Daily Life During the French Revolution

DAILY LIFE
DURING

THE

FRENCH

REVOLUTION

JAMES M.
ANDERSON

For Viv

welcome
to the world

CONTENTS

Preface

Chronology

Maps

1. The
Setting

2. Economy

3. Travel

4. Life at Versailles

5. Clothes and Fashion

6. Arts and Entertainment

7. Family, Food, and Education

8. Health, Medicine, and
Charity

9. Religion

10. Women

11. Urban Life

12. Rural Life

13. Military Life

14. Law and Order

15. Aftermath

Appendix 1: Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

Appendix
2: The Republican Calendar

Glossary

PREFACE

For
everyone in France, from the king to the lowliest peasant, July 1789 was either
exhilarating or ominous. A rare person indeed would have been apathetic or
unruffled by the social turmoil enveloping the country, for the July events and
those that followed laid the foundations of a new society, a new state.

The decisive actions that led to the overthrow of the old
order were staged mostly in Paris, although the provinces, where most of the
population resided, played no small part in an escalating crisis.

The day-to-day life of the people of that time and place
forms the major component of this book. Each chapter adds to a portrait of
France before, during, and after the revolution.

The book begins with a geographical overview, followed by a
description of the country’s diverse political, social, and cultural influences
and of the major historical events that led to the revolution. Subsequent
chapters deal with the economy; courtly, aristocratic, urban, and rural life;
and details about people of all classes—their anxieties, pleasures, living
conditions, health care, ethics, charity, and personal experiences; what they
wore and ate; what they did to entertain themselves; and the influence of the
church, crime, and revolutionary propaganda.

The author owes a debt of gratitude to
Sherry Anderson, whose perseverance, encouragement and plain hard work made
this book possible. Others who contributed in no small measure were Dr. Siwan
Anderson, Dr.
Katherine Connors, Dr. Patrick Francois, Richard Dalon,
Georges Gottlieb of the Bibliothèque National de Paris, Howard Greaves, Dr.
Rodney Roche, Drs. Bernard and Herbie Rochet. Thanks also go to Michael Hermann
of Greenwood Press, who suggested the topic, and Sarah Colwell, assistant
editor, Greenwood Press.

Storming of the Bastille by citizens with guns and
pikes
. The heads of “traitors” were carried on pikes.

