeland, when he saw them poorly dressed, and of having given evidence of the most ardent aristocracy and the most marked incivilityâ (during the trial, Delacroix denied these accusations and declared he would be ready to do anything for the homeland), priest Pierre-Joseph Nonjan, 41, for being "head of a monarchist club composed of nobles, priests and counter-revolutionaries of the commune of Arras, which held its meetings at the house of widow Caron, and insulted the constitutional priests,â librarian Denis Wignan, 41, for âhaving circulated in Arras the Manifesto of Brunswick and other tyrants, and having received inflammatory writings from Paris and Lille,â lawyer Romain Marchandise, 35, "for having professed the doctrines of the Feuillants, for having shown himself to be a partisan of the department when this administration was still counter-revolutionary, for having circulated an address of congratulations to the infamous Gapet, and for having wanted to strike with his sword one of the most ardent patriots of Arras,â baliff François Griffon, 40, for being an âagent of counter-revolutionaries and aristocratsâ and âhaving made incendiary remarks,â and baliff Jean-Baptiste Boitel for being âa notorious agent of the most despicable aristocracy, an enemy of the Revolution, suspected of emigration during the siege of Lille.â One person is acquitted. (Paris, volume 2, page 245-248)
22 June â two people are put to death â Jacqueline Roland, 60, for having spoken ill of the assignats, and Antoine-Marie-Narcisse Soldini, 21, for having âattested to his criminal indifference to the military state, or rather that he had the most marked contempt for it.â A carpenter suspected of hiding a man from conscription is acquitted. (Paris, volume 2, page 250-251)
24 June â three people are condemned to death: hospital director Marie Braure, 43, for having âremoved various items from the hospital sacristy,â and porters in the Austrian army Jean-Baptiste Nicaise, 46, and Arnould Allart, for âespionage.â (Paris, volume 2, page 253-254)Â
26 June â three people are sentenced to death: Reine-Françoise Rivelois, 38, and farmer Jean-Simon Pruvost for having sent aid in cash to the priests of Loos and Ivenchy-en-Gohelle, and merchant Jean-Baptiste Vestavel, 31, for having "taken flight and been found carrying a silver ingot. The circumstances indicated that the ingot was intended for the enemies of the homeland.â A man accused of having been the accomplice of Rivelois and Pruvost is acquitted. (Paris, volume 2, page 258)
7 July â five people are sentenced to death: Albertine-Isabelle Briois des Arleux, 63, for having âleft French soil and only returned to carry out plans conceived between herself and the enemies of the homeland, having maintained the most criminal ties with them. An aristocrat all the more dangerous because her wealth gave her the means to corrupt public opinion and execute her infamous plots, she had sought to incite fanaticism; she herself was utterly fanatical,â chaplain of the Arras Cathedral Jean-Baptiste Braine, 49, for in 1792 âhaving left the soil of Liberty, and not returned until the end of October, and having maintained relations with aristocrats and fanatics,â Pierre Degremont, 21, for having âtorn off and trampled underfoot, on 15 Messidor, the cockade of a volunteer, torn to pieces three assignats of fifteen sols which belonged to him, and stirred up the village,â Emmanuel Verkonis, 48, guilty of the very same thing as Degremont as well as for âbeing the owner of a French greatcoat, another greatcoat and an Austrian coat,â and laborer Martial Maguenot, 32, for having "abandoned the flags of Liberty just as they were about to be covered in glory, [and having] been caught in the conquered country, disguised and covered in rags." Three people are acquitted, the first two suspected of having said âthat a letter descended from the heavens had announced that those who did not sanctify Sunday would be burned by lightning," the third of having claimed "to have found an egg in which the tree and the bonnet of liberty were represented.  (Paris, volume 2, page 270-271)
10 July â four people are executed: trader Marie-Louis Legris, 46, coadjutor Cyprien Leblan, 35, and actor Joseph Luçon, 26, for â[their] love for tyranny and fanaticism, [and having] left French soil and carried aid to our enemies,â and NoĂ«le Vichery, 32, for responding âthey have guillotined in Arras people who were no more guilty than the infant Iâm holding in my arms,â when two commissioners reproached her for not wearing a cockade on her bonnet and saying that they could get her executed for that. (Paris, volume 2, page 271-272)
11 July â farmer Pierre-François Delerue, 60, is executed for âhaving peddled a letter from heaven, in which citizens were exhorted to a pious resistance to the revolutionary government.â Four people suspected of the same charge are acquitted. (Paris, volume 2, page 272)
Some interesting charges here and a look at the misfortunes of the âlittle peopleâ, like the parents who had contact with their emigre children, or like the one who âescorted his daughters to Aix-la-Chapelleâ, likely motivated by a desire to shelter them from civil war and upheaval. Then we get âvicar Simon Brasseur, 39, for âhaving stayed on French soil,ââ Being an emigre is bad but staying in France is also bad. I guess the implication is heâs a non-juring priest.
Some that stood out to me:
- former royal lieutenant François-Aymard, count of Montgon, 64, for having â[...]begged for his life with a baseness befitting only a nobleman who knows how to conspire but not how to dieâ How is that something to be charged with? âYouâre getting executed for being pathetic.â
- the parrot puts me in mind of the tale of the Roman who trained one parrot to praise Augustus and another to praise Mark Antony. These are people who paid highly for potentially only previous bad politics, while even many revolutionaries could have said at the beginning of the Revolution âlong live the kingâ. The maid too! And the parrot didnât speak. Some of these sound prone to be local grudge-settling.
