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96-824: The uprising was provoked principally by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790), which attempted to impose Caesaropapism upon the Catholic Church in France , and the mass conscription , or levée en masse (1793), which was decided by the National Convention . A first attempt at staging an uprising was carried out by the Association bretonne to defend the French monarchy and reinstate

192-469: A goldsmith , Rossignol, full of illusions and wanting to be his own master, left for the provinces. He journeyed by stages, stopping at Bordeaux , La Rochelle and Niort , before regretting his decision to leave Paris after six months and returning there. Faced with difficulties in finding work, he joined the Royal-Roussillon infantry regiment at Dunkirk on 13 August 1775, before the fall of

288-512: A schism was created, resulting in an illegal and underground French Catholic Church loyal to the Papacy , and a "constitutional church" that was subservient to the State. The schism was not fully resolved until 1801. King Louis XVI ultimately granted Royal Assent to the measure after originally opposing it, but later expressed regret for having done so. Earlier legislation had already arranged

384-477: A schism . The Pope's subsequent condemnation of the revolutionary regime and repudiation of all clergy who had complied with the oath completed the schism. Within the Civil Constitution of the Clergy there was a clause that required the Clergy to take an oath stating the individual's allegiance to France. The oath was basically an oath of fidelity and it required every single priest in France to make

480-660: A Chouan chief only extended to his own canton. Joseph de Puisaye , a former officer who was compromised in the federalist revolts , realised the necessity of centralised command and attempted to assume the function of general-in-chief of the Chouans. Recognised by some chiefs, Puisaye embarked from Dinard to London on 11 September 1794 to meet future King Charles X of France . Major-General Pierre Dezoteux de Cormatin , his second-in-command, assumed command in his absence. Charles X favoured absolute monarchy and distrusted Puisaye, who advocated parliamentary monarchy . However, after

576-451: A collection of short stories about the Chouans by Baroness Orczy . The uprising is also the central action of the novel The Marquis of Carabas by Rafael Sabatini . It was also depicted in paintings and popular imagery. In Breton literature , Lan Inisan published Emgann Kergidou ("The Battle of Kergidou") in 1877, the first and only novel in the Breton language to be published before

672-715: A failure that "lit the civil war" that would occur in the following years. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy has four titles with different articles. Even before the Revolution and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, the Catholic Church in France (the Gallican Church ) had a status that tended to subordinate the Church to the State. Under the Declaration of the Clergy of France (1682) privileges of

768-493: A few months later in the Morbihan. He was captured and shot by Pierre Guillemot's men. Other départements , however, were not as united as the Morbihan. In the north of Anjou , Marie Paul de Scépeaux de Bois-Guignot was named commander for the north of Maine-et-Loire . His authority later extended to Loire-Atlantique, Mayenne and Sarthe . However, he commanded in name only since like in other départements , his authority as

864-516: A majority had taken the oath, such as Paris, the refractory minority could be victimized by society at large: nuns from the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris , for example, were subjected to humiliating public spankings. While there was a higher rate of rejection in urban areas , most of these refractory priests (like most of the population) lived in the countryside, and the Civil Constitution generated considerable resentment among religious peasants. Meanwhile,

960-671: A message from the Agence royaliste de Paris requiring them to join a second British landing at Côtes-d'Armor. Tinténiac hesitated in the face of opposition from Cadoudal but obeyed the order. He was killed on his way there at Coëtlogon on 18 July. They reached the bay of Saint-Brieuc , but since the British fleet had joined them, they returned to the Morbihan and appointed Cadoudal as their general. Meanwhile, in Quiberon, reinforcements of 2,000 men led by Charles de Virot de Sombreuil joined

1056-459: A notorious inability. He proposed a plan to the advocates of the council of war at Saumur was called absurd by Philippeaux and also by the soldiers of the Army of Mainz , interested in the outcome. Rossignol insisted and showed that the project that he supported was the only one that could be executed. The votes divided up equally, and he said "I see what I am in - the plan is indisputable, and it

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1152-466: A part of France's population. The individuals in France who were opposed to it claimed that the Revolution was destroying their "true" faith and this was also seen in the two groups of individuals that were formed because of the oath. Those who believed that the Revolution was causing their "true" faith to be destroyed sided with the "non-jurors" and those who believed that the French government should have

1248-403: A public choice on whether or not they believed the nation of France had authority over all religious matters. This oath was very controversial because many Clergy believed that they could not put their loyalty towards France before their loyalty towards God. If a clergyman were to refuse to take this oath of allegiance then they were challenging the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and challenging

