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<p>At the time of the first Dynasty, My Lord, the French Nation left the Germania swamps and forests, and took possession of the rich lands of Gaul. The dying authority of the Roman Emperors was not able to defend these lands against the invasions of a vast number of other Barbarians. No other show could have interested you more than this one! In Gaul, at the beginning of the fifth century, Laws and Religion were almost on their own to govern an abandoned country because of the weakness of its legitimate Monarchs; to outlive their authority; to triumph over a conquering People; to ease its morals; to give the People the principles of a well-ordered administration; and in this way to be used as safeguards to the defeated ones against the fury and arrogance of the conquerors. At this point, My Lord, you should know about the Public Law that was established by the Romans in the provinces; because you will soon find out that, even if our Ancestors brought with them some Barbarian customs, we got reason, humanity, and good Laws from the wise institutions of the Romans who had governed half of the known Universe for such a long time. What did the new Conqueror of Gaul have best to do? He had conquered; he wanted to reign: he had the military power, but was missing all the Governing tools, and he borrowed them from the defeated people. He found a wonderful mechanism already set up. The Caesars had abandoned the management: Clovis seized it and saw himself as the successor. Bishops, Peoples got the same idea from him. He was the King; he was the master: everything would have been set if only he had been fair.</p>
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1773-00-00
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Jacob-Nicolas Moreau, <i>Leçons de Morale, de politique et de droit public</i> (Versailles: De l'imprimerie du Département des affaires étrangeres, 1773), 30–33.
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Jacob–Nicolas Moreau wrote this excerpt as part of his<i> Lessons of Morality, Politics and Law </i>(1773) at the request of the aging Louis XV for the instruction of the Dauphin. Throughout the 200–page book, Moreau defends the power of the King to rule France without opposition. In this passage, he lays out the French monarchy’s own view of its history, which provides justification for royal perogative. Elsewhere he would continue, emphasizing that since former kings had created such bodies as the <i>Parlements </i>and regional Estates, current kings should listen to—but not be bound by—the views of these bodies.
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233
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Moreau, "On the Origins of the French Monarchy"
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https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/233/
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1773
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BOOK THREE: WHERE I BEGIN EXPLAINING THE NATURE AND PROPERTIES OF ROYAL AUTHORITY <p>ARTICLE 1. Its essential characteristics can be distinguished.</p> <p>Proposition 1. Royal authority has four essential characteristics or qualities. First of all, royal authority is sacred; second, it is paternal; third, it is absolute; and fourth, it is subject to reason. These will be established, in order, in the following articles.</p> <p>ARTICLE 2. Royal authority is sacred.</p> <p>Proposition 1. God establishes kings as his ministers, and through them reigns over the People.</p> <p>We have already seen that all power comes from God. (<i>Romans</i> 13:5) As Saint Paul adds, "The King is God's minister to do good. If you do evil, be afraid, for he does not wield the sword in vain. He is God's minister, the avenger of evil deeds." (<i>Romans</i> 13:4) . . . Princes therefore serve as God’s ministers and as His lieutenants on earth. It is through them that He exercises His rule. . . .</p> <p>Proposition 2. The king’s person is sacred.</p> <p>It is clear from the foregoing that kings' persons are sacred, and that any attack upon them is sacrilege. </p> <p>God’s prophets anoint them with a holy unction, as He does with his pontiffs and altars. But even without the outward application of this ointment, kings are sacred due to their office as representatives of the Holy Majesty, and delegated by His providence to execute His commands. Thus God calls even Cyrus his anointed. "Thus spoke the Lord to Cyrus, my anointed, who I have taken by the right hand, so that he may subdue all nations before him." (<i>Isaiah</i> 45:1)</p> <p>The title of "Christ" is given to kings, and, everywhere we see them called 'Christ,' or 'the Lord's anointed.' With this venerable title even the Prophets revere them and regard them as included in God’s sovereign realm, and whose authority they wield over the People. "Speak boldly of me before the Lord and before his Christ. Tell them whether I have taken any man's ox or ass, whether I have taken a bribe from any man, or whether I have oppressed any man. And they answered 'never.'. And Samuel said, 'the Lord and his Christ thus bear witness that you have no complaint to bring against me.'" (<i>Samuel I</i>, 12:3–5). </p> <p>It is thus that Samuel, after having judged the People on behalf of the Lord and with absolute power for twenty-one years, accounts for his conduct before God and before Saul, both of whom he calls upon to bear witness and by whose testimony he establishes his innocence. </p> <p>Kings must be guarded as one would sacred things, and he who neglects to guard them as such deserves death. . .</p> <p>Proposition 3. The prince must be obeyed on the principles of religion and conscience.</p> <p>Saint Paul, having said that the prince is God's minister, concludes thusly: "It is therefore necessary that you be subject to him, not only for fear of his wrath, but also for the sake of your conscience." (<i>Romans</i> 13: 5) . . . Even when kings fail to discharge their duty [of praising good deeds and punishing evil], they must be respected for their office and their ministry. "Obey your masters, not only those who are kind and gentle, but also those who are vexatious and unfair." (<i>Peter I</i>, 2:18). </p> <p>There is therefore a religious element to the respect rendered a prince. Serving God and respecting kings are one and the same, and Saint Peter places these two duties together: "Fear God, and honor the king." (<i>Peter</i> <i>I</i>, 2: 17) . . .</p> <p>It is therefore in the spirit of Christianity to respect kings with the sort of religion that Tertullian most aptly terms 'the religion of the second majesty.'</p> <p>This second majesty is but an outgrowth of the first, that is, of the Divine Majesty, who, for the good of humanity, wished to reflect some of His radiance upon the kings.</p> <p>Proposition 4. Kings must respect their power, and only use it for the public good.</p> <p>Their power comes from on high, and as has been said, they must not think that they have been given this power to use it as they please. Rather, they must use it with fear and restraint, befitting something which comes from God, and for which God will demand an accounting. . . .</p> <p>Kings must consequently tremble while using the power that the Lord gives them, reflecting upon how horrible a sacrilege it is to use a power which comes from God for evil purposes. </p> <p>We have seen kings seated on the throne of God, holding the sword which He Himself put into their hand. What a desecration, and what audacity for unjust kings to sit upon God’s throne, making decrees contrary to His laws, and using the sword He gave them for committing acts of violence and butchering His children!</p> <p>Let kings therefore respect their might, for it is not theirs but rather the Lord’s, and it must be used in a holy and religious manner. . . .</p> <p>ARTICLE 3. Royal authority is paternal, and its true characteristic is goodness. . . .