- âfarmer François Willemetz, 48, for having given too little money during a collection for the equipment of âour brothers in arms,ââ Getting executed for being a miser!
- âmerchant François Widehem, 36, for having at his house â2, a paper on which were written eight verses which, read in their entirety, gave a patriotic meaning, but cut in half, an aristocratic meaning.â Well, donât cut it in half then. Looking for problems even where there are none. Or Jean-Antoine Ruaux, possibly just keeping a nice coat.
- âNoĂ«le Vichery, 32, for responding âthey have guillotined in Arras people who were no more guilty than the infant Iâm holding in my arms,â when two commissioners reproached her for not wearing a cockade on her bonnet and saying that they could get her executed for that.â Sounds like she was right then. Two guys tell you they can kill you for your plain clothes and you reply âyeah, as you say, people get executed for trivial nonsense and are killed for no reason at allâ and then they prove you right and kill you.
I'm not sure I understand this, from 30 March: âbattalion chief Louis Rochette, 37, for âhaving affected to treat wounded soldiers of the French army poorly, while conveniently placing one of our most bitter enemies, the lieutenant-colonel of the Gobourg regiment; which aroused general discontent among the defenders of the homelandâ (both Gillet and Rochette objected to these charges)â. What does this mean, re: the lieutenant-colonel? He was placed in a better tent, nearer a nurse, while more deserving soldiers were neglected?
Thank you so much for your comments! I think among all the sentences, the parrot case and the NoĂ«le Vichery case were definitely among the most crazy. Like, they sound like some âReign of Terror mythâ a royalist would have cooked up during the Restauration⊠but nope. đđ
The similarities between Jane Austenâs Pride and Prejudice (1813) and Ălisabeth Duplay Lebasâ memoirs (written in the 1840s):
The story takes place around the turn of the century 1800.
It is essentially a romance.
The protagonist is called Elisabeth, but has a nickname among those close (Babet, Lizzy).
She is 20 and turns 21 at some point in the story.
She has a bunch of sisters (Ălisabeth has three, Elizabeth has four) and a mother looking to marrying them off (preferaby in the right order).
She has an older more pragmatic companion named Charlotte whose character she comes to question.
The protagonist is more âidealisticâ and wants to marry for love, virtue and moral harmony.
The love interest reaches out to the protagonist two times, the first time she misjugdes him, the second time she realizes there has been a misunderstanding.
The story mainly revolves around moral values, manners and character that makes me as a modern reader go âomg, why the hell is this such a huge deal!!??â
What could people get executed for during âthe terrorâ? Part 2: Arras
A continuation of the investigation regarding what contemporary court documents tell us about this in popular culture rather mythologized topic. Part 1 was about the tribunal in Cambrai and can be found here.
This is a compilation of sentences handed out by the Revolutionary Tribunal in Arras, that existed between 9 March and 12 July 1794, and judged people from the entire department of Pas-de-Calais. An earlier tribunal had existed in the city between 3 July 1793 and 7 March 1794, and had sentenced 47 people to death and acquitted 41 (Paris, volume 1, page 237-238). This new tribunal would however ramp up the process considerably â during its 126 day existence a total of 459 people between the ages of 16 to 89 were brought before it. 324 were sentenced to death, 133 acquitted Divided by month, the sentences look the following assuming Iâve counted all this right:
March â 28 death sentences, 20 acquittals, 1 deportation, 1 sentenced to pillory.
April â 65 death sentences, 16 acquittals.
May â 114 death sentences, 30 acquittals.
June â 86 death sentences, 47 acquittals.
July â 31 death sentences, 20 acquittals.
The source for all the sentences is the two volume work La terreur dans le Pas-de-Calais et dans le Nord: Histoire de Joseph Le Bon et des tribunaux dâArras et de Cambrai (1864) by historian Auguste Joseph Paris (volume 1, volume 2).Â
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9 March â Marie-Ernestine-Françoise de ModĂšne, 65, is sentenced to death, having been found guilty of âcomplicity in emigration.â (Paris, volume 1, page 239-241)
11 March â the tribunal acquits four people, one suspected of  "removing an iron fitting from the ChĂąteau d'Achiet-le-Petit, which was under official seal,â one who was found with a counter-revolutionary song, one suspected of âhaving wanted to propagate royalism through his remarks,â and one who was accused of âinsulting the mayor of Ablain.â (Paris, volume 1, page 241)
16 March â a trader by the name BenoĂźt-Louis-Joseph Lallart de Berlette, 48, is acquitted, having been suspected of distributing false assignats (Paris, volume 1, page 252-255)
22 March â former priest Adrien-Vincent Cary, 54, is executed after having been found guilty of âattempt against the internal security of the state,â due to in 1792 having written a letter to a friend where he spoke against the new divorce laws and asked âWhat will be the end of this spirit of irreligion, libertinism, madness, and rage?" (Cary defended his stance at his trial, declaring he âwould have rather left his position than sin against the law if he had not been able to reconcile it with his dutyâ). A man suspected of making royalist remarks is acquitted, and a man who has stuffed bad clover into the hay bales delivered for his contingent is sentenced to deportation for life. (Paris, volume 1, page 261-262)
23 March â two men are sentenced to death: marshal Augustin-Joseph, count of Mailly dâHaucourt, 89, for on 12 November 1792 having written a letter to his son where he stated  "that the honor of his name and personally of his branch would have been raised to the highest degree without the circumstances; but that, if his hopes had not been fulfilled, they were still not annihilated, and that a happy day would bring them back, not to his head, but to that of his son,â and mulquiner J. B Billoir, 28, for having been found with false assignats. Billoirâs nephew, suspected of having been his accomplice, is acquitted. (Paris, volume 1, page 262-264)