1344-406: A say in religion sided with the "jurors." American Scholar Timothy Tackett believes that the oath that was required determined which individuals would let the revolution cause change and allow revolutionary reform and those who did not would remain true to their beliefs for many years to come. Apart from Tackett's beliefs, it can be said that the obligatory oath marked a key historical point in

1440-639: A stroke or by poison, some said by suicide . After the Thermidorian Reaction , the Convention repealed the Civil Constitution of the Clergy; however, the schism between the civilly constituted French Church and the Papacy was only resolved when the Concordat of 1801 was agreed on. The Concordat was reached on July 15, 1801, and it was made widely known the following year, on Easter. It

1536-711: The Ancien Régime . On the outbreak of the French Revolution, Rossignol was in Paris - in the words of his Memoirs , "On 12 July 1789 I knew nothing of the Revolution, and did not suspect in any manner that it could hold me in any way." However, he participated in the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 and in the revolutionary days of 20 June and 10 August (he was perhaps the man who shot Galiot Mandat de Grancey on 10 August). Lieutenant-colonel of

1632-487: The Army of the Coasts of Brest and ordered the arrest of those who had refused to sign the treaty of La Mabilais. Hoche thought that Cormatin was trying to outsmart him. Cormatin was imprisoned and would not be freed before 1802. Boishardy, who did not sign, was killed during the night of 17 to 18 June between Bréhand and Moncontour . Likewise, de Silz, who had taken up arms again, was attacked on 28 June at Grand-Champ by

1728-623: The Conjuration des Égaux of Babeuf , but managed to get himself exonerated before the High Court of Vendôme . He served the French Directory without conviction, all the while continuing (it seemed to him) a clandestine popular militarism in the suburb in which he had been born. After the plot of the rue Saint-Nicaise , Bonaparte used this chance to rid himself of Rossignol, imprisoning him. Transferred from prison to prison, he

1824-761: The Côtes-d'Armor , which was dominated by the Chevalier de Boishardy. On 15 March, it reached Morbihan , where Joseph de Fay and Béjarry, former officers of the Vendean army, assisted by Pierre Guillemot incited a peasant uprising aimed at Vannes. The insurgents were easily countered by the Republicans at the battle of Mangolérian  [ fr ] . However, in Finistère and the west of Côtes-d'Armor, Basse-Cornouaille , Léon and Trégor did not take part in

1920-682: The First World War . The novel is set during the 1793 uprising in Saint-Pol-de-Léon . Civil Constitution of the Clergy The Civil Constitution of the Clergy (French: Constitution civile du clergé ) was a law passed on 12 July 1790 during the French Revolution , that sought the complete control over the Catholic Church in France by the French government . As a result,

2016-513: The Hundred Days War, and a final one occurred in 1832. In 1791, the adoption of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy loyalty to State requirements caused peasants around Vannes to rise to defend their bishop Sébastien-Michel Amelot from those of Lorient who wanted him to swear this oath of loyalty. In another incident, the following spring, in the area around Quimper , a justice of the peace led several parishes in an uprising in

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2112-714: The Loire took up arms again in the areas crossed by the Vendeans. The Chouannerie was born on the borders of the Mayenne and of the Ille-et-Vilaine , near Fougères , Vitré and Laval. The small groups, led by Jean Chouan , Aimé du Boisguy and Jean-Louis Treton  [ fr ] (nicknamed Jambe d'Argent , i.e. "Silver Leg"), had Chouans and Vendeans who survived the Virée de Galerne , leaders who were compromised in

2208-620: The Terror ended and the Convention nationale became more flexible and open to negotiation. The Agence royaliste de Paris asked the Chouans in the name of Louis XVIII of France , then count of Provence , to stop fighting. On 26 December, Brigadier General Jean Humbert and the Chouan chief Boishardy met to discuss peace options. Puisaye tried to organise a landing from London, and his lieutenant, Cormatin, assumed full command and negotiated

2304-697: The Vendée and Deux-Sèvres . The Army of the Coasts of Cherbourg , led by Jean-Baptiste Annibal Aubert du Bayet , was based in Saint-Malo and controlled Manche , Orne , Calvados , Sarthe and part of Ille-et-Vilaine. In December 1795, the Directoire named Hoche chief general of all the Republican forces based in the West and gave him full authority. The Armies of the West, of the Coasts of Brest and of

2400-596: The absolution to his friend Sillery. Adrian Lamourette, Constitutional bishop of Lyon , had in like manner recoiled before the crimes of the revolutionaries. He protested with indignation against the September Massacres , and supported to the utmost of his power the revolt of Lyon against the National Convention . The subsequent triumph of the Jacobins was fatal to him. After the fall of