</p> <p>Proposition 1. Goodness is a royal quality, and the true prerogative of greatness.</p> <p>"Because the Lord your God is God of gods, King of kings, a great God, powerful and formidable, who judges without considering whom He judges nor who accepts bribes. He judges both orphans and widows, He loves strangers and gives them His food and His clothing." (<i>Deuteronomy</i> 10:17–18). </p> <p>Because God is great and complete in and of Himself, He bends over backwards, as it were, to do good for men, in conformity with these words, "For as is His greatness, so also is His mercy." (<i>Ecclesiastes</i> 2:23). </p> <p>He imbues kings with an image of His majesty, so that they must imitate his goodness. </p> <p>He raises them to a level where they no longer desire anything for themselves. . . .</p> <p>That is why, in the passages where we read that "the kingdom of David was imposed upon the People," the Jew and Greek infer "for the people." This shows that the purpose of greatness is the good of the subjects. </p> <p>In fact, God, who created the body of all men from the same earth and who also placed His image and His likeness in their souls, did not create so many distinctions among men in order to have the proud be separate from the slaves and the destitute. He created the great only so they could protect the meek. He only gave his power to kings so that they may provide for the public good, and so that they could be the People’s support.</p> <p>Proposition 2. The prince is born not for himself, but for the public. . . .</p> <p>Let the princes understand that their true glory lies not in existing for themselves, but rather that the public welfare that they provide is a sufficiently worthy reward on earth while they await the eternal blessings that God has reserved for them.</p> <p>Proposition 3. The prince must provide for the needs of the People. </p> <p>The Lord said to David, "Thou shall feed my People of Israel, and shall be their shepherd." (<i>Samuel</i> <i>II</i>, 5:2) . . . . </p> <p>It is a right of kings to provide for the needs of the People. Whoever else undertakes this function, to the detriment of the prince, infringes upon royalty. The obligation to care for the people is the basis for all the rights that sovereigns have over their subjects, and it was for this reason that royalty was established. </p> <p>And it is also for this reason that the People, when they have great need, have the right of appeal to their prince. "In their extreme famine, all of Egypt came to the Pharaoh, crying for bread." (<i>Genesis</i> 41:55). . . .</p> <p>Proposition 4. Of all the People, it is the weak to whom the prince must provide the most.</p> <p>For it is they who have the greatest need of him who is, by his office, the father and protector of all. This is the reason that God commends widows and orphans mainly to judges and magistrates. . . .</p> <p>BOOK FOUR. CONTINUATION OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ROYALTY</p> <p>ARTICLE 1. Royal authority is absolute.</p> <p>In order to make this term odious and unbearable, there are those who pretend to confuse absolute government with arbitrary government. But no two things could be more different, as we will demonstrate when we speak of justice.</p> <p>Proposition 1. The prince answers to no one for his decrees. </p> <p>"Observe the commandments that the king utters, and keep the oath that you have taken to him. Do not think about escaping from under him, and do not continue in evil work, for he will do all that pleases him. His word is powerful, and no one can ask him: ‘Why do you do this?’ He who obeys shall not be harmed." (<i>Ecclesiastes</i> 8:2–5).</p> <p>Without this absolute authority, the prince can neither do good nor repress evil. His power must be such that no one can hope to escape him. And finally, the sole defense of individuals against the public power must be their innocence. </p> <p>This doctrine conforms to what Saint Paul said: "Do you not wish to fear this power? Be well afraid." (<i>Romans</i> 13:3).</p> <p>Proposition 2. When the prince has judged, there shall be no other judgment. </p> <p>The sovereign judgments are attributed to God Himself. . . . The prince can correct himself when he recognizes that he has done wrong, but against his authority the only remedy lies within that authority. </p> <p>That is why a prince must be very careful about what he decrees. . . .</p> <p>Proposition 3. There is no coactive force against the prince. </p> <p>Coactive force is the power to enforce the execution of legitimate orders. Legitimate command belongs to the prince alone. Also to him alone belongs coactive force. </p> <p>This is also why Saint Paul gave the sword only to the prince. "If you do evil, be afraid, for he does not wield the sword in vain." (<i>Romans</i> 13:4). </p> <p>In a State, only the prince is armed, otherwise everything is confusion and the State collapses into anarchy.</p> <p>Whoever makes himself a sovereign prince takes everything into his own hands, the supreme judicial authority as well as all the forces of the State. . . . </p> <p>To the prince alone belongs the general care of the People. This is the first article and the basis for all the others. To him belong the public works. To him belong the parade grounds and weapons. To him belong the decrees and regulations. To him belong the badges of distinction. All power stems from his power. All assemblies are dependent upon his authority. </p> <p>Thus, for the good of the State, all force is gathered into a single entity. For power to exist outside of this entity is to divide the state, ruin the public peace, and create two masters in contradiction to the word of the Gospel. "No man can serve two masters." (<i>Matthew</i> 6:24).</p> <p>By virtue of his office, the prince is father to his people, and by his greatness he is above petty interests. But even more than this, all his majesty and natural interest are directed toward the preservation of the people, since, in short, if there is no People, there is no prince. There is therefore nothing better than to leave all the power of the State to he who has the greatest interest in its preservation and grandeur.</p> <p>Proposition 4. Kings are thereby not freed from all laws. . . . </p> <p>Kings are therefore subject, like all others, to the equality of the law, both because laws must be fair, and because they owe the People the example of maintaining justice. But they are not subject to the penalties of the law. In the language of theology, they are subject to the laws, not as a coactive force but as a directive force.</p> <p>Proposition 5. The People must peacefully remain under the prince’s authority. . . .</p> <p>Proposition 6. The people must fear the prince; but the prince need only fear doing evil . . . . </p> <p>Fear is a necessary constraint on the People because of their presumptuousness and their natural resistance. Therefore it is necessary for the People to fear the prince. But should the prince fear the People, all is lost. </p>
Sortable Date
1709-00-00
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J.-B. Bossuet, <i>Politique tiree des propres paroles de l'ecriture sainte</i> (Paris: 1834) vol I, 133 - 149;180 - 188,
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Jacques–Benigne Bossuet (1627—1704), bishop of Meaux, was a well–known seventeenth–century peacher who believed that although France had a sizable minority of Protestants, France should have a single religion, Catholicism. At the same time, he was a Gallican, meaning he argued that the French clergy owed primary allegiance to the king rather than the Pope in Rome. His emphasis on religious unity and devotion to the French crown—rather than tolerance—appealed to Louis XIV, who appointed Bossuet tutor to heir, the "Dauphin" or crown prince. In this capacity, Bossuet wrote the following passage setting out the basic ideas of the French monarchy.
