Could Louis have talked himself out of his capture in Varennes? We also discuss a ground-breaking “world first” connected to Leopold II.
Endangered by the rising power of both the far-left and the far-right, Louis finally decides to reject the revolution and flee the capital. What was the true catalyst for his flight? How did a series of improbable events impact his escape? Episode...
Summary The Flight to Varennes is the term used to describe the royal family’s failed attempt to escape the French Revolution. Disguised as a servant, King Louis XVI attempted to flee Paris on the night of 20-21 June 1791. Originally aiming for the...
Hello Everybody! Over the coming months I am planning to create bonus episodes that dive into certain topics that unfortunately haven’t made their way into the main series. Examples of potential episodes (or indeed mini-series) include: The...
You’ve heard of fake news. What about fake art? April the 12th is the anniversary of the Dom Gerle Affair. In the heat of the religious debates on 1790, the revolutionary monk Dom Gerle proposed that the Assembly declare Catholicism the sole...
Examine two passionate defences of French nobility. Two members of the Third Estate, Jean-Sifrein Maury and Jacques Necker, argue against the abolition of nobility and proclaim the National Assembly’s decision as unwise and unnecessary.
Explore Dom Gerle and Abbé Grégoire in David’s Tennis Court Oath and the latter’s invention of the word ‘vandalism’.
As religious divisions threaten the peace, the Assembly makes an enemy of France’s warrior class through the Abolition of Nobility in June 1790. Mirabeau, seeking to save the revolution from its increasing radicalism, enters into secret...
The Catholic Church becomes the revolution’s most tenacious and ferocious foe. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy forces the nation to choose between revolution and religion. Was this conflict inevitable, or did the revolutionaries simply...
While debate raged about the revolution’s ideas, the people found ways to celebrate them. Throughout 1789 and 1790, a whole series of new traditions, customs and artefacts were created to celebrate the revolution and unite the nation in a...