2496-410: The clergy elected, those clergy within who accepted the State's terms lost their independence and were now subject to the State, since their parishioners would vote on the priest and bishops as opposed to these individuals being appointed by the Church hierarchy. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was passed and some of the support for this came from figures that were within the Church, such as

2592-565: The gendarmerie in 1793, général de brigade in the Vendée , under the protection of general Charles-Philippe Ronsin , he was made commander-in-chief of the Army of the West on 27 July 1793. He engaged in widespread looting and reported several successes. As a general Rossignol was accused of incompetence by his subordinate, Augustin Tuncq . He was removed from that role on 23 August 1793 by representatives on mission Léonard Bourdon and Philippe Charles Aimé Goupilleau de Montaigu , but even so

2688-471: The peace treaty of La Mabilais in April 1795. He was followed by a few local leaders. Of the 121 leaders attending, only 21, including de Silz and Boishardy, signed the treaty. Because neither side had negotiated in good faith, tension again increased following the death of Louis XVII on 8 June. The peace was broken on 26 August 1794 by General Lazare Hoche , who succeeded Jean Antoine Rossignol as head of

2784-415: The émigrés . They attempted to attack on 16 July, but were crushed. Hoche launched a final assault on 20 July and routed the émigrés . Louis Charles d'Hervilly was fatally wounded, and Puisaye managed to board a British ship. The Republicans took more than 6,000 prisoners. 748 of them were shot by firing squad, including Sombreuil. The day before his execution, he wrote a letter to Commodore Warren denouncing

2880-501: The Assembly had to recognize the schism that was occurring because it was extremely evident, even while the replacement was occurring juror priests often faced a hostile and violent reception in their old parishes. On 7 May 1791, the Assembly reversed itself, deciding that the non-juring priests, referred to as prêtres habitués ("habitual priests") could say Mass and conduct services in other churches on condition that they would respect

2976-575: The Assembly; also, the election of the Protestant Jean-Paul Rabaut Saint-Étienne to the presidency of the Assembly brought about "commotions" at Toulouse and Nîmes , suggesting that at least some Catholics would accept nothing less than a return to the ancien régime practice under which only Catholics could hold office. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy came before the Assembly on 29 May 1790. François de Bonal , Bishop of Clermont , and some members of

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3072-509: The Chouans were supported by many nobles: Charles Armand Tuffin, marquis de la Rouërie , the Chevalier de Boishardy, Count Louis of Rosmorduc, the Picquet brothers of Boisguy, as well as by commoners (the brothers Cadoudal). In Lower Normandy , Count Louis de Frotte had a dominant role. One of the lieutenants in lower Maine was Guillaume Le Métayer, who was nicknamed Rochambeau. In the Vendée,

3168-449: The Chouans, Republicans built strongholds or fortified towns, which were defended by local territorial guards. They were led by General Jean Antoine Rossignol , the chief commander of the Army of the Coasts of Brest . A law enacted on 23 March 1793 mandated that captured insurgents were to be executed by firing squad or by guillotine within 24 hours. Rossignol also assembled groups of fake Chouan outlaws to do as much as possible to discredit

3264-627: The Chouans, but numerous disputes broke out among them. In January 1796, Puisaye joined the Fougères division, the most important one in Ille-et-Vilaine, and appointed as his chief Aimé Picquet du Boisguy , Chief General of the Ille-et-Vilaine and of the east of the Côtes-d'Armor. However, in practice, Boisguy controlled only the east of Ille-et-Vilaine, and Frotté and Scépeaux acknowledged Puisaye as General-in-Chief in name only. To fight

3360-618: The Chouans, the Republican forces were organised in three armies. The Army of the Coasts of Brest, led by Lazare Hoche, was based alternately in Rennes or Vannes and controlled the Finistère, the Morbihan, the Côtes-d'Armor, the Ille-et-Vilaine and the Mayenne. The Army of the West , led by Jean Baptiste Camille Canclaux , was based in Nantes and controlled Loire-Atlantique , Maine-et-Loire,

3456-518: The Civil Constitution of the Clergy regulated the current dioceses so that they could become more uniform and aligned with the administrative districts that had recently been created. It emphasised that officials of the Church could not give their loyalty to anyone outside the First French Republic , specifically meaning the Papacy . Lastly, the Civil Constitution of the Clergy made bishops and priests elected. By having members of

3552-563: The Coasts of Cherbourg were merged to form the Army of the Coasts of the Ocean. Despite the Quiberon disaster, the Chouans had some victories in the coming months. Hoche however changed tactics in the beginning of 1796. He set up mobile columns, promised amnesty to Chouans who surrendered, guaranteed religious freedom and strove to discipline the army. Many Chouans and Vendeans were amenable to those measures and laid down their arms. Hoche's priority