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234
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Bossuet, "The Nature and Properties of Royal Authority"
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https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/234/
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1709
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Friday, 16 June 1775
<p>While traveling from Compiègne to Frismes—where His Majesty spent the night on 8 June–, the King received the most dazzling, the most sincere and already the most deserved proof of love from His Peoples. The King left Frismes on 9 June to go to the City of Reims, and He arrived there in a ceremonial coach, accompanied by Monsieur, Monseigneur the Count of Artois, the Duke of Orléans, the Duke of Chartres, and the Prince of Condé. After the Duke of Bourbon, Governor of Champagne, gave him the keys of the city, the King entered Reims escorted by the troops of the royal household and made his way through a People intoxicated with joy—which did not decrease but rather intensified as the procession moved along. His Majesty entered the metropolitan church, where he was greeted by the Archbishop-Duke of Reims—who was at the head of his Chapter—and listened to the <i>Te Deum</i>. After the Benediction, the King withdrew to the archbishop's palace where all the Nobles complimented Him. The next day, the King listened to the first Vespers in the Cathedral, and on Sunday, June 11th, around seven o'clock, His Majesty—with the greatest pomp—went back to the same Church and was crowned in the usual ways. </p>
<p>The Queen arrived accompanied by Madame [Elizabeth, the King's sister], and despite the fact that she remained incognito, she was delighted at the most vivid expressions of love the French Nation devoted to her. She attended all the august ceremonies of this sacred feast. A stand had been set up for Her, Madame Clotilde and Madame Elizabeth. </p>
<p>At that point some interesting details were removed and will be talked about in a more lengthy Report.</p>
<p>The King gave permission to the Marquess of la Tour du Pin to take the name of the Marquess of Gouvernet—who requested it in his Will. His Majesty also allowed the Count of Charce, his son, to take the name of the Marquess of la Tour du Pin.</p>
<p>Monday, 19 June 1775</p>
<p>The day following the Coronation of His Majesty, the King attended Mass in the Room of the Archbishop's Castle. After the Mass, the Court Ladies had the honor to present their respects to him. In the afternoon, the Queen and Madame went a few miles away from the City and watched the Count of Esterhazy's regiment of hussars on maneuvers. The Counts of Artois and Provence, wearing cavalry uniforms, charged at the head of the company; the Duke of Chartres, the Prince of Condé, and the Duke of Bourbon, also wearing uniforms, took part in these attacks as well. The Duchess of Bourbon and many Court Ladies and Court Lords were at this warlike show.</p>
<p>On the 13th, the King allowed the clergy to compliment him. The Marquess of Dreux, Master of Ceremonies, and Monsieur Nantouillet, Master of Ceremonies, led the Clergy to an audience with His Majesty. They were introduced by the Duke of la Vrillière, Secretary of State, and the Cardinal of Luynes spoke for them.</p>
<p>Then His Majesty attended the Mass at the Saint-Niçaise Abbey and, on his way back, he laid the foundation stone of the University of Reims. In the afternoon of the same day, the Knights, the Commanders, and the Officers of the Order of the Holy Spirit gathered at the King's—as he had ordered them—and His Majesty went to the Metropolitan Church in the ordinary walk, listened to Vespers, and with the greatest pomp became the Grand Master and Sovereign of the Order. When he returned, His Majesty delivered a speech and appointed the former Bishop of Limoges, the Archbishop of Narbonne, the Viscount of la Rochefoucault, the Count of Talleyrand, the Marquess of Rochechourat, the Marquess of Roche-Aymon, and the Viscount of Taladu, to be Knights of His Orders and to be Hostages of the Sainte-Ampoule. The Viscount of Taladu was also appointed to carry the rear of his coat, the day he became the Grand Master Sovereign of the order.</p>
<p>On June 14th, the King rode in a cavalcade to the Saint-Remi Abbey. His Majesty was accompanied by the Count of Provence, the Count of Artois, the Duke of Orléans, the Duke of Chartres, the Prince of Condé, the Duke of Bourbon and by many other Lords and great officers. He attended Mass in the Abbey and performed his Devotions through the Cardinal of la Roche-Aymon's hands. Then, in the Park of the Abbey, he touched 2,400 people who had the disease of scrofula and distributed charity to them. In the afternoon, the King took a walk in the park and from there went to the camp of the French and Swiss Guard units. The People, who were following His Majesty, showed their Master how delighted they were because of his presence.</p>
<p>The day of Corpus Christ, the King accompanied by the Count of Provence, the Count of Artois, and Princes of Royal Blood, followed the procession and attended the Great Mass and the salvation in the Metropolitan Church. The Queen, Madame, Madame Clotilde, Madame Elizabeth, the Duchess of Bourbon, and many Court Lords and Ladies were also present.</p>
<p> The next day, June 16th, His Majesty left Reims with the Count of Provence, the Count of Artois and the other Princes who had accompanied him. He arrived in Compiègne and stayed there until Monday, June 19th. On that same day he left Compiègne for Versailles. Madame Clotilde and Madame Elizabeth arrived in Versailles in the morning. The Queen, accompanied by Madame and the Court Ladies arrived there in the evening of the same day.</p>
<p>Monsieur Hare, a lawyer at the <i>parlement</i>, had the honor to present an Ode to the King, entitled the "Coronation of Louis XVI."</p>
<p>In the last <i>Gazette</i>, the following information was forgotten: the Prince of Lambsec was appointed by His Majesty to carry the rear of the Royal coat during the Coronation ceremony. This information, along with many others, will be added to the general Report.</p>
Sortable Date
1775-00-00
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<i>Gazette de France</i>, no. 48 (16 June 1775), 217; and <i>Gazette de France</i>, no. 49 (19 June 1775), 221.
