The Feuillants

The ‘men of 1789’, liberal constitutional

monarchists.

THE FEUILLANTS

• The ‘monarchiens’ or ‘men of ‘89’, the Feuillants broke away from the Jacobins after the flight to Varennes.

• They were moderates, supporters of the original revolution and constitutional monarchy.

• They wanted the revolution to consolidate and end with the 1791 Constitution.

• As Louis XV1 was increasingly seen as a traitor, they, too, became identified with the old order.

Barnave: Any change today would be fatal; any prolonging of the revolution today would be disastrous… Are we

going to end the revolution, or are we going to start all over again? …If the revolution takes one more step, it can only be a dangerous one; if it is in line with liberty, its first act could be the

destruction of royalty; if it is in line with equality, its first act could be an attack

on property. It is time to bring the revolution to an end.

Adrian Duport: 1759-1798• Son of a magistrate in the

Paris Parlement

• Deputy for the Paris nobility in the Estates-General

• With Barnave and De Lameth, he supported the constitutional monarchy.

• In 1790, was a leading member of the Jacobins, but left to found the Feuillants: conservative and monarchist

Jean Sylvain Bailly 1736-1793• Third Estate deputy for

Paris.

• Presided over the Oath of the Tennis Court

• President of the National Assembly,Mayor of Paris.

• Ordered the troops to control the crowds at the Champ de Mars.

• Executed 11 November, 1793

The Marquis de Lafayette1757-1834

• Hero of the American revolution

• Established the National Guard

• Became disillusioned with the failure to achieve stability

• Wanted the King’s power strengthened

• Supported the war with Austria

Charles, Comte De Lameth: 1756-1854

• One of three brothers, all of whom served in the American War.

• Sat in the Estates-General for the nobility of Artois

• Was one of the first to join the Third Estate and National Assembly.

• In 1792, fled France and joined the counter-revolution

Antoine Barnave 1761-1793• Born at Grenoble, became

a lawyer.• Elected deputy for the

Third Estate of Dauphine, along with Mounier

• Tried to save the constitutional monarchy, was arrested 19 August 1792, executed November 1793.

• In prison wrote Introduction to the French Revolution.

Barnave’s execution 1793

Jean-Joseph Mounier 1758-1806

• Born at Grenoble, became a lawyer.

• Member of the Society of Thirty, elected deputy for the Third E state in 1789.

• Responsible for drafting the Oath of the Tennis Court.

• Emigrated to Switzerland in 1792

Mounier

• The oath of the Tennis Court: ‘never to disperse and to foregather wherever circumstances require until the kingdom’s constitution be established and fixed on sound foundations.’

• ‘A people who has no constitution and who wants one must meet in a body as a nation through its representatives, in order to make one.’

• Mounier commented on Louis XV1: ‘It is frightful to think that with a less benevolent soul, another prince might perhaps have found the means to maintain his power.

Bosher The French Revolution P.172

The flight to Varennes was a political turning point. To it, more than any other

single event,can be traced the developments leading to the revolution of 10 August 1792 and the king’s execution

on 21 January 1793

Peter McPhee• P.92: The Legislative Assembly of October 1791

‘was composed of ‘new men’ following the self-denying ordinance …At the outset, its members tried to consolidate the state of the revolution … and deserted the Jacobin Club for the Feuillants … however the mounting hostility of opponents of the revolution inside and outside France focused the deputies concerns on counter-revolution .. In this context, the increasingly agitated deputies … found compelling the agitated rhetoric of a group of Jacobins led by Jacques-Pierre Brissot, who blamed the revolution’s difficulties on internal conspiracies linked to external enemies.

Doyle• P.158:The religious schism made it impossible for

millions to give the new order their whole-hearted support - beginning with the King himself. Only those who dared not think anything else believed by September 1791, that his acceptance of the constitution was sincere. He had already shown, and said, what he really thought … but that created a further split between constitutional monarchists and a rapidly growing republican movement … its mainstay the turbulent population of Paris. As to the nobles who had done so much to launch the Revolution, most had now fled. None of this promised well for the Feuillant dream of a post-revolutionary life.