3648-798: The Constitution. During the debate on that matter, on 25 November, Cardinal de Lomenie wrote a letter claiming that the clergy could be excused from taking the Oath if they lacked mental assent; that stance was to be rejected by the Pope on 23 February 1791. On 26 December 1790, Louis XVI finally granted his public assent to the Civil Constitution, allowing the process of administering the oaths to proceed in January and February 1791. Pope Pius VI's 23 February rejection of Cardinal de Lomenie's position of withholding "mental assent" guaranteed that this would become

3744-417: The French Revolution since it was the first piece of legislation in the revolution that received massive drawback and resistance. As noted above, the government required all clergy to swear an oath of loyalty to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Only seven bishops and about half of the clergy agreed while the rest refused; the latter became known as "non-jurors" or "refractory priests." In areas where

3840-483: The French monarch included the right to assemble church councils in their dominions and to make laws and regulations touching ecclesiastical matters of the Church or to have recourse to the "appeal as from an abuse" ( "appel comme d'abus" ) against acts of the ecclesiastical power. Even prior to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy: The following interlinked factors appear to have been the causes of agitation for

3936-452: The Mass and attract crowds because the Assembly feared that stripping them of all of their powers would create chaos and that would be ineffective towards silencing them. Although the Assembly allowed them to continue working in ceremonies that were not public they stated that they could only do so until they had been replaced by a clergyman who had taken the oath (juring). A large percentage of

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4032-474: The National Assembly was forcing him to publicly accept the Civil Constitution, and suggesting that Pius VI appease them by accepting a few selected articles too. On 10 July, Pius VI wrote to Louis XVI, indicating to the king that the Church could not accept any of the provisions of the Constitution. The Constitution attempted to change the internal government of the Church, and no political regime had

4128-616: The National Convention considered Catholicism in any form suspicious. Eight Constitutional bishops were executed on the guillotine , three of whom were men who had played important roles in the early stages of the Revolution: Fauchet , Lamourette , and Gobel . In 1793 Fauchet, disgusted by the Jacobin excesses, attached himself to the moderate party. He voted in the Convention with the Girondins , exerted himself to oppose

4224-575: The Pope repudiated the "jurors" who had signed the oath, especially bishops who had ordained new, elected clergy, and above all Bishop Louis-Alexandre Expilly de la Poipe . In May 1791, France recalled its ambassador to the Vatican and the Papal Nuncio was recalled from Paris. On June 9, the Assembly forbade the publication of Papal Bulls or Decrees, unless they had been approved by the Assembly as well. The Constituent Assembly went back and forth on

4320-595: The Revolution. In 1793, the War in the Vendée was influenced by the Constitution passing due to the devout population toward the Church among other social factors. As noted above, even prior to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, church property was nationalized and monastic vows were forbidden. Under the Civil Constitution of the Clergy: The tone of the Civil Constitution can be gleaned from Title II, Article XXI: In short, new bishops were required to swear loyalty to

4416-569: The Right requested that the project should be submitted to a national council or to the Pope, but did not carry the day. Joining them in their opposition to the legislation was Abbé Sieyès , one of the chief political theorists of the French Revolution and author of the 1789 pamphlet " What Is the Third Estate? " Conversely, the Jansenist theologian Armand-Gaston Camus argued that the plan

4512-523: The State in far stronger terms than to any religious doctrine. Even in this revolutionary legislation, there are strong remnants of Gallican royalism. The law also included some reforms supported even by many within the Church. For example, Title IV, Article I states, "The law requiring the residence of ecclesiastics in the districts under their charge shall be strictly observed. All vested with an ecclesiastical office or function shall be subject to this, without distinction or exception." In effect, this banned

4608-619: The State would intensify into de-Christianization and propagation of the Cult of Reason and the Cult of the Supreme Being in 1793–1794. During this time countless non-juring priests were interned in chains on prison ships in French harbors where most died within a few months from the unhealthy conditions. The juring priests weren't spared either. Although the Constitutional Church had been permitted to continue its work,

4704-633: The call of the tawny owl (the chouette hulotte ) for a recognition-signal. A reward was put on his head, but he managed to reach England in March 1793. The Republican administration recognised him and his brother as the leaders of the revolt. By January 1794, the Vendéans of the Vendée militaire  [ fr ] , following a setback of the Virée de Galerne , tried to resist the infernal columns of General Louis Marie Turreau . Groups of Chouans north of