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These two articles from the official newspaper of the day describe the coronation of Louis XVI at Reims, the city to which French kings had traveled to be anointed and crowned for a thousand years. Note the seriousness with which all the King's movements are described and how solemnly this ritual was taken—even though it no longer held its original meaning—demonstrating the consent of all three orders of French society to be ruled by their new King. Actually, the new King had already begun to govern France ten months earlier, upon the death of his predecessor.
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235
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The Coronation of Louis XVI from the <i>Gazette of France</i> (1775)
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https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/235/
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1775
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<p>This day, after the report on several cases and after the King's guard had seized control of the doors, the court was informed that the King was coming to <i>parlement</i>, and deputized Mssrs. . . . to go and receive him. . . .</p><p>When the King had taken his elevated position, had seated himself, and had put on his hat, he said, "I expect this present session to be of no importance. Mister President, assemble the chambers." The President, having put on his hat, said, "Go to the Tournelle, to the chambers, and send someone to the Court of Appeals at the Palace." When all these gentlemen had entered and taken their designated places, the King removed his hat, and, having put it on again, said: "Gentlemen, I have come in person to reply to your remonstrances. Monsieur de Saint-Florentin, have this answer read by one of your members."</p><p>Whereupon the Count of Saint-Florentin, having approached the King and knelt, took the reply from His MajestyÕs hands and, after retaking his place, had it passed to the above mentioned Joly de Fleury who read as follows:</p><p>"What happened in my <i>Parlements</i> of Pau and Rennes is of no concern of my other <i>parlements</i>. I have acted with regard to these two courts as my authority required, and I owe an explanation to no one.</p><p>"I would have no other answer to give to the numerous remonstrances made to me on this subject. However, their combination, the impropriety of their style, the rashness of the most erroneous principles and the pretension of the new expressions which characterize them have revealed the pernicious consequences of the idea of 'unity' that I have already prohibited, and which some wish to establish as a principle, even while daring to put it into practice.</p><p>"I shall not tolerate in my kingdom the formation of an association that would cause the natural bond of similar duties and common responsibilities to degenerate into a confederation for resistance, nor shall I tolerate the introduction into the monarchy of an imaginary body that could only upset its harmony. The magistracy does not form a body nor a separate order among the three orders of the kingdom. The magistrates are my officers, responsible for carrying out my royal duty of rendering justice to my subjects, a function that ties them to me personally and that will always render them praiseworthy in my eyes. I recognize the importance of their services, and to imagine that a plan has been drawn up to destroy the magistracy or to claim that it has enemies close to the throne is therefore an illusion that only tends to undermine our confidence by false alarms. The magistryÕs only and real enemies are those within it who maintain a language opposed to its principles, and who incite it to claim that all the <i>parlements</i> together are but one and the same body spread over several communities. These enemies claim that this body, necessarily indivisible, is the essence and basis of the monarchy and is the seat, the tribunal, and the instrument of the nation. They assert that it is the protector and the essential depository of the nation's liberties, interests, and rights, that it is responsible to the nation for this trust, and that it would be criminal to abandon it. They assert that this body is responsible for all that concerns the public welfare, not only to the King, but also to the nation, and that it is the judge between the King and his People. These people claim that as a respective guardian, it maintains the balance of government, repressing equally the excesses of liberty and the abuses of authority. They predicate that the <i>parlements</i> work with the sovereign power to establish laws and that they can sometimes, by their own authority, free themselves from a registered law and legally regard it as nonexistent. They assert that they must erect an insurmountable barrier to decisions that they attribute to arbitrary authority, which they call illegal acts, as well as to orders that they claim took them by surprise. And if a conflict of authority arises from this, they believe it to be their duty to abandon their functions and to resign their offices, even if their resignations are not accepted. To try to establish in principle such pernicious novelties is to abuse the magistracy, contradict its institution, betray its interests, and disregard the fundamental laws of the state. It is as if they have forgotten the fact that the sovereign power resides in my person only, sovereign power of which the true nature consists of the spirit of consultation, justice, and reason. It is as if they forgot that my courts derive their existence and their authority from me alone, and that the discharge of that authority, which they exercise in my name only, always remains with me and can never be employed against me. Independent and undivided legislative power belongs to me alone. It is only by my authority that the officers of my courts proceed, not in the creation of laws, but in their registration, publication, and execution. They are allowed to remonstrate only within the limits of their duties as good and useful councilors. Public order in its entirety emanates from me, and the rights and interests of the nation, for which some dare to create a separate body from the monarch, are necessarily united with my rights and interests and rest only in my hands.</p><p>"I am convinced that the officers of my courts will never lose sight of these sacred and immutable maxims, which are etched in the hearts of all faithful subjects. And I am sure and that they will disown these foreign ideas, this spirit of independence, and these errors, the consequences of which would strike terror into their faithful hearts.