The large group of people clothed in chemises rouges or red smocks gathered together under the shade of the guillotine, were not there voluntarily. They were fifty-four men, women and teenagers, most of them not even known to each other. They had already endured the cries, insults and silent pity of the crowds as their […]
Who were the Women in Red? – The Affair of the “Chemises Rouges” Continue reading
Who doesn’t love a good challenge? This fun quiz will unleash your inner French woman and decide which of the most amazing women in French history is …
Quiz – Which French Woman in history is most like you? Continue reading
This post celebrates one of the women who fought long and hard not only for the rights of women, but for the end of slavery, and for better social conditions for all.
Olympe de Gouges and the Declaration of the Rights of Woman Continue reading
The supposed heroes of the French Revolution are names embedded in history – the evil Robespierre, the brave Lafayette, the tragic Jean-Paul Marat. But what of the women of France? They were not idly sitting at home with their embroidery waiting for an end to the chaos: they picked up their pikes and stormed the
4 women who totally owned the French Revolution Continue reading
Should you go looking for the prison cell in which Marie-Antoinette spent her last few months, it no longer exists. Imprisoned in the former medieval fortress of the Conciergerie on the Quai d’Horloge in the centre of Paris before her ‘trial’ and death, the dank and dark cell in which she rested, alone, unable even to kiss her children goodbye, was later turned into a memorial. The death of Marie-Antoinette by the sharp blade of the guillotine may have been quick, but her death sentence began well before.
The death of Marie Antoinette Continue reading
The Reign of Terror was exactly as it sounds – terrifying. Whilst the French Revolution in 1789 was generally fairly violent, the part of it which was the Reign of Terror was horrifyingly so. If you were of the aristocracy, if you were of the pre-Revolution parliament, a collector of taxes, or basically anyone who
Last words from the Guillotine Continue reading