4800-404: The church. Additionally, the Pope expressed disapproval and chastised King Louis XVI for signing the document that required the oath to be taken. Since the Pope expressed disapproval those who did not take it stayed unwilling to take it and as a result were replaced by those who had taken it. In addition to not receiving support from approximately 50% of the Clergy the oath was also disliked by

4896-401: The city, Joseph Fouché arrested Lamourette, personally stripped him of his vestments and rode him through town on a donkey with a mitre on its head and a Bible and crucifix tied to its tail, so the mob could spit at and kick him. At the end of this blasphemous procession the crucifix and the Bible were publicly burned, and the donkey was given to drink out of the sacred chalice. Lamourette

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4992-442: The condemnation of Louis XVI, prohibited in his diocese the marriage of the clergy and expressed deep sorrow for the errors and scandals both of his political and ecclesiastical career. After the insurrection of 31 May – 2 June 1793 , Fauchet was consigned to the Conciergerie . With the Girondin deputies he was brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal on 30 October, and was guillotined on the following day, after having administered

5088-462: The confiscation of church lands and for the adoption of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy: On 6 February 1790, one week before banning monastic vows, the National Constituent Assembly asked its ecclesiastical committee to prepare the reorganization of the clergy. No doubt, those who hoped to reach a solution amenable to the papacy were discouraged by the consistorial address of March 22 in which Pius VI spoke out against measures already passed by

5184-421: The confiscation of the Catholic Church's land holdings and banned monastic vows . This new law completed the destruction of the monastic orders , outlawing "all regular and secular chapters for either sex, abbacies and priorships, both regular and in commendam , for either sex". It also sought to settle the chaos caused by the earlier confiscation of Church lands and the abolition of tithes . Additionally,

5280-556: The creation of an army of 20,000 men on the orders of the Assembly, precipitating the monarchy's fall), which was toughened and re-issued a year later. The Holy September Martyrs , or Blessed Martyrs of Carmes ( Bienheureux Martyrs des Carmes ) are 191 Roman Catholics summarily killed at the Carmes Prison in the September Massacres of 1792, consisting of three bishops, 127 secular priests, 56 monks and nuns, and five lay people, overwhelmingly non-jurors. They were beatified by Pope Pius XI in October 1926. Persecution of Roman Catholics by

5376-410: The current parishes and bishoprics, and allowed for seminaries to be established. In an effort to please Pope Pius VII it was agreed upon that suitable salaries would be provided for bishops and curés and he would condone the acquisition of church lands. Jean Antoine Rossignol Jean Antoine Rossignol ( French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ ɑ̃twan ʁɔsiɲɔl] ; 7 November 1759 – 27 April 1802)

5472-504: The devolved government, specific laws, and customs of Duchy of Brittany , which had all been repealed in 1789. The first confrontations broke out in 1792 and developed in stages into a peasant revolt , guerrilla warfare and finally full-scale battles. It only ended with the Republican forces defeating the rebels in 1800. Briefer peasant uprisings in other départements like in Aveyron and Lozère are also identified as "chouanneries". Another petite chouannerie broke out in 1815, during

5568-457: The division chiefs were of the nobility, and joined the Mordelles division led by Jean-Joseph Ruault de La Tribonnière  [ fr ] . He did not receive much more support than in the Morbihan, but he remained commander-in-chief because of the support of the Count of Artois. Puisaye wanted a Chouannerie led by nobles and founded the company of the chevaliers catholiques  [ fr ] . Several émigrés joined France to fight with

5664-505: The division in the state. On 29 November 1791, the Legislative Assembly , which had replaced the National Constituent Assembly, decreed that refractory priests could only exacerbate factionalism and aggravate extremists in the constituent assembly. The November 29th decree declared that no refractory priest could invoke the rights in the Constitution of the Clergy and that all such priests were suspect and so to be arrested. Louis XVI vetoed this decree (as he also did with another text concerning

5760-431: The early stages of the Revolution. Having joined the so-called "federalists", he was condemned to death by the Revolutionary Tribunal of Brest , and executed, with other magistrates of that place, on June 21, 1794, only one month before the fall of Robespierre. He was the last person executed that day as he had been giving absolution to his fellows waiting at the scaffold. There would be no Bishop of Quimper/Cornouaille for

5856-523: The exact status of non-juring priests. On 5 February 1791, non-juring priests were banned from preaching in public. By not allowing the clergy to preach the National Assembly was trying to silence the Clergy. This punishment that was imposed by the assembly signified that all refractory priest could no longer practice marriages and baptisms which were public ceremonies. By not allowing refractory clergy to practice these large public ceremonies they were silenced. However, non-juring clergy continued to celebrate