CHRONOLOGY

1770	Marriage of Dauphin to Marie-Antoinette.
1775	Coronation of Louis XVI.
1776	American Declaration of Independence.
1786	Anglo-French commercial treaty.
1788	Estates-General convoked for May 1789.
1789
February	Publication of Sieyès’ What Is the Third Estate?
May 5	Estates-General convene.
June 13	First parish priests break ranks.
June 17	National Assembly proclaimed.
June 27	Orders unite.
July 14	Bastille falls.
Late July	The Great Fear.
August 4	Abolition of feudalism and privileges.
August 26	Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen.
October 5–6	King and National Assembly move to Paris.
November 2	Church property nationalized.
December 11	Assignats introduced.
1790
February 13	Monastic vows forbidden.
May 21	Paris sections established.
June 19	Noble titles abolished.
July 12	Civil Constitution of the Clergy.
July 14	Feast of Federation.
August 16	Parlements abolished.
August 31	Mutiny at Nancy.
November 27	Oath of the clergy.
1791
January 2	Roll-call on clerical oath.
March 2	Guilds dissolved.
April 13	Pope condemns Civil Constitution.
June 10	Royal family’s flight to Varennes.
July 16	Reinstatement of Louis XVI.
September 14	Annexation of Avignon. Louis XVI accepts Constitution.
September 30	National Assembly dissolved.
October 1	Legislative Assembly convenes.
October 20	Call for war.
November 9	Decree against émigrés.
November 12	Louis XVI vetoes decree against émigrés.
November 29	Decree against refractory priests.
December 19	Louis XVI vetoes decree against priests.
1792
April 20	War declared on Austria.
April 25	First use of guillotine.
May 27	New decree against refractory priests.
June 13	Prussia declares war.
June 20	Sans-culottes invade the Tuileries.
July 22	Legislative Assembly declares the country in danger.
July 25	Brunswick Manifesto.
July 30	Marseilles fédérés enter Paris.
August 3	Paris sections demand dethronement of king.
August 10	Storming of the Tuileries; monarchy overthrown.
August 19	Prussians cross frontier. Defection of Lafayette.
September 2	Fall of Verdun.
September 2–6	September massacres.
September 20	Battle of Valmy.
September 21	Convention meets.
September 22	Republic proclaimed.
December 3	Decision to try Louis XVI.
1793
January 21	Execution of Louis XVI.
February 1	War declared on England and Holland.
February 21	Line and volunteer regiments joined.
February 24	Decree conscription of 300,000 men.
February 25–27	Food riots in Paris.
March 7	War declared on Spain.
March 10	Revolutionary tribunal created.
March 11	Revolt in the Vendée.
April 5	Defection of Dumouriez.
April 6	Committee of Public Safety created.
April 11	Assignats made sole legal tender.
April 29	Federalist uprising in Marseilles.
May 4	First Maximum decreed.
May 31	First anti-Girondin uprising in Paris.
June 2	Purge of Girondins from Convention.
June 7	Federalist revolt spreads to Bordeaux and Caen.
June 9	Vendeans capture Saumur.
June 24	Constitution of 1793 accepted.
July 13	Marat assassinated.
July 17	Final abolition of feudalism.
July 26	Death penalty for hoarding.
July 27	Robespierre joins Committee of Public Safety.
August 23	Decree of levée en masse.
August 25	Marseilles recaptured.
August 27	Toulon surrenders to the British.
September 5	Government by terror begins.
September 17	Law of Suspects.
September 29	General Maximum introduced.
October 3	Girondins sent for trial.
October 5	Revolutionary calendar introduced.
October 9	Fall of Lyon.
October 10	Revolutionary government declared.
October 16	Marie-Antoinette executed.
October 17	Vendeans defeated at Cholet.
October 31	Execution of Girondins.
November 10	Festival of Reason at Nôtre Dame.
November 22	Parisian churches closed.
December 4	Revolutionary government created.
December 12	Vendeans defeated at Le Mans.
December 19	Fall of Toulon to French.
1794
February 21	Price controls revised.
February 26	Confiscation of émigré land.
March 3	Distribution of émigré land among the poor.
March 13	Arrest and execution of Hébertists.
March 27	Revolutionary armies disbanded.
April 5	Danton and Desmoulins executed.
June 8	Festival of the Supreme Being.
July 5	Wage controls introduced in Paris.
July 28	Robespierre sent to guillotine.
September 18	State renounces all subsidies to religion.
November 12	Jacobin club closed.
December 8	Surviving Girondins reinstated.
December 24	Maximum abolished; invasion of Holland.
1795
February 17	Pacification in the Vendée.
February 21	Freedom of worship restored.
April 1	Uprising of Germinal (12 Germinal).
May 20	Uprising of Prairial (1 Prairial).
May 31	Revolutionary tribunal abolished.
June 8	Death of Louis XVII.
June 27	Royalists land at Quibéron; defeated three weeks later.
July 22	Peace concluded with Spain.
October 1	Annexation of Belgium.
October 5	Uprising of Vendémiaire.
October 26	End of Convention.
November 3	Directory constituted.
December 10	Forced loans from the wealthy.
1796
February 19	Withdrawal of assignats.
March 2	Napoleon appointed commander in Italy.
June 12	Papal territory invaded.
1797
July 25	Political clubs closed.

Other books

Pinched by Don Peck

The International Assassin A Sexy Times Crime Thriller by Adele Asher

Northanger Abbey and Angels and Dragons by Jane Austen, Vera Nazarian

Griffin's Destiny by Leslie Ann Moore

Dangerous to Know by Barbara Taylor Bradford

Blessed Are Those Who Weep by Kristi Belcamino

Risky Secrets by Xondra Day

Live By The Team (Team Fear Book 1) by Skaggs, Cindy

SCREWED DOWN MURDER (Mrs. Fix It Mysteries Book 2) by Belle Knudson

Twist by Roni Teson