24 March â mulquiner François Noiret, 65, and tobacco merchant Jean-Baptiste Thuilliez, 35, are sentenced to death for having distributed false assignats (Paris, volume 1, page 264)
25 March â tailor Antoine Hatu, 66, is sentenced to death for, upon being asked by municipal officiers from where he came, responding âfrom a place where brave men are rare,â and then refusing to show them his passport. When he for that was threatened with imprisonment, he responded that he didn't care about them, that they weren't so proud, that within three weeks he'd have their faces smashed. He had also made similar remarks a few days earlier. Four men suspected of violation of the law of the general maximum are acquitted. (Paris, volume 1, page 264-265)
27 March â two men are sentenced to death: merchant Pierre Antoine Boniface, 55, for having been found with a "counter-revolutionary prophecy that predicted the destruction of the defenders of liberty, that went under the name of children of Brutus,â in his portfolio, and volunteer at the sixth batallion Jean Lepeinteur, 21, for having ârecruited in France for service abroad; he was in possession of various passports given to him by enemy generals.â Three people are acquitted, two of them suspected of minor violations of the law of the general maximum, the third of theft (Paris, volume 1, page 267-268)
28 March â three men, Louis Delmotte, Louis-Joseph Prince, 24, and François Delattre, 23, are executed, all accused of being âagents of the allied powers to distribute counterfeit assignats and incite unrest among rural citizens by setting fire to several dwellings at the time of the fighting that the armies of the Republic were to have with the slaves of despotism.â (Paris, volume 1, page 268-269)
30 March â two men are sentenced to death: commander of engineer brigade Bernard Gillet 37, for having neglected to "fortify various outposts of the vanguard, for having reported to the commander-in-chief that the posts were safe from any attack and thereby aided the progress of the enemy armies" and battalion chief Louis Rochette, 37, for âhaving affected to treat wounded soldiers of the French army poorly, while conveniently placing one of our most bitter enemies, the lieutenant-colonel of the Gobourg regiment; which aroused general discontent among the defenders of the homelandâ (both Gillet and Rochette objected to these charges). Brigadier general Pierre Gratien, 32, is acquitted after having been suspected of having "refused to march against the satellites of despotism and to execute the order of the divisional general by withdrawing three-quarters of a league to the rear, thereby delaying the victory by at least four hours, and facilitating the enemy's retreat by providing them with the means to save their artillery under cover of night." (Paris, volume 1, page 271-275)
31 March â lawyer Louis-Marie-Joseph Liger, 45, is condemned to death for âhaving maintained, under the cover of Buchotte (the general executed two days earlier), a correspondence with the enemies of the government and having attempted to corrupt said Buchotte by giving him, either on loan or otherwise, a sum large enough to cause this officer to misbehave in his duties.â (Paris, volume 1, page 275-279)
5 April â six people are executed â the lawyer François-Joseph Blanquart, 45, for being the editor behind a petition dated April 29 1789 which asked for the privileges of the Provincial Estates of Artois to be perserved, and also for being âinstigator of the destruction of the people's sovereignty, and, from the time of the Revolution to the present day, the most zealous royalist. Furthermore, he had aided non-juring priests by providing them with financial assistance,â as well as the five ex-nobles Ignace Godefroy, count of Lannoy de Gaucourt, chevalier de Saint-Louis, 73, d'Ange-Ghislain de Beaulaincourt, comte de Maries, 54, Henri-Evrard, baron de Wasservas dâHaplincourt, 56, Louis-Ignace-Joseph Lesergeant dâHendecourtm 64, and Lamoral-EugĂšne-François-Marie, baron deâAid de Remy, 61, for âhaving signed the shameful petition of April [29] 1789, and for having allowed it to remain in a public repository without any repudiation since the time it was signed.â Two other ex-nobles who had signed the petition are acquitted. (Paris, volume 1, page 285-294)
28 April â two men are sentenced to death: merchant François Widehem, 36, for having at his house â1, a strip of paper which, by combining different words, presented this infamous motto: This is the rendezvous of blood, 2, a paper on which were written eight verses which, read in their entirety, gave a patriotic meaning, but cut in half, an aristocratic meaning; 3, an image representing two flaming hearts,â and former mayor of Samer Jacques Blanquart de la BarriĂšre, 42, for having "protested against the decree suspending executive power in the hands of the last tyrant; [and] stated unequivocally that his hand would sooner wither than allow such an infamous decree to ever sully the records of the district of Boulogne, of which he was then the public prosecutor; he had always been a fervent royalist and aristocrat." (Panis, volume 2, page 35-36)
4 May â merchant Jacques-Joseph Barbion, 48, is executed for âhaving declared to the inhabitants of his village that the representative Le Bon would never return to the canton because he would have been told off, and that besides Le Bon never visited the same place twice. He had even dared to tell a citizen who was telling him about all the good Le Bon had done in the department that, if he had him in his hands, he would have taken his life.â (Paris, volume 2, page 46)
8 May â hunter Sylvain-Joseph Mouflin, 20, and second lieutenant Jean-Antoine Ruaux, 23, are sentenced to death, the first for âhaving fabricated a decree exempting him from requisition,â the second for âhaving carefully preserved a white coat with two fleur-de-lis on the cuffs, and using an insulting description against the Jacobins." One man, accused of having "abused the name of Dumont and Le Bon to annoy the mayor and the inhabitants of Sangatte,â is acquitted (Paris, volume 2, page 121).
