The Revolution


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Sorry, I am an American, we did the same thing, thank God. Yes, he gave people who were downtrodden a place to gather. The sad thing is that, now, you make it sound like some "dirty" endeavor. It was the right thing to do.
 
It's true that hardcore Legitimists consider the Orleans to be "traitors" because of that. As I said in the other thread, the Orleanists and Bonapartists are those who accepted the French Revolution, its symbols and values, while seeking a "Third Way". Legitimists rejected the symbols and values of the Revolution, even though the Bourbon Restoration did not undo many of the reforms carried out by the First Republic and Napoleon.

Let it be known that the lessons learned from the Revolution are some of the reasons constitutional monarchies continue to exist today.
 
Strange that all the ... "Catholic" ... Monarchies of the south of Europe have
fallen... ie Austria... France... Italy. while many of the .... "Protestant" ... Monarchies of northern Europe have survived.
... ie Britain... Denmark... Sweden...
 
What about Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, Liechtenstein... they're all Catholic. Even some non-European monarchies (e.g. Lesotho) are Catholic too.

Some have likened Napoleon to Alexander the Great, in that both men tried to reconstruct the world around them to their vision. But you could also say this was comparable to Rome- which also evolved from Kingdom to Republic to Empire. But whereas the Roman Empire brought a long period of peace in Europe that would not be surpassed for centuries, the First Republic and First Empire in France did the opposite by plunging Europe into a war. Even though things such as social reforms and constitutionalism came out of that.

A fair amount of what's happened since can be traced to that.

An interesting sidenote is the history of Corsica, the home of the Bonapartes. The Corsicans had risen against Genoese rule in the 18th century and under Pasquale Paoli became an independent republic with a democratic constitution between 1755 and 1769, when it came under French rule. Paoli initially supported the French Revolution but then broke ranks with the revolutionaries, because of the execution of the King. So by 1793, he called an assembly and Corsica declared its independence. It became the Kingdom of Corsica in union with Britain under George III, also with a democratic constitution. This didn't last long, and France retook Corsica. Paoli went to England, where he would spend the remainder of his life.
 
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Royal Tombs suffered terribly during the Revolution,many of them were lost or destroyed forever.

Its such a shame that mobs were let desecrate priceless pieces of medieval tomb effigies & sculptures.
 
They must have also been after valuable artefacts too.. rings,
diadems , etc .. all of which must have appeared on the black market soon after.
I ve often wondered what dececration went on at St Denis .
 
They must have also been after valuable artefacts too.. rings,
diadems , etc .. all of which must have appeared on the black market soon after.
I ve often wondered what dececration went on at St Denis .

Horrific desecration!

Many tombs were smashed to pieces,others were mutilated by vandals.

The royal vaults were smashed open & the remains of Kings,Queens,Princes & Princesses were dragged from their coffins & dumped in a large pit outside the Abbey Saint Denis .

In August 1793 the following bodies were exhumed
On 12 October,1793

Henri IV
14 October:
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18 January 1794 :
The tombs of other French Royals in Paris at the Couvent des Jacobins,Couvent des Célestins & Couvent des Cordeliers were all destroyed.Most of them dated from the 1300/1400's :sad:
 
Not only in Paris was this going on, but in other parts of France too,
For eg. the tomb of the lovely
Dian de Poitiers was looted on her estate in Anet.

But the scenes in St Denis must have been horrifying and a
desecration of 1000 years of history.
I ve been thinking for a while now of getting together some pics
of St Denis and its history and maybe make a post somewhere.

In Pre Revolutionary days it must have been magnificent and awe inspiring.
 
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Not only in Paris was this going on, but in other parts of France too,
For eg. the tomb of the lovely
Dian de Poitiers was looted on her estate in Anet.

But the scenes in St Denis must have been horrifying and a
desecration of 1000 years of history.
I ve been thinking for a while now of getting together some pics
of St Denis and its history and maybe make a post somewhere.

