Maximilien de Robespierre
- "It is wisdom, above all, that our guilty enemies want to drive from the Republic. To wisdom alone does it belong to consolidate the prosperity of Empires. It is for her to guarantee the fruits of our courage."
- ―Maximilien de Robespierre, in a speech during the 'Festival of the Supreme Being', 1794.
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (1758 – 1794) was a French lawyer, politician and notable figure of the French Revolution
Initially a provincial lawyer, he was elected a deputy at the Estates-General of 1789. As the French Revolution broke out, he aligned himself with the increasingly radical Jacobin Club and was recruited into the Templar Order by Grand Master François-Thomas Germain. In late 1793, Robespierre and the newly-founded Committee of Public Safety started the Reign of Terror, persecuting and often executing thousands of perceived counter-revolutionaries. Due to the rising tyranny of Robespierre, he and his supporters were overthrown and executed by guillotine in the Thermidorian Reaction of 1794.
Biography
Early life
Robespierre was born in Arras in 1758 as the eldest of four children. His mother died when he was six, and his father abandoned the family afterwards, forcing Robespierre to take on the responsibility of raising his siblings.[1] In the meantine, he himself was raised in large part by the teachers at the Oratorian College of Arras which he attended. A hard-working pupil, he acquired a passion for Roman history, to which he would refer almost obsessively in his later speeches.[2] At the age of 11, he was given a scholarship at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, the most prestigious university in France.[1]
Revolutionary beginnings
After completing his education as a lawyer, Robespierre was admitted to the Arras bar. Although he was seemingly destined for a modest life as a provincial lawyer, a financial crisis broke out in France, leading King Louis XVI to convene the Estates-General. On 20 April 1789, Robespierre was elected the fifth out of eight Third Estate deputies for the province of Artois.[2] He became a critic of the monarchy and advocated societal reform,[1] and founded the National Assembly along with other deputies such as the Comte de Mirabeau, Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès and the Marquis de Lafayette. During this period, he was also recruited into a radical faction of the Templar Order, led by François-Thomas Germain.[2]
In 5 May 1789, Robespierre and his fellow Templars attended a private party at the Palace of Versailles. The party was secretly to host the induction of the daughter of the Order's Grand Master, François de la Serre, into the Order. On that same night however, de la Serre was murdered in a coup d'etat led by Germain. Germain's Templars plotted to instigate a widespread revolution across France. They sought to empower the middle class instead of the nobility, and by creating a capitalist society, it would be more easy for the Templars to control humanity.[2]
Robespierre took up residence in Paris, and would only return to Arras once. He became a regular patron at intellectual establishments such as the Café Procope[2] and the Café de la Regence.[3] He joined the newly-founded Jacobin Club and became noted for his unflinching principles and conviction, as well as being a talented speaker who frequently appeared at various galleries, in spite of his harsh voice and Artois accent.[2] He spoke over 5000 times at the National Assembly and gave eloquent arguments against the king's right to veto legislation and religious discrimnation, while also defending the rights