11 May â The tribunal sentences three men to death â farmer Pierre-François Balin, 45, for âhaving written threatening letters against the authorities of Laventie and [appearing] to be the author of a placard on which there was a threat to burn down the houses of the patriots,â cobbler Antoine-Joseph Brasseur, 38, for âhaving delivered to the defenders of the homeland two pairs of poor quality shoes whose soles were lined with old leather,â and brewer Nicolas Lambert, 44, for his connections with suspects, notably Thellier de Poncheville, whose arrest he had protested against. He had also always shown âaristocratic feelingsâ when he went on business in the countryside. (Paris, volume 2, page 123-124)
12 May â three men are sentenced to death â cobbler Charles Caby, 29, for âhaving supplied eighteen pairs of poor quality shoes to the defenders of the homeland,â lieutenant colonel Pierre Claessens, 21, for âhaving said that representative of the people Duquesnoy had unjustly made general Gillet perish by acting as judge and witness in this affair, and that he was to take revenge even if that meant being exterminated,â as well as for âhaving wanted to seduce his comrades to obtain a passport and claimed that with a stamp he carried, he could collect money from the paymasters and travel throughout the Republic,â and merchant Aldegonde Lemaire, 43, âfor having said: If it were a question of exterminating the patriots, I would fire the cannons myself." One person is acquitted, mayor of Willerval Prosper Dubarcq, kept under arrest since March 25 1794 for "his connections with Glaessens to whom he had provided money."  (Paris, volume 2, page 124)
13 May â two men are sentenced to death â ex-chevalier of Saint-Louis BenoĂźt-Joseph Carault, 62, for having kept a package containing âdifferent certificates by the two last Capets, who decorated themselves with the name of kings,â certificates which he couldnât have kept for anything but âcounter-revolutionary plansâ and therefore are a âclear proof of his aristocracy,â and former administrator of the Saint-Omer department Jean-Marie Lefebvre, 45, âfor having maintained a royalist correspondence with the deputy Personne; for having incurred, during his administration, the enmity of colleagues aligned with the leadership of the Mountain which he sought to overthrow by espousing the doctrines of Brissot and Vergniaud; and for having been bold enough to request a certificate attesting to his conduct while in office.â One man is acquitted, accused of "having disregarded the order and the authority of Le Bon to escape requisition.â (Paris, volume 2, page 124-129)
18 May â the tribunal acquits six people accused of stealing, possessing false assignats, having been denounced at a popular society and saying his servant was his property respectively, and sentences one person to death, Ălisabeth Herbout, 38, for having given dinner to a since guillotined man, a benedictine, a former noble and a carthusian. (Paris, volume 2, page 138-139)
22 May â two women are sentenced to death â Isabelle-Françoise Fournier, 62, for âhaving sent ten louis to her son, who had emigrated to England,â and Jeanne Gray, 36, âfor having helped Mme Fournier with the shipment.â (Paris, volume 2, page 198-199)
23 May â Three men are executed â weaver Jean-Baptiste Roland, 75, and carpenter Antoine-François Dumetz, 73, arrested four days earlier âsuspected of having said they didnât want to accept the Constitution,â which they then persisted in not wanting to do during the trial as well, and Charles Micheaux, 42, for âhaving smuggled 2,400 livres worth of counterfeit assignats into France.â (Paris, volume 2, page 200-201)
25 May â two laborers, Louis and Joseph Coutiau, 38 and 32 years old, are âconvicted of having chanted at the carabet Long live the King! Long live the Emperor! Long live Cobourg! To hell with La Carmagnole!â and guillotined. (Paris, volume 2, page 202)
28 May â two people â merchant Charles-Joseph-Albert-Ferdinand Delocre, 40, and his wife Gabrielle-Joseph Jugand, 40, are executed for âhaving said that if the enemy came, they would cry: Long live Louis XVII!, [and] for having treated Lebon like a scoundrel, since he had killed de Vielfort (executed on May 1), in whose service they had formerly served.â Two people are acquitted â a soldier accused of âhaving let a prisoner escapeâ and a laborer charged with âhaving offered different prices at a soap merchant's depending on whether he paid in assignats or in silver.â (Paris, volume 2, page 203-204)
1 June â vicar of Audincthun Jacques-Joseph Piedfort, 25, is executed for âhaving fabricated a baptismal certificate to make himself appear older and evade conscription,â while two men, accused of having distributed false assignats and carried fleurs de lys respectively, are acquitted. (Paris, volume 2, page 204-205)
6 June â five people are acquitted, three accused of having discredited assignats, one of âhaving sought, through his remarks, to demean and dissolve the popular society" and one accused of "having displayed a black cockade and mistreated the person who tore it from him.â (Paris, volume 2, page 207)
13 June â five people are executed: court clerk Jean-Joseph Legay, 48, for having "abandoned his post at the moment of taking the civic oath, presided over a gathering of aristocrats, and refused to accept the Constitution,â knight of Saint-Louis François Vincheguerre, 69, for âhaving maintained close ties with aristocrats, fanatics and suspicious individuals,â Ălisabeth Plunkette, 36, for having âspread the address in which the traitor Capet was congratulated for having vetoed the decree on the oath of priests,â farmer Charles François Dupont, 61, for having âinsulted the commissioners in charge of raising the defenders of the homeland,â and surveyor François-Marie Lourdel, 71, for âhaving said, upon leaving church, that the decree which ordered the deportation of the priests was the decree of the beggars and that the sans-culottes were scoundrels.â Five men suspected of having been Dupontâs accomplices are acquitted. (Paris, volume 2, page 209-212)
