The Champ de Mars Massacre: When the Revolution Turned on Its Own

The Revolutionary Calendar: Time as a Weapon

In October 1793, the French Republic didn't just behead a king — it beheaded time itself. This episode walks through the creation of the French Republican Calendar, a radical attempt to erase Christian and royalist chronology and replace it with a decimal, nature-based system. We cover the calendar's architect Charles-Gilbert Romme, the poet Fabre d'Églantine who named the months, and the strange new rhythms of décades and sans-culottides. We talk about how the calendar worked — ten-day weeks, five extra holidays at year's end, months renamed for weather and harvest — and why it ultimately failed after a dozen years. We also discuss the calendar's political purpose: to remake daily life, break the Church's hold on time, and create a new secular citizen. Along the way we touch on the Thermidorian Reaction, the Concordat of 1801, and Napoleon's decision to scrap the calendar on 1 January 1806. It's a story of idealism, control, and the limits of social engineering. #FrenchRevolution #RevolutionaryCalendar #CharlesGilbertRomme #FabreDEglantine #Décade #SansCulottides #ThermidorianReaction #Concordat1801 #Napoleon #DecimalTime #SecularCalendar #FexingoHistory #History #Europe #18thCentury #CalendarReform #Timekeeping #RevolutionaryFrance Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The White Terror: France's Bloody Revenge After Robespierre

After the fall of Robespierre in July 1794, France did not find peace. Instead, a brutal wave of vigilante violence known as the White Terror swept the country. In the south, particularly in Lyon, Avignon, and the Rhône Valley, royalist gangs and Catholic counter-revolutionaries hunted down Jacobins, former terrorists, and Protestants. They broke into prisons, massacred inmates, and murdered suspected revolutionaries in the streets. The Convention in Paris, now led by Thermidorian moderates, looked the other way or even encouraged the reprisals. This episode of Fexingo History explores the Compagnies de Jéhu, the murder of Joseph Fouché's ally Joseph-François Goupilleau, the role of the jeunesse dorée (gilded youth) in Paris, and how the violence spiraled until Napoleon's coup in 1799. The White Terror was not a single event but a series of localized atrocities that shaped the post-Terror political landscape and sowed lasting bitterness between factions. #WhiteTerror #ThermidorianReaction #CompagniesdeJéhu #JeunesseDorée #Lyon #Avignon #RhôneValley #JosephFouché #CounterRevolution #FrenchRevolution #FexingoHistory #Europe #18thCentury #PoliticalViolence #Jacobins #CatholicRevival #Napoleon #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The September Massacres: When Paris Turned on Its Prisoners

In September 1792, as revolutionary France teetered between hope and terror, a wave of violence swept through Parisian prisons—hundreds of inmates were dragged from their cells and killed by mobs in just four days. The September Massacres remain one of the most debated episodes of the Revolution. Were they an outburst of popular fury born from fear of invasion and betrayal? Or were they tacitly sanctioned by revolutionary leaders like Georges Danton? In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the complex context: Verdun under siege, the Brunswick Manifesto fresh in memory, the feckless Legislative Assembly, and the rise of the sans-culottes. They examine key figures like Jean-Paul Marat, the journalist who called for ‘patriotic’ violence; Stanislas Maillard, the militia commander controversially involved; and the Princesse de Lamballe, Marie Antoinette’s confidante, who met a brutal end at the Prison de la Force. The episode also considers the role of the newly formed Commune of Paris and the execution of 2–3 September orders that blurred justice and mob rule. This is a story of fear, class anger, and the grim birth of revolutionary justice—or its absence. #SeptemberMassacres #FrenchRevolution #PrisonDeLaForce #PrincesseDeLamballe #JeanPaulMarat #GeorgesDanton #StanislasMaillard #BrunswickManifesto #Verdun #SansCulottes #ParisCommune #LegislativeAssembly #Marat #Lamballe #RevolutionaryViolence #History #FexingoHistory #18thCentury Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The French Revolution: The Execution of Louis XVI

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the trial and execution of King Louis XVI, a pivotal moment that transformed the French Revolution. They discuss the king's imprisonment in the Temple, the discovery of the iron cabinet revealing his secret dealings, the debates in the National Convention between the Girondins and Montagnards, and the final vote that condemned him to death. The episode covers the king's last meeting with his family, his final words on the scaffold, and the immediate aftermath of his execution on January 21, 1793. It also touches on the role of the sans-culottes and the guillotine as an instrument of revolutionary justice. Listeners will learn about the key figures involved, including Robespierre, Saint-Just, and Malesherbes, and how the king's death deepened the rift between revolutionary France and the rest of Europe. #LouisXVI #Execution #NationalConvention #Robespierre #SaintJust #Guillotine #TemplePrison #Girondins #Montagnards #Malesherbes #PlaceDeLaRévolution #January211793 #FrenchRevolution #Monarchy #Trial #Republic #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Revolutionary Tribunal: France's Factory of Condemnations

In this episode of The French Revolution: The Collapse of Royal Power, Lucas and Luna explore the Revolutionary Tribunal, the court that became the engine of the Terror. Created in March 1793 to try counter-revolutionaries, it swiftly evolved from a judicial body into a political weapon. Lucas explains how the Tribunal's structure—no jury for the first months, then a jury handpicked by the Committee of Public Safety—made acquittals rare. He details the role of prosecutor Antoine Fouquier-Tinville, who bragged about his conviction rate, and how the Law of 22 Prairial eliminated defense lawyers and witnesses. Luna asks whether anyone tried to stop it, leading to Lucas's account of Danton's defiant testimony before his own execution. They discuss the infamous 'prisoner's bench' and the daily tumbril processions. The episode ends with the post-Thermidor purge of Fouquier-Tinville, who was tried and executed by his own creation. This is a focused look at the machinery behind the guillotine. #FrenchRevolution #RevolutionaryTribunal #FouquierTinville #ReignOfTerror #Robespierre #Danton #LawOf22Prairial #Conciergerie #Tumbril #Guillotine #Montagnards #Paris #1793 #1794 #History #FexingoHistory #Europe #RevolutionaryJustice Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]