In Pre Revolutionary days it must have been magnificent and awe inspiring.

Yes that's true,the tombs of the Dukes of Brittany & those of the Queen of Navarre at Vendome were also pillaged & destroyed.

That would be an excellent idea!


Can you imagine what St Denis & those other churches would have looked like if the Revolution had not happened :sad:
 
Heres a pic of Marie Antoinette in St Denis... her statue that is..
though I doubt she would have worn a dress so revealing in real life !
Celebheaven • View topic - Marie Antoinette


.

That's from her Tomb Effigfy which was erected during the Bourbon Restoration.

I agree the dress is very revealing but possibly an Empire style & not one from M.A. era.
 
October 1793 -Desecration of the Royal Burials at the Basilica of St.Denis outside Paris.

Mobs of revolutionaries plundered and sacked the Basilica church.Many tombs were smashed and the royal vaults were broken open where the coffins of the kings,queen,dauphins,princes and princesses lay.The coffins were then opened and the royal remains were then unceremoniously dumped into common pits outside the basilica church.Many of the royal bodies were put on display before being thrown into the mass grave,some had parts removed by ghoulish souvenir hunters. (head of Henri IV,thigh bone of Catherine de Medici,beard of Louis XIII)

Dates of the desecration


August 1793- Philip the Bold,Isabelle d'Aragon,Pepin,Constance of Castile and Louis VI.

October 13th- Henri IV
October 14th- Louis XIII,Louis XIV,Anne of Austria,Maria de Medici,Maria Theresa of Spain,Gaston Duke of Orléans.
October 16th- Henrietta Maria,(wife of Charles I),Philippe duke d'Orléans,Louis XV,Charles V and Jeanne de Bourbon.
October 17th - Charles VI,Isabeau of Bavaria,Charles VIII,Marie d'Anjou,Marguerite de Valois,Francis II,Charles VIII.
October 18th - Henri II,Catherine de Medici,Charles IX,Henri III,Louis XII,Anne of Brittany,Jeanne II of Navarre,Louis X,Jean I,Hugh the Great,Charles II.
October 19th - Philip IV,Dagobert,queen Nantilde
October 20th- Francis I,Claude de France,Louise de Savoie,Louise de France,Charlotte de France,Charles Duke of Orléans and the Dauphin Francis.
October 21st - Philip V,Philip VI.
October 24th- Charles IV
October 25th - Jean II and Louise daughter of Louis XV.




577px-Hubert_Robert_-_La_Violation_des_caveaux_des_rois_dans_la_basilique_de_Saint-Denis.jpg
 
It has fasinated me how the Queen of England is still beloved by the people of her country. I was struck in surprize when Queen Elizabeth came to the state of Virgina, USA and she recieved a royal greeting from the citizens here in the USA. She had traveled to see Williamsburg Va. For the 300 year celabration. It really was something to see, the Queen of England on soil that rebelled against the home land just over 200 years ago. Not just here in the USA but also adored by many of the people. I guess this speaks volumes of the person the Queen is and the hope for the French monarchy.
Yes, I was recently in Williamsburg, and QEII's visit is mentioned on many parts of the Williamsburg experience.
 
She is a nice, unoffensive lady. She has never had any political influence anywhere in this nation. No one cares about her, except we like the pomp and circumstance that they pay big bucks for, to entertain us. What she has to do with the French Monarchy, I have no idea. The French became a republic and all the problems caused by their monarchy is long past.
 
French Revolution

Something very fundamental happened to our world during those fateful years. Its like a turning point,
a time when the whole ethos of society changed.

Of course, the Americans and the political situation in the US had a lot to do with it and powers behind the scenes that we are not fully aware of .
 
That desecration of St Denis is an awful consequence of the
revolution, goullish too.
I think that graves were being desecrated all over France, for eg the tomb of Diana de Poitiers was looted and destroyed, it was as if the French mob were intent on destroying their own history.
Its a wonder that Versailles was nt set on fire, instead it survived...
(unlike the Tuilleries) ... and is now one of the top tourists honey pots in all
of Europe !
 