14 and 15 June â six people are acquitted, two suspected of "having manufactured a counterfeit stamp,â a merchant who âhad delayed a supply convoy and usurped the honors due to the national representation,â a farmer accused of âhaving sought to debase the assignats and discredit the Convention,â and a fishmonger and farmer who âhad shown contempt for the authorities of that commune, uttered threats, and stolen property belonging to the Republic.â (Paris, volume 2, page 213)
16 June â farmer Jacques Baudry, 33, is executed for âhaving said that he didn't give a damn about the municipality of Saint-Pol since it had voted for the death of Louis Capet; that it was they who had caused his death; that he didnât give a damn about patriots, that honest people were the only ones who went to the guillotine. He had, moreover, wanted to strike a municipal officer with an andiron and laid his hand on the daughter of the house.â (Paris, volume 2, page 213-214)
17 June â five farmers are acquitted, accused of distributing false assignats, of violating the Law of the Maximum, of disparaging the popular society and squandering church furnishings, and of disregarding the law prohibiting the simultaneous holding of municipal office and the position of tax collector, respectively. (Paris, volume 2, page 214)
19 June â six people are executed: hatter François Delacroix, 36, for âhaving insulted patriots, and in particular the defenders of the homeland, when he saw them poorly dressed, and of having given evidence of the most ardent aristocracy and the most marked incivilityâ (during the trial, Delacroix denied these accusations and declared he would be ready to do anything for the homeland), priest Pierre-Joseph Nonjan, 41, for being "head of a monarchist club composed of nobles, priests and counter-revolutionaries of the commune of Arras, which held its meetings at the house of widow Caron, and insulted the constitutional priests,â librarian Denis Wignan, 41, for âhaving circulated in Arras the Manifesto of Brunswick and other tyrants, and having received inflammatory writings from Paris and Lille,â lawyer Romain Marchandise, 35, "for having professed the doctrines of the Feuillants, for having shown himself to be a partisan of the department when this administration was still counter-revolutionary, for having circulated an address of congratulations to the infamous Gapet, and for having wanted to strike with his sword one of the most ardent patriots of Arras,â baliff François Griffon, 40, for being an âagent of counter-revolutionaries and aristocratsâ and âhaving made incendiary remarks,â and baliff Jean-Baptiste Boitel for being âa notorious agent of the most despicable aristocracy, an enemy of the Revolution, suspected of emigration during the siege of Lille.â One person is acquitted. (Paris, volume 2, page 245-248)
22 June â two people are put to death â Jacqueline Roland, 60, for having spoken ill of the assignats, and Antoine-Marie-Narcisse Soldini, 21, for having âattested to his criminal indifference to the military state, or rather that he had the most marked contempt for it.â A carpenter suspected of hiding a man from conscription is acquitted. (Paris, volume 2, page 250-251)
24 June â three people are condemned to death: hospital director Marie Braure, 43, for having âremoved various items from the hospital sacristy,â and porters in the Austrian army Jean-Baptiste Nicaise, 46, and Arnould Allart, for âespionage.â (Paris, volume 2, page 253-254)Â
26 June â three people are sentenced to death: Reine-Françoise Rivelois, 38, and farmer Jean-Simon Pruvost for having sent aid in cash to the priests of Loos and Ivenchy-en-Gohelle, and merchant Jean-Baptiste Vestavel, 31, for having "taken flight and been found carrying a silver ingot. The circumstances indicated that the ingot was intended for the enemies of the homeland.â A man accused of having been the accomplice of Rivelois and Pruvost is acquitted. (Paris, volume 2, page 258)
7 July â five people are sentenced to death: Albertine-Isabelle Briois des Arleux, 63, for having âleft French soil and only returned to carry out plans conceived between herself and the enemies of the homeland, having maintained the most criminal ties with them. An aristocrat all the more dangerous because her wealth gave her the means to corrupt public opinion and execute her infamous plots, she had sought to incite fanaticism; she herself was utterly fanatical,â chaplain of the Arras Cathedral Jean-Baptiste Braine, 49, for in 1792 âhaving left the soil of Liberty, and not returned until the end of October, and having maintained relations with aristocrats and fanatics,â Pierre Degremont, 21, for having âtorn off and trampled underfoot, on 15 Messidor, the cockade of a volunteer, torn to pieces three assignats of fifteen sols which belonged to him, and stirred up the village,â Emmanuel Verkonis, 48, guilty of the very same thing as Degremont as well as for âbeing the owner of a French greatcoat, another greatcoat and an Austrian coat,â and laborer Martial Maguenot, 32, for having "abandoned the flags of Liberty just as they were about to be covered in glory, [and having] been caught in the conquered country, disguised and covered in rags." Three people are acquitted, the first two suspected of having said âthat a letter descended from the heavens had announced that those who did not sanctify Sunday would be burned by lightning," the third of having claimed "to have found an egg in which the tree and the bonnet of liberty were represented.  (Paris, volume 2, page 270-271)
10 July â four people are executed: trader Marie-Louis Legris, 46, coadjutor Cyprien Leblan, 35, and actor Joseph Luçon, 26, for â[their] love for tyranny and fanaticism, [and having] left French soil and carried aid to our enemies,â and NoĂ«le Vichery, 32, for responding âthey have guillotined in Arras people who were no more guilty than the infant Iâm holding in my arms,â when two commissioners reproached her for not wearing a cockade on her bonnet and saying that they could get her executed for that. (Paris, volume 2, page 271-272)
11 July â farmer Pierre-François Delerue, 60, is executed for âhaving peddled a letter from heaven, in which citizens were exhorted to a pious resistance to the revolutionary government.â Four people suspected of the same charge are acquitted. (Paris, volume 2, page 272)
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Tuesday 22 â [âŠ] I went to Robertâs house. Danton came there. His jokes are as boorish as he is. Despite this, he is a good devil.
Lucile Desmoulinsâ diary, January 22 1793
When I showed to Danton the system of calumny of Roland and of the Brissotins, promoted in all the public writings, Danton answered me: âWhat do I care! Public opinion is a whore, posterity is a folly!â The word virtue made Danton laugh; he didnât have a more solid virtue, he said amusingly, than the one which he did every night with his wife. How could a man, to whom every idea of morality was foreign, be the defender of liberty? Â
Robespierreâs notes against the dantonists, written somewhere in March 1794 and published in 1841
Early on the morning of the 14th, the Bourgeois troopsâbetter armed and better organised than the previous day, numbering some 30 to 40 thousandâwere reinforced by 500 to 600 French Guards, who came to join a similar number we already had; roughly the same number of Dragoons and Swiss soldiers swelled their ranks. We dared to advance, without cannons, towards the Invalides, whose garrison opened fire. They were soon forced to open the gates to us: the Governor was the first to hoist our cockade, and all the gates were opened to us. We found very little gunpowder, but at least 30 to 40 thousand muskets, pistols, sabres, and so on, along with 8 or 10 large cannons, not counting the smaller ones. The camp at the Champ de Mars did not put up a fight. We hauled the artillery into the city, and all those accustomed to pushing and shoving violently were given weapons; for the crush caused some to be trampled to death. No sooner had the bourgeois troops swelled in number thanks to the new armaments than they sought to attack the Bastille.
I thought the undertaking was impossible, especially with mere muskets and bladed weapons. The attack took place nonetheless, but it petered out. The Governor used cannons firing cannonballs and grapeshot; as many as 200 of our men may have been killed. Efforts were made to set fire to the gates; but it was all to no avail: these methods were abandoned, and we went to fetch the heaviest cannons, which we trained towards the side opposite the gate, and used them to good effect. The defenders inside then turned their attention to the breach, and the Governor, M. de Launay, resorted to a ruse; he lowered the flag just as the man defending it was seen to fall dead; he then had the drawbridge lowered, and our citizen troops, believing the fortress was theirs, entered triumphantly; but as soon as there were about two hundred of them inside, he ordered his Invalides to lay down their arms, and urged the Bourgeois to do the same. Immediately the drawbridge was raised, and fire was opened on our troops. The cannon then fired, making a good breach, and our Bourgeois, along with a few Gardes-Françaises, charged in furiously; a valiant Garde-Française seized Monsieur de Launay, who immediately drew his Cross of Saint Louis to give it to him; but the Garde-Française refused it, saying: âI do not want it; it is that of a traitorâ; âthey grappled fiercely, and we could not resist the urge to punish him as he deserved: he was stabbed in the face with a bayonet; and then everyone, vying with one another, roughed him up, and he was taken to the Greve, where he was killed; the same was done to the Deputy Governor, the Keeper of the Gunpowder, and the Jailer; and the Invalids, who had opened fire on our troops, were also taken to La Greve, where four were hanged; little gunpowder was found, but some ammunition, and artilleryâsome pieces of which were hauled into the town.
We have learnt nothing of much interest this morning, 15 July. Last night, the alarm bells rang out all over Tours, but this was merely to keep people on tenterhooks and prolong the sense of alarm. Last night at midnight, a danger was reported in Montmartre; but 3,000 men were dispatched there with cannons, as well as some 1,200 men to the Place de Louis XV, carrying ammunition. An hour or two later, two couriers were lost, but none of this amounts to anything.
I forgot to tell you that Versailles found itself starving and without flour; yesterday two carts, bearing the Kingâs livery, arrived to request flour from the market hall. Monsieur Leleu, who is in charge of the cityâs supplies, acted as a true patriot and sent the drivers away, writing as follows: âI am expressly charged with supplying the good City of Paris, which is in the gravest danger of running out; I cannot, even for His Majestyâs sake, fail in my duties or betray them, as I owe my allegiance to the Fatherland before I can consider myself a subject of the King.â We allowed the carriages and horses to leave; fortunately, everything that leaves Gonesse reaches us, including even the grain carriages that have come to us from Caen; but the number of mouths to feed is increasing by the minute, because people are constantly arriving here, and neither horses nor men are allowed to leave, except on foot or in stagecoaches; not even the Courtâs own carriages are permitted to leave. Yesterday I saw a young, strapping man stopped whilst in a cabriolet; he managed to slip out of the crowd without being noticed, and abandoned his luggage; he was searched, and a good rifle with cartridges was found, which was seized; the horse was also seized; and, having hitched the cabriolet behind another carriage which was also being taken away, they drove it into town; it is said that even the post coaches are being stopped.
I have heard several persons mention a young man, of a little insignificant figure, who, the day before the Bastille was taken, got up on a chair in the Palace Royal, and harangued the multitude, conjuring them to make a struggle for their liberty, and asserting, that now the moment had arrived. They listened to his eloquence with the most eager attention; and, when he had instructed as many as could hear him at one time, he requested them to depart, and repeated his harangue to a new set of auditors.
Williamâs letters: letters written in France in the summer 1790 to a friend in England, containing various anecdotes relative to the French Revolution by Helen Maria Williams, page 31.
On Robespierre and Saint-Just's Relationships with Women
For some reason @sincerelyjennie I cannot reply to your post which I had saved in my drafts. It took me a few days to get it done because there was a lot of material to go over, and also because there was a second mini-heatwave.
Anyway, here's my response.
Most of these stories are unconfirmed rumors, gossip and hearsay.
He is the only one who claims this. He doesn't tell us who the colleague is. There is no way to verify this. It should be treated with the same sort of validity as any rumor. You want to believe it? You can. But that's all it is: a belief based on one testimony of some guy who might be writing a sweet story.
Buonarroti, who was close to the sisters, wrote this in 1830:
I seem to gather that the widowâs sister has personal reasons for refusing to discuss the great man with whom she was once friends; based on some information I received a long time ago regarding her brother, I would not be surprised if he were the cause of her behavior.
- Armando Saitta, Filippo Buonarroti, contributi alla storia della sua vita e del suo pensiero, Rome, Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 1950-1951, vol. 2, p. 53.
He says she was his friend, which is a very ambiguous and large term, and that she refuses to talk about him. He suspects her brother is to blame.
On the other hand, Charlotte Robespierre refuted it:
So we have a standstill on the sources: his sister says no, her sister says yes. These are the only two sources I would trust to speak on this topic, and they disagree. Therefore the answer is: we will never truly know. Do you believe Charlotte or Ălisabeth? Again, it's a matter of choice.
As for other women, there were rumors. But that's all there is. I never read the story about a woman with a tobacco shop but this is where you heard the story about a woman he paid and threw out of his apartment:
As for [Robespierreâs] continence, I only knew of a woman of about twenty-six years, whom he treated rather badly, and who idolized him. Very often he refused her at his door; he gave her a quarter of his fees.
Even if this man claimed he was his secretary, we have no way to know if this story is true. It could be. It could also not be.
You're probably asking yourself: well, why are these people telling these stories then? It's the simplest explanation: to make themselves interesting. Revealing some great secret about "The Tyrant Robespierre" was a currency. It's the late 18th-early 19th century equivalent of giving an "exclusive" interview to a tabloid. Some of them, like Georges Duval and Laure d'AbrantĂšs, turned their own memories into novelizations which arguably became best-sellers. There was a whole market for this.
As for Saint-Just? He had one girlfriend. Perhaps. There is no love letter, no poem dedicated to her, no correspondence between them. There's a letter from his childhood friend Thuillier saying there's a rumor that Saint-Just kidnapped her, and Saint-Just tells him to shut that down. Everything else is conjecture.
There's Marc-Antoine Baudot who tells us a wild story that Saint-Just had a lover who saw that Baudot was on Saint-Just's "list of animosities" and she went to tell Baudot... must I really explain why this is nonsense? Now I don't know if they mean there was an actual paper list or it's just a figure of speech... but it's still absurd. As Baudot says, he already knew Saint-Just disliked him. Moreover, Saint-Just was extremely private and we already struggle to know anything about him. He was excessively conscious about his private reputation - if he could have wiped Organt from existence, he probably would have done it. So you tell me the one time he had a lover who blabbed, it was just to warn Baudot about something he already knew? Nothing else? Now why would Baudot invent this? I honestly have no idea. Maybe there was a young woman who told him this extraordinary tale and he believed her. Maybe she sought Baudot's favors or protection, and this was the story she chose to tell, and he chose to believe her. That's the best guess I have, because that makes more sense to me than the story itself. You have to consider that, much like today, sometimes people believe what they want to hear, will decide it's the "truth, and write it down for posterity.
Anything else about Saint-Just being with other women is fanfiction, usually royalist propaganda trying to paint him (and every other revolutionary) as sexually depraved. It's the myth of the Brutish Commoner Revolutionary forcing himself on the Innocent Noble Maiden - it's a dark fantasy rooted in classist and ideological anxieties.
It's not easy to evaluate these testimonies. You need to study the core principles of source criticism and historiography. The principles noted here when discussing a secondary source also apply to primary sources.
First you must evaluate the type of document: are they memoirs or archival records? â
Memoirs written decades later are not objective diaries; they are highly curated, polished, edited, subjective narratives shaped by faulty memory, personal grudges, hindsight and sometimes other testimonies. They are at the crossroads between literature and history. On the other hand, contemporary evidence (letters written during the period, police reports, official registries) doesn't have the benefit of hindsight or the need to cater to a 19th-century reading public. But we have a notorious problem when it comes to Robespierre and Saint-Just: a lot of their personal letters, Saint-Just's especially, were destroyed both by the Thermidorians and reportedly by Jacques-Maurice Duplay, most likely in 1814-1815. However, because the Thermidorians got to them first, we can guess one certain thing: if there had been anything scandalous, they would have used it. And the fact is: there isn't.
Then, you need to evaluate the proximity of the witness (did they see it themselves or is it hearsay?) and their motive. Writing salacious stories about Robespierre and Saint-Just wasn't just a hobby; like I said, it could be a survival strategy or a lucrative business.
âWhen a story exists only in one person's memoirs and is contradicted or ignored by everyone else who, say, lived in that house, the burden of proof isn't met. It remains a rumor, not a fact. Villiers' story about Robespierre having a lover once could be true, but we cannot know.
It might take years of study, reading and reading these sources again, in order to evaluate them. It's not a perfect method. I don't claim to know the truth. But this is what I have after 20 years on the topic.
All the historians assert that [Robespierre] carried out an intrigue with the daughter of Duplay, but as the family physician and constant guest of that house I am in a position to deny this on oath. They were devoted to each other, and their marriage was arranged; but nothing of the kind alleged ever sullied their love.
Testimony from Robespierreâs doctor Joseph Souberbielle, cited in Recollections of a Parisian (docteur PoumiĂšs de La Siboutie) under six sovereigns, two revolutions, and a republic (1789-1863) (1911) page 26.
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Brissot, from his childhood, showed a passion for study;Â he spent the nights reading, and serious works occupied him at this age when most men dream only of dissipations and pleasures. He was always at the head of his fellow students in classes, and numerous prizes were awarded to his early work.
âŠwhich match up rather well with what Brissot, unbeknownst to his friend, had written about the same subject in his memoirs:
At eight years old, I entered college; At nine, I was in fifth grade and people were already talking about my successes. I owed them to a prodigious love of work which devoured me, and this love came from the encouragement and help given to me by a professor who had taken a liking to me. [âŠ] Abbot Comusle had a fairly well-stocked library, he left it to me. It was with some pride that at that age I immersed myself in reading instead of sharing the games of my college comrades. [âŠ] I will only cite one trait to give an idea of ââmy tireless zeal. The day was not enough for my ardor, I devoted part of the nights to it. My elder sister, who, out of devotion, went to the cathedral at four o'clock in the morning, gave me light, and I enclosed it in a dark lantern, so that it would not be seen by my father, whose room was next door to mine. It was in this concentrated light that I studied my Latin authors.
When Brissot, and a few patriots of the Legislative Assembly of the same ilk, in concert with Narbonne, with Lafayette's consent, and through the mediation of several women, such as the Baroness de Staël, the Marquise de Condorcet, etc, had arranged everything, and the terms of the agreement were finalized, Brissot came to you and said: "Who shall we appoint as ministers? Roland, Claviere. They're good! Do you want them? Good Lord! Yes... Roland, Claviere... Oh! But do you know how wonderful it would be if we appointed them?" And you believed that the ministry was your creation.
Youâre right, I see Brissot, however rarely, but you donât know him, and I know him since his childhood. I have seen him in those moments when the whole soul shows itself; where one abandons oneself without reservation to friendship, to trust: I know his disinterestedness; I know these principles, I assure you that they are pure; those who make him a party leader do not have the slightest idea of ââhis character; he has lights and knowledge; but he has neither the reserve, nor the dissimulation, nor these catchy forms, nor this spirit of consistency which constitutes a party leader, and what will surprise you is that, far from leading others, he is very easy to abuse.
Brissot, from his childhood, showed a passion for study;Â he spent the nights reading, and serious works occupied him at this age when most men dream only of dissipations and pleasures. He was always at the head of his fellow students in classes, and numerous prizes were awarded to his early work.
âŠwhich match up rather well with what Brissot, unbeknownst to his friend, had written about the same subject in his memoirs:
At eight years old, I entered college; At nine, I was in fifth grade and people were already talking about my successes. I owed them to a prodigious love of work which devoured me, and this love came from the encouragement and help given to me by a professor who had taken a liking to me. [âŠ] Abbot Comusle had a fairly well-stocked library, he left it to me. It was with some pride that at that age I immersed myself in reading instead of sharing the games of my college comrades. [âŠ] I will only cite one trait to give an idea of ââmy tireless zeal. The day was not enough for my ardor, I devoted part of the nights to it. My elder sister, who, out of devotion, went to the cathedral at four o'clock in the morning, gave me light, and I enclosed it in a dark lantern, so that it would not be seen by my father, whose room was next door to mine. It was in this concentrated light that I studied my Latin authors.
When Brissot, and a few patriots of the Legislative Assembly of the same ilk, in concert with Narbonne, with Lafayette's consent, and through the mediation of several women, such as the Baroness de Staël, the Marquise de Condorcet, etc, had arranged everything, and the terms of the agreement were finalized, Brissot came to you and said: "Who shall we appoint as ministers? Roland, Claviere. They're good! Do you want them? Good Lord! Yes... Roland, Claviere... Oh! But do you know how wonderful it would be if we appointed them?" And you believed that the ministry was your creation.
Youâre right, I see Brissot, however rarely, but you donât know him, and I know him since his childhood. I have seen him in those moments when the whole soul shows itself; where one abandons oneself without reservation to friendship, to trust: I know his disinterestedness; I know these principles, I assure you that they are pure; those who make him a party leader do not have the slightest idea of ââhis character; he has lights and knowledge; but he has neither the reserve, nor the dissimulation, nor these catchy forms, nor this spirit of consistency which constitutes a party leader, and what will surprise you is that, far from leading others, he is very easy to abuse.