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5952-418: The failure of the British royalist expedition and spread to Normandy , where Louis de Frotté , who had freshly landed in France in 1795, organised an uprising. Puisaye had suffered a loss of reputation and blamed the Chouans of the Morbihan and their chiefs, who he claimed were hostile towards nobles and wanted to "establish equality under a white flag". Puisaye left the Morbihan for the Ille-et-Vilaine, where

6048-477: The flight of the Chief General, Joseph de Puisaye . That letter had an enormous impact on the Chouans. A council of officers in Morbihan sentenced Puisaye to death in absentia . He returned to Brittany in autumn 1795, where he was arrested by Pierre-Mathurin Mercier and brought before Cadoudal. Puisaye defended himself vigorously and found that he still had the support of the Count of Artois. Cadoual and Puisaye eventually reconciled. Guerilla fighting resumed after

6144-584: The general of the émigrés Louis Charles d'Hervilly and the expedition leader Puisaye cost the Royalists precious time. A counterattack by Hoche forced the Chouans back to the Quiberon peninsula. On 10 July, two columns of Chouan troops wearing English uniforms embarked on British ships from the peninsula and were landed behind Republican lines. However, the men from the first column, led by Lantivy du Rest and Jean Jan  [ fr ] , scattered. The second column, led by Vincent de Tinténiac and seconded by Georges Cadoudal , prepared to attack but received

6240-465: The insurrection were Georges Cadoudal , his brother Julian, Jean Cottereau , called Jean Chouan; Pierre Guillemot, known as the king of Bignan ; Joseph de Puisaye , Louis-Charles de Sol de Grisolles, Auguste and Sébastien de La Haye de Silz, John-Louis Treton, nicknamed Jambe d'Argent; Tristan-Llhermitte, Michel Jacquet, known as Taillefer; Joseph-Juste Coquereau, Aimé du Boisguy, Boishardy, Pierre-Mathurin Mercier and Bonfils de Saint Loup. In Brittany,

6336-467: The intervention of British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger , Puisaye was appointed general-in-chief of the Royal and Catholic Army of Brittany on 15 October 1794 with the rank of lieutenant general , thus entrusting him with the king's authority. His power thus extended to all the insurgent areas north of the Loire , including the Maine and Anjou, where Scépeaux appointed him general-in-chief. When Maximilien de Robespierre fell on 28 July 1794,

6432-510: The laws and not stir up revolt against the Civil Constitution. The assembly had to allow this change to control the schism and in part because "Constitutional Clergy" (those who had taken the oath) were unable to properly conduct their service. The constitutional clergy often required the assistance of the National Guard due to the mayhem that would occur. The division in France was at an all-time high when even families had different views on juring and non-juring priest. The difference in families

6528-415: The lower part of Maine, which was controlled by the Prince of Talmont. The Chouannerie was very difficult to suppress since its fighting forces had not been beaten during the Vendée War. Also, it had many leaders, and its army units were small and dispersed. This Chouannerie uprising was featured in the novel Les Chouans by Honoré de Balzac , Ninety-Three by Victor Hugo , and The Man in Grey ,

6624-458: The name of King Louis XVI against the local authorities. In the summer of 1792, further incidents occurred in the districts of Carhaix (Finistère), Lannion , Pontrieux (Côtes-d'Armor), Craon , Château-Gontier and Laval , where peasants opposed a levy of volunteers for the army. At Saint-Ouën-des-Toits , in the department of Mayenne, Jean Cottereau (known as Jean Chouan ) led the insurgents. His nickname probably came from his imitation of

6720-431: The next four years. Another prominent victim of the Revolution was the former Constitutional Bishop of the Yonne department Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne . On 15 November 1793, he had renounced the priesthood, but his past as a cardinal and bishop made him an object of suspicion to the then prominent revolutionaries. He was arrested at Sens on 18 February 1794, and that same night died in prison, whether from

6816-421: The nobility were not able to play their normal military role. There was never any properly-organised army and was mostly small elusive bands. The Chouan leaders were, above all, peasant farmers. In contrast to the earlier War in the Vendée of 1793, the Chouannerie did not have any territory, the cities and many towns having remained Republican, but some districts openly revolt. There was also the Petite Vendée in

6912-483: The oath above mentioned." This unified state control over both the nobility and the Church through the use of elected bishops and the oath of loyalty. For some time, Louis XVI delayed signing the Civil Constitution, saying that he needed "official word from Rome" before doing so. Pope Pius VI broke the logjam on 9 July 1790, writing a letter to Louis rejecting the arrangement. On 28 July, 6 September, and 16 December 1790, Louis XVI wrote letters to Pius VI, complaining that

7008-406: The oath. In March 1791 Pope Pius VI finally decided that the oath was against the beliefs of the Church. By deciding that it was against the beliefs two groups were formed "jurors" and "non-jurors" ("refractory priests") and that was based on whether or not they had decided to take the oath. The Pope condemned those who took the oath and went as far as saying that they were absolutely separated from

7104-535: The only party to take to the Council of Saumur was to march directly and en masse, re-stating in several lines the plan proposed by Rossignol. The conduct of general Rossignol in the Vendée war, like that of all the Hébertist generals, was poorly appreciated by historians writing at a distance from the passions of that conflict. The opinion of general Turreau in his Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire de la Vendée ,

7200-643: The peasant uprisings of March 1793 and even deserters. Condemned to live in almost total secrecy, the Chouans knew that capture by the Republicans would mean certain death. Most of them were motivated by a desire to avenge their relatives who had disappeared in the Virée de Galerne. Using guerrilla warfare tactics, Chouans in groups of a few score or a few hundred men ambushed military detachments, couriers and stagecoaches carrying government funds. They attacked Republican towns and executed informers, constitutional priests and republicans, and many administrators. To oppose

7296-472: The practice by which younger sons of noble families would be appointed to a bishopric or other high church position and live off its revenues without ever moving to the region in question and taking up the duties of the office. The abuse of bishoprics by the nobility was further reduced in Title II, Article XI: "Bishoprics and cures shall be looked upon as vacant until those elected to fill them shall have taken

7392-528: The priest and parliamentarian Pierre Claude François Daunou , and, above all, the revolutionary priest Henri Grégoire , who was the first French Catholic priest to take the Obligatory Oath. However, almost all bishops opposed the law and refused to take the loyalty oath it required. Over half of lower clergy also refused. The law was extremely divisive and proved to be a turning point in the French Revolution . Historian Hilaire Belloc described it as

7488-500: The real Chouans. Murders were carried out throughout the whole war with a varying degree of intensity, for example, in the district of Fougères, 2,000 Chouans and a fluctuating number of Republicans, 219 people were assassinated or executed by Chouans and 300 by Republicans. This number did not include deaths during fights, summary executions on the battlefield or executions following the expeditive revolutionary due process of law. The Chouannerie spread quickly to Brittany and reached

7584-546: The refractory priests were not replaced until 10 August 1792, which was more than a year after the original 50% had taken the oath; by the time they began to be replaced the Assembly had made some changes and it was not as significant that they were practicing Mass. At the beginning, when the Assembly was stripping the clergy of their titles they tried to ignore how the extreme anti-clerical elements were responding with violence against those who attended these Masses and against nuns who would not renounce their vocation. Ultimately

7680-464: The right to unilaterally change the internal structure of the Church. On 17 August, Pius VI wrote to Louis XVI of his intent to consult with the cardinals about this, but on 10 October Cardinal Rochefoucauld, the Archbishop of Aix, and 30 of France's 131 bishops sent their negative evaluation of the main points of the Civil Constitution to the Pope. Only four bishops actively dissented. On 30 October,

7776-514: The same 30 bishops restated their view to the public, signing a document known as the Exposition of Principles ("Exposition des principes sur la constitution civile du clergé"), written by Jean de Dieu-Raymond de Cucé de Boisgelin On 27 November 1790, still lacking the king's signature on the law of the Civil Constitution, the National Assembly voted to require the clergy to sign an oath of loyalty to

7872-535: The troops of Adjutant-General Josnet. De Silz was killed in action, and his men retreated. On 23 June 1795, a British fleet led by Commodore John Borlase Warren , landed 3,500 soldiers of the émigré army in Carnac . They joined 15,000 Chouans led by Vincent de Tinténiac , Paul Alexandre du Bois-Berthelot  [ fr ] and Jacques Anne Joseph Le Prestre de Vauban , the great-grandnephew of Marshal Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban . However, disagreements between

7968-457: The turning march that they decided on resulted in the delays that he knew it would and the glorious defeat of the Mayenians themselves. It can be believed that the plan by Rossignol, an ignorant general, was not the best one, but we have an authoritative opinion of some value on the point—that of Napoleon himself. Judging the operations of the War in the Vendée at a distance, he declared that

8064-536: The uprising. Georges Cadoudal and Pierre-Mathurin Mercier  [ fr ] , nicknamed la Vendée , rescued from the Battle of Savenay , moved to the Morbihan, where Boulainvilliers was appointed general-in-chief of the département. However, Boulainvilliers defected to Ille-et-Vilaine with money taken from the headquarters. Sébastien de La Haye de Silz succeeded him as general. Boulainvilliers foolishly returned

8160-436: The validity of the assembly which had established the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. On 16 January 1791 approximately 50% of the individuals required to take the oath went ahead and took it and the other half decided to wait for Pope Pius VI to provide instruction, since he was indecisive on what the Oath signified and how the Clergy should respond to it. It is important to note that only seven bishops in all of France took

8256-512: Was a general of the French Revolutionary Wars . Rossignol began his Memoirs , published in 1820 by Victor Barrucand, with the words: "I was born into a poor family. My father, who died before I was born, was a Bourguignon. He came to Paris and, after some years, he sought to marry. He thus got to know my mother and they married. Of the five children they had, I was the last." In 1774, aged 14, after 3 years' apprenticeship as

8352-493: Was an agreement executed by Napoleon Bonaparte and clerical and papal representatives from Rome and Paris, and determined the role and status of the Roman Catholic Church in France; moreover, it concluded the confiscations and church reforms that had been implemented over the course of the revolution. The agreement also gave the first consul (Napoleon) the authority and right to nominate bishops, redistribute

8448-543: Was defended by Georges Danton and returned to it on 28 August 1793 by the National Convention , supported by Robespierre and Hébert at the Club des Jacobins in September 1793. He then became commander in chief of the Army of the Coasts of Brest , Army of the West and Army of the Coasts of Cherbourg on 12 November 1793 (22 brumaire year II). He was reestablished in this role several times despite several setbacks and

8544-610: Was forced to abjure in front of a large audience at the National Convention. Three days later, on 10 November, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame was rededicated to the Cult of Reason . Despite his acceptance of the principles of the Revolution, Gobel was executed together with Chaumette , Grammont, and many others as a "conspirator against the Republic", on April 13, 1794. A similar fate befell Louis-Alexandre Expilly , Constitutional bishop of Finistère , who had distinguished himself in

8640-636: Was in perfect harmony with the New Testament and the councils of the fourth century. The Assembly passed the Civil Constitution on 12 July 1790, two days before the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille . On that anniversary, the Fête de la Fédération , Talleyrand and three hundred priests officiated at the "altar of the nation" erected on the Champ de Mars , wearing tricolor waistbands over their priestly vestments and calling down God's blessing upon

8736-425: Was me who was bothering everyone; ah well, I retire : our great decision must not be abased by personal rivalries; I accept serving under the orders of Canclaux , to put an end to all quarrels, if Canclaux wishes to command the march that he imposes." This gesture decided no one and Rossignol, in abstaining from taking part in the second vote, allowed his opponents to triumph in principle—but only in principle, for

8832-424: Was primarily seen when the women would attend Masses that were held by those who had defied the oath and men attended Mass that was provided by clergy members who had taken the oath. It is important to note that even though priests who had not taken the Oath had the right to use the churches many were not allowed to use the buildings (this was done by priest who had sworn their allegiance) this furthermore demonstrated

8928-468: Was the closest to the truth and to the ulterior motives presiding over Rossignol's fate. Finally removed from office by the Committee of Public Safety , in April 1794, following disagreements with Billaud-Varenne during this Montagnard député's mission to Saint-Malo , he retired to Orléans , re-entering civil life. Imprisoned for several days after the Thermidorian Reaction , he was compromised in

9024-418: Was the first to surrender, on 14 May. Georges Cadoudal signed a peace treaty on 19 June. Louis de Frotté refused to sign a peace treaty and embarked for England and left his lieutenants to sign it on 23 June. Aimé Picquet du Boisguy was the last to surrender, on 26 June. Puisaye returned to England. The uprising lasted until the Republican victory in 1800. Defunct Defunct The principal leaders of

9120-665: Was then sent to Paris to be tried. Three days afterwards he was summoned before the Revolutionary Tribunal and sentenced to death. Thereupon he humbly made the sign of the cross , retracted his oath to the Civil Constitution, and declared that he had been the author of all the speeches upon ecclesiastical affairs which Mirabeau had delivered in his own name in the Constituent Assembly . He was guillotined on January 10, 1794. On 7 November 1793, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gobel , Constitutional bishop of Paris,

9216-460: Was to pacify the Vendée. Jean-Nicolas Stofflet was captured and shot by firing squad in Angers on 25 February 1796. François de Charette was hunted down, imprisoned and shot on 29 March 1796. His death marked the end of the War in the Vendée . Since the Vendée was pacified, Hoche turned his attention to the Chouans. Faced by large Republican numbers, Chouan chiefs gradually surrendered. Scépeaux

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