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Most tombs both Royal and from the nobility were looted and destroyed,many of them were splendid examples of medieval and renaissance Funerary art/sculpture.

Though thankfully many of them survived thanks to French archaeologist,Alexandre Lenoir who salvaged and saved many from total destruction.
 
Actually, we didn't start it ...the English decapitated a fellow named Charles and the world changed. Too bad, he had a great court painter.

Quite a revolution. I think the ripples spread and picked up force over the years.

I do believe that one thing will influence another and that the world was ripe for revolution in ways we never saw before.
 
Interesting that Louis 16th , during his humiliating captivity, read a book about Charles 1st trial and execution..... must have made grim reading for the poor guy !
 
Imagine if St Denis was in pristine condition , untouched and undisturbed ..... as it was prior to the revolution, that would be quite something !
 
The unfortunate Princess Marie Louise of Savoy better known as the Princess of Lamballe met her brutal end on September 3rd,1792.

Murder_of_the_Princess_de_Lamballe.png
 
I'm looking more into the French Revolution and it had some similarities with the Russian Revolution. Both had weak rulers with unpopular wives who had trouble producing an heir. Both Nicholas and Louis have been described as good men but horrible rulers. Their lack of understanding and distance from the masses caused them to not accept change and lead to their destruction and the destruction of their families; at least Louis' daughter made it out alive.
 
I'm looking more into the French Revolution and it had some similarities with the Russian Revolution. Both had weak rulers with unpopular wives who had trouble producing an heir. Both Nicholas and Louis have been described as good men but horrible rulers. Their lack of understanding and distance from the masses caused them to not accept change and lead to their destruction and the destruction of their families; at least Louis' daughter made it out alive.

perhaps it was the same secret forces ( masonry ? ) that were behind both of these revolutions .

A Royal ... female... hate figure is common to both .
 
I've been watching documentary on the history of England and it cracks me up how it conveniently forgets they were the first to kill a King. With that being said it didn't start an all out revolution throughout the continent like the French one. The idea of divine rights of kings and the select few being obligated to no one was destroyed during that period. It took another century but it eventually spread into other countries and took down their monarchs and they never returned.
 
On August 4, 1789, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was adopted.
 
I was struck in surprize when Queen Elizabeth came to the state of Virgina, USA and she recieved a royal greeting from the citizens here in the USA. She had traveled to see Williamsburg Va. For the 300 year celabration. It really was something to see, the Queen of England on soil that rebelled against the home land just over 200 years ago.

some years ago there was a royal visit to
Germany... which, considering recent history... is even more remarkable !
 
Thinking about it, you d think that the mob would have
looted the Palace of Versailles... when they had the upper hand ...

maybe they did, but Ive never read anything about it .
 
I'm looking more into the French Revolution and it had some similarities with the Russian Revolution. Both had weak rulers with unpopular wives who had trouble producing an heir. Both Nicholas and Louis have been described as good men but horrible rulers. Their lack of understanding and distance from the masses caused them to not accept change and lead to their destruction and the destruction of their families; at least Louis' daughter made it out alive.

Another interesting fact:

Both Louis and Nicholas II had wives that were of German origin and were profoundly hated to the point of being made a scapegoat.
 
Starofwonder - Versailles escaped looting, as the Parisian mob brought the Royal Family back to Paris with them 'under their protection' ..[ i.e imprisoned them..]
As a result the focus of hatred moved from Versailles to the Tuileries [the residence of the Royal Family in Paris] which was indeed attacked and looted on the 10th August 1792, just days before the Monarchy was abolished and France became a Republic.
 
Another interesting fact:

Both Louis and Nicholas II had wives that were of German origin and were profoundly hated to the point of being made a scapegoat.

Yes, that is true. And the bodies of both families were desecrated after they were murdered, yet had monuments or churches consecrated to their memory years later.

So many similarities:sad:.
 
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