</p><p>"Remonstrances will always be received favorably when they only reflect the moderation appropriate from a magistrate and the truth, and when secrecy allows them to be decent and useful. And they will be favorably received when the system of remonstrances, so wisely established, is not made a travesty of libelous utterances, when submission to my will is not presented as a crime, and when the accomplishment of the duties I have called for are not seen as a cause for opprobrium. And finally, they will be favorably received when it is not assumed that the entire nation is groaning at seeing its rights, its liberty, and its security on the point of perishing under a terrible power, or when it is announced that the bonds of obedience are ready to be broken. But if, once I have examined these remonstrances and have maintained my will with full knowledge of the facts, my courts should persevere in their refusal to obey instead of registering [the law or edict] at the express command of the King (an expression chosen to reflect the duty of obedience), if they undertake to annul, on their own authority, laws solemnly registered, and if, finally, when my authority has been compelled to be employed to its full extent, they dared still in some fashion to battle against it, either by decrees of prohibition, by suspensive opposition, or by irregular methods such as ceasing their service or resigning, then confusion and anarchy would take the place of legitimate order, and the scandalous spectacle of an open contradiction to my sovereign power would reduce me to the unhappy necessity of using all the power that I have received from God in order to preserve my People from the terrible consequences of such endeavors.</p><p>"Let the officers of my courts, then, weigh carefully what my good will deigns once again to call to their attention. Obeying nothing more than their own feelings, let them dismiss all prospects of association, all new ideas, and all these expressions devised to give credit to the most false and dangerous conceptions. Let them, in their decrees and remonstrances, keep within the limits of reason and the respect due me. Let them keep their deliberations secret and let them consider how indecent and how unworthy of their character it is to spread invective against the members of my council to whom I have given my orders and whom have shown themselves so worthy of my confidence. I shall not allow the slightest infraction of the principles set forth in this response. I would expect to find these principles in my <i>Parlement</i> in Paris, even if they should be disregarded in the others. Let this <i>parlement</i> never forget what it has so often done to maintain these principles in all their purity, and that the court of Paris should be an example to the other courts of the kingdom." </p>
Sortable Date
1766-03-03
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Jules Flammermont, <i>Remonstrances du Parlement de Paris au XVIIIe siècle</i>, vol. 2 (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1888–98), 555–59.
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The twelve highest royal courts, known as <i>parlements</i>, not only heard civil and criminal suits; they also had the responsibility of discussing and registering royal edicts before their enactment. Consequently, the parlementary magistrates could, when they saw fit, prevent the King from ruling; by the same token, the King could exercise a sort of reverse veto by forcing the <i>parlements</i> to register his edicts. He did this by convoking the judges of the <i>parlements</i> to a special ceremony known as a "seat of justice." Ordinary appearances by the King before the<i> Parlement </i>of Paris were known as "sessions." At this session in 1766, during the "Brittany Affair" (see Chapter 3 introduction), Louis XV verbally "lashed out" at the magistrates for asserting that they were linked to the <i>Parlement</i> of Rennes and all the other regional courts in a "union." In the King’s view, the idea of such a "union" interfered with his ability to rule over the French people.
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236
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The "Session of the Scourging" (3 March 1766)
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https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/236/
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March 3, 1766
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<p>First sirs, it is easy to anticipate that the justice of the first <i>Parlement</i> of the Kingdom would be to propagate the new and ill-considered doctrine that . . . would establish a dangerous concert between your principles and the declamations of the other royal courts.</p> <p>This general commotion could bring you the most bitter regrets, by generating ideas in others contrary to your own view. By rejecting the example that you have given to the court, the King has no doubt about the true principles at issue; they are engraved in the heart of all his subjects and if they could ever be altered, it would be in the <i>Parlement</i> of Paris that the King would be sure to see them restored in their original purity.</p> <p>These principles, universally acknowledged by the entire kingdom, are that the King alone must possess the sovereign power in his kingdom; that He is answerable only to God in the exercise of his power; that the tie which binds the King to the Nation is by nature indissoluble; that the interests and reciprocal obligations between the King and his subjects serve only to reassure that union; that the Nation's interest is that the powers of its head not be altered; that the King is the chief sovereign of the Nation and everything he does is with her interests in mind; and that finally the legislative power resides in the person of the King independent of and unshared with all other powers.</p> <p>These sirs are the invariable powers of the French Monarchy. . . . His Majesty finds them consecrated in the text of your decree of 20 March 1766. . . .</p> <p>As a consequence of these principles and of our History, it is clear that the King only has the right to convoke an Estates-General; that he alone must judge if this convocation is necessary; and that he needs no other power for the administration of his kingdom.</p>
Sortable Date
1787-00-00
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<i>Discours de M. de Lamoignon, Garde des Sceaux de France à la Séance du Roi au Parlement le 19 novembre 1787</i> (Bibliothèque nationale de France: [Microfiche LB39-467]).
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On 19 November 1787, the King convoked the <i>Parlement</i> of Paris to enforce registration of an edict allowing the indebted royal treasury to borrow an additional 420 million <i>livres</i>. When the King appeared before the magistrates, his Keeper of the Seals, Chrétien–François de Lamoignon spoke for him. Lamoignon did not explain what the additional money would be spent on but instead argued that the King’s will had to be obeyed if France was to prosper, thus staking the monarchy’s legitimacy on the acceptance of this single bond issue.
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237
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Lamoignon, "The Principles of the French Monarchy" (1787)
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https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/237/
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1787
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<p>Of all sorts of madness this appears to be the worst: for, whereas the generality of madmen reason right from wrong principles; these people are for the most part wrong both in their fundamentals and in their deductions from them, representing murder, gun-powder-plots, &c. as innocent under the masque of religion and pious zeal. Hence the enterprize of the fryar, who murdered Henry the third of France; hence <i>Ravaillac</i> stabbed <i>Henry</i> the fourth, and hence another assassin has made an execrable attempt upon <i>Lewis </i>[Louis] the XVth.</p> <p>The name of this enthusiastical assassin is <i>Robert Francis Damien</i>, born in <i>St. Catherine's</i> suburb in the city of <i>Arras</i>; he is 42 years of age, and about five feet seven inches high. He had lived in the service of several families, but was turned off by all of them with the character of a loose profligate. His occupation of late has been to sell balls to take spots out of cloaths; and yet from this mean and contemptible station in life hath this lunatic dared to walk forth, and attempt to deprive a whole nation of their sovereign's life.</p> <p>He was a very superstitious enthusiastical sort of a man, and therefore a very proper tool or cat's-paw for the Romish priests to work upon. What horrid crimes are committed under the sanction of religion! The artful popish clergy had worked him up to such a pitch of enthusiasm; that, faint-like, he was proud to die in so glorious a cause, imagining his meritorious sufferings would certainly procure him a residence in heaven.</p> <p>The king was supported by the <i>counte de Brionne</i> and the matter of the horse, who were leading him to his coach, a page of the bed-chamber walked before him with lights; the dauphin was behind him along with the duke <i>d'Ayen</i>, captain of the guards in waiting, and several exempts and equerries followed. A footman, named <i>Selim</i>, near whom the assassin stood, seeing the king approach, said to the villain, <i>why don't you take off your hat</i>, <i>don't you see the king</i>? While he was saying this, the monster struck the king with a knife, which had two blades of different sizes; with one of these blades he wounded the king between the fourth and fifth rib, but the stroke glanced to the right side, and most fortunately did not reach the bowels. The king, who at first had scarce felt any thing, then turning to the footman who had just bid the fellow take off his hat, said, looking at the assassin, <i>that man has given me a terrible blow</i>; and clapping his hand to the place where he had been struck, and feeling it warm, he drew back his hand all bloody, and said, <i>I am wounded, seize him, but do not hurt him</i>.</p> <p>Whatever may be the sallies of this monarch's private life, he certainly has publick virtue, and therefore his mind must soon have rested in a conviction that he did not deserve an assault upon his life.</p> <p>Certainly there appears somewhat providential in the escape the king had from this treasonable design. It happened, that on that day, besides his usual cloathing, he put on a sur-tout of thick velvet, which no doubt greatly obstructed the blow, and hundred the wound from proving mortal.</p> <p>The execrable assassin, after striking this horrid blow, never stirred from the place, and the duke <i>d'Ayen</i> having asked which was the man, the fellow answered with the countenance of a <i>Ravaillac</i>. "Tis I." He was seized and led to the guardroom, which stands at the gate from whence he had just come out. There he was stripped to his shirt, and there were found about him the knife, a New Testament, some images, and between thirty and thirty-five<i> Louis d'Ors</i>.</p> <p>The trial of the villain was agreed to be committed to the parliament; and the people in general began to rid themselves of their anxiety, when it was reported abroad, that the stab was no more than a common wound, and that his majesty wanted but a few days to recover his strength, which was somewhat reduced by being bled so plentifully after the wound was given.</p> <p><i>Damien</i> appears very resolute; his feet have been scorched, and the calf of his leg pinched with red hot tongs. He shrieked indeed, but confessed nothing. He was afterwards carried to prison, and chained in a dungeon, and guards set over him.</p> <p>He was asked if he had any accomplices, and answered he had, but was sure they had escaped before this time, but that great care ought to be taken of the dauphin, otherwise the like accident might, perhaps, befall him soon. When he was urged to discover more, he answered, he would speak when it was time; that he was very sensible he deserved death, and begged it might be hastened.</p> <p>The wife and daughter of <i>Damien</i> were sent to the <i>Bastille</i>, in hopes that some discoveries would be made. Nothing however of consequence has come to light from them; though they freely told all they knew of the abominable life and conversation of this monster.</p> <p>It is reported that there was great commotions in <i>Paris</i>; that several religious houses were shut up, to prevent cabals among the clergy, and that the archbishop of <i>Paris</i> was publickly accused of being at the bottom of this atrocious design; but these givings out have since totally vanished for want of any kind of confirmation.</p> <p>His majesty was not ill for any considerable length of time: it appears that on the 14th of the same month the wound, which he had received on the 5th, was quite healed, and his health restored, insomuch that he assumed the reins of government, which had been entrusted to the dauphin; whose conduct, during his short administration, gave such satisfaction to the king, that he ordered he should for the future attend at all the councils of state.</p> <p>But before he parted from <i>Versailles</i>, he begged to speak with the king and the dauphin, in hopes that notwithstanding the heinousness of his crime he might still obtain mercy from his majesty's known good nature and lenity. He was much surprized when they put him into a vehicle in order to convey him to the <i>Conciergerie</i>. He said he had many things to reveal, but was told he must discover them to his judges.</p>
Sortable Date
1757-00-00
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"Letter from a Gentleman in Paris to His Friend in London," in <i>A Particular and Authentic Narration of the Life, Examination, Torture, and Execution of Robert Francis Damien [</i>sic<i>], </i>trans. Thomas Jones (London, 1757).
Description
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The news of Robert–François Damiens’s attack on the King and his subsequent trial spread rapidly and generated great interest across France and all of Europe. This pamphlet, published in London, describes for English readers the goings–on in Paris, especially the public outpouring of sympathy for the King and the general hostility toward Damiens. Damiens, even for this English observer, was horrible for having dared to touch, let alone try to kill the King—God’s anointed representative in France and the guarantor of public order and domestic peace.
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238
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"Letter from a Gentleman in Paris to His Friend in London" (1757)
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https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/238/
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1757
Monarchy
Text
-
Text
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<p>Yes sir, no matter how big our misfortunes may have been, I dread that bigger are yet to come. When I think about everything that is happening to us, it could be said that it has been happening against nature . . . everything that should put a stop to our ills, in fact only makes them worse.</p> <p>First of all, what is really the true source of the problems that beset us? Is it not solely a stubbornness, a spurious point of honor, a spirit of domination and independence found in the bishops and clerics? They, who by their very nature should set an example of the opposite virtues? I have not avoided putting myself at risk to show that the pretext of religion, which they use to cover themselves, is nothing but a mask. I know that you were never fooled by it, and that now no one is fooled anymore. . . .</p> <p>If our bishops had thought for one instant about the uselessness of these bulls [such as <i>Unigenitus</i>] . . . or about the atrocious damage that they cause their clergies and parishes, they would have been the most ardent defenders of this law that condemned them to eternal oblivion. But the true authors of these fateful decrees, and the only people with an interest in maintaining them, knew how to convince our prelates that, after the commitments that they had made, the law that spelled the doom of these decrees was also, inevitably, the same that bestowed their honor and their authority. That is how they came to finally hatch the secret plot of a powerful league against the most important monument of our monarch's wisdom.</p> <p>Monsieur de Beaumont [Archbishop of Paris], so worthy in every respect of being in charge, on 29 September gave Conflans the first sign of combat by publishing a mandate which, in religious language, offers merely senseless lies, and spirit of division, independence and rebellion. Immediately thereafter, the flames of discord ignited from all corners, and the Vicars of Jesus Christ's charity and gentleness no longer preach the gospel of peace, but rather pronounce the manifesto of an internecine war between Church and State from the altar.</p> <p>Who would have believed that the goodness of the King, tired of the rebels' stubbornness, would finally allow his justice free reign; who would have believed that in his wisdom, convinced by experience that impunity or past ways only serve to make the guilty more audacious, he would decide that no another means remained to extinguish the fire that threatened the State and the throne itself but to deliver them up to the severity and convention of law? However (posterity will have trouble believing this), one witnesses his religion at the point of using his absolute authority to arrest the Magistrates as soon as they want to take the first step, to grant pardons to criminals who, far from asking for it and repenting, loudly declare that they are determined to add to their past crimes.</p>
Sortable Date
1757-00-00
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Anonymous, <i>Pièces originales et procédures du procès, fait à Robert-François Damiens </i>(Paris: Pierre Guillaume Simon, 1757).
Description
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This pamphlet was one of the many published in France in response to the news of Damiens’s attack on the King. It is written from the standpoint of the so–called patriot party, which opposed the concentration of power in the hands of the King, the royal advisers at court (mostly aristocrats), and the bishops of the church (mostly Jesuits). Patriots instead supported the <i>parlements</i> and the lower clergy as more morally suited to represent the interests of all three orders that composed the French "nation."
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239
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Letter from a Patriot Claiming to Prove Damiens Had Accomplices
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https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/239/
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1757
Monarchy
Text
-
Text
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<p>He said his name is Robert-François Damiens and he is a forty-two-year-old servant living in the City of Paris.</p> <p>When he was questioned about telling when he had made plans to kill the King, he answered he planned on doing it three years ago and because of the Archbishop's bad behavior.</p> <p>When asked if somebody had inspired his plan, he said he had been inspired by everybody around him.</p> <p>When asked if he had told somebody about this project, either in Paris, in Artois, or in a foreign country, he said no. He had wanted to say it but would not say it here.</p> <p>When asked if he had said to Playouft instead of Poperingue that he could not adapt to this country and that he would come back to France and said: "Yes, I will come back there, I will die there, and the Greatest of the earth will also die," he admitted he said these words. . . .</p> <p>When asked if any secular or legitimate Priest had inspired this dreadful plan, he answered that nobody had inspired him to it, but he had heard many ecclesiastics talk dangerously.</p> <p>When asked about the dangerous things these ecclesiastics were talking about, he answered that he heard them saying that the King was risking a lot for not preventing the Archbishop's actions. . . .</p> <p>When asked what he had understood in this following statement: "What a pity that your Subjects had tendered their resignations, they were the only ones who created this conspiracy," he answered that the conspiracy could not come from the <i>Parlement</i>, but from the Archbishop who started it by refusing sacraments. . . .</p> <p>When asked why and how long ago he had stopped making religious acts, he answered that he used to do them in the different places when he was a servant but he stopped three or four years ago, since the Archbishop's turmoil.</p> <p>When he was told that the Archbishop's actions could never have made a man like him commit this crime, he answered that he had nothing else to say except that if the Archbishop had not refused some Sacraments, these things would not have happened.</p> <p>When asked if he, his family or friends had been refused Sacraments, he answered no.</p> <p>When asked about the idea he has concerning Religion, he answered that no one should refuse Sacraments to good people who pray in Churches every day, from morning to evening.</p> <p>When asked if he thinks that Religion allows one to kill Kings, he answered that he had nothing to say about it.</p> <p>When he was told that his silence proves that he thought that it is was allowable for him to kill Kings in some cases, he said he had nothing to say. . . .</p> <p>When asked if he had any regret of having committed this dreadful crime and had any desire to save his soul, he said he regretted it and that he hopes God will forgive him.</p> <p>When asked how he thinks God will forgive him, since he does not want to confess his accomplices, he answered he does not have any accomplices and cannot tell their names. . . .</p> <p>After having read all this, the prisoner persisted in saying his answers were real and true, and he also persisted by not wanting to answer, and he signed his name, Damiens.</p> <p>At this time, the prisoner was tied up.</p> <p>When asked who had suggested him this crime, he answered the Archbishop did, because of his bad actions, and he added: forgive me.</p> <p>When asked who his accomplices were, he said he was alone.</p> <p>When asked who was talking to him under the vault of the Versailles Chapel, he answered that it was the one he told us about.</p> <p>When asked about the people he had seen in Paris, he answered no one.</p> <p>When he was told this is only the beginning of some hard time, and he could stop everything by telling the names of his accomplices, he screamed: "Ah, this Archbishop, what a rascal!"</p> <p>When asked about what he was promised or what money he had received, he answered that no one promised or gave him anything. The Archbishop's refusal to give Sacraments was the cause. . . .</p> <p>***</p> <p>He was told he could not have committed the crime he was accused of, that he was pushed into doing it by other people. He was summoned to tell us the names, nicknames, positions, and addresses of the people who had pushed him into killing the King.</p> <p>He answered he could not give a precise answer to this question. He only declared that he had met priests in Arras and Paris who belonged to the <i>Parlement</i>, and the poor treatments these same Priests have received and the poverty of the French people had convinced him to kill the King. However, he said that if the King wanted to spare his life, he will give more detailed explanations.</p> <p>He was summoned to tell us the names, nicknames, positions, addresses of the priests and lay people with whom he talked about Religion and other topics. He answered he would never tell their names, even if he was thrown in Hell or in a blazing fire.</p> <p>He was asked if he had said . . . that the Dauphin had to be warned and that he should be careful, or go out because the same thing that happened to the King could also happen to him. He answered yes.</p> <p>He was asked if he had said that six months after his death, more important events will occur, and that the Dauphin will perish along with many other people. He answered yes.</p> <p>He was asked if he knew the persons who will be involved in these actions. He answered he will only tell their names to the Chief Provost, after the King promises to pardon him. He only asked to have his life spared and not to be chained. He knows he deserves to die . . . [but] he submits to the King's will from whom he asks forgiveness.</p>
Sortable Date
1757-00-00
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Anonymous<i>, Pièces originales et procédures du procès, fait à Robert-François Damiens</i> (Paris: Pierre Guillaume Simon, 1757).
Description
An account of the resource
During the course of his trial, Damiens was interrogated over fifty times by the magistrates of the <i>Parlement </i>of Paris and by the King’s prosecutors. The interrogators were concerned above all to determine if Damiens had accomplices and if so, what group was behind the attack. In this passage, Damiens testifies that his action had been prompted by "preachers of the Parlementary party," meaning those who criticized the excessive power of the court and the bishops. Attributing his actions to dissatisfaction with the state of the kingdom, Damiens then asks the King to show his concern for the hard–pressed French people by pardoning him.
Identifier
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240
Title
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Damiens’s Testimony to <i>Parlement</i>
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https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/240/
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1757
Laws
Monarchy
Text
-
Text
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<p>We, clerks, had the convict escorted to the Place de Grève. There, in the presence of the people, I read for the last time, the judgment, which was first done by the Enforcer of High Justice. Then the convict was put and tied up on the scaffold. First his hand was burnt while he was holding the knife with which he committed the parricide. We came closer to the convict, exhorted him again to tell us the names of his accomplices, and we told him that the President of the Court and the Court Administrator would come if he had any statements to make. The convict told us that he had no accomplices or statements to make. At this time, the convict had his breasts, arms, thighs, and legs tortured. Then melted lead, boiling oil, burning pitch, and melted wax and sulfur were thrown on these parts. During the whole torture, the convict screamed several times: "My God, give me strength, give me strength. Lord, my God, have pity on me. Lord, my God, I am suffering so much. Lord, my God, give me patience." Then four horses pulled the convict [in the four cardinal directions], and after a while he was dismembered. His limbs were then thrown on the stake. We reported everything to the President and the Administrator, and stayed at the Place de Grève until everything was over.</p>
Sortable Date
1757-00-00
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Anonymous, <i>Pièces originales et procédures du procès, fait à Robert-François Damiens</i> (Paris: Pierre Guillaume Simon, 1757).
Description
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After a three–month trial, the magistrates found Damiens guilty of parricide against the person of the King on 26 March 1757. In a final interrogation, Damiens is once again asked about accomplices. He then denies having them.
Identifier
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241
Title
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Decree of the <i>Parlement</i> of Paris against Robert–François Damiens
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https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/241/
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1757
Laws
Monarchy
Text
-
Text
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<p>The <i>Parlement</i> declares "the said Robert-François Damiens has been convicted of having committed a very mean, very terrible, and very dreadful parricidal crime against the King. The said Damiens is sentenced to pay for his crime in front of the main gate of the Church of Paris. He will be taken there in a tipcart naked and will hold a burning wax torch weighing two pounds. There, on his knees, he will say and declare that he had committed a very mean, very terrible and very dreadful parricide, and that he had hurt the King. . . . He will repent and ask God, the King and Justice to forgive him. When this will be done, he will be taken in the same tipcart to the Place de Grève and will be put on a scaffold. Then his breasts, arms, thighs, and legs will be tortured. While holding the knife with which he committed the said Parricide, his right hand will be burnt. On his tortured body parts, melted lead, boiling oil, burning pitch, and melted wax and sulfur will be thrown. Then four horses will pull him apart until he is dismembered. His limbs will be thrown on the stake, and his ashes will be spread. All his belongings, furniture, housings, wherever they are, will be confiscated and given to the King. Before the execution, the said Damiens will be asked to tell the names of his accomplices. His house will not be demolished, but nothing will be allowed to be built on this same house."</p>
Sortable Date
1757-00-00
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Anonymous, <i>Pièces originales et procédures du procès, fait à Robert-François Damiens</i> (Paris: Pierre Guillaume Simon, 1757).
Description
An account of the resource
Having found Damiens guilty, the judges ordered him punished in a gruesome public spectacle, with the intention of repressing symbolically, through his body, the threat to order that the judges perceived in his attack on the King. Such punishment, characteristic of the Middle Ages and early modern period was much opposed by the Enlightenment view that crime would be better handled by rehabilitating criminals’ minds rather than mutilating their bodies.
Identifier
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242
Title
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The Sentence against Damiens (1757)
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https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/242/
Date
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1757
Laws
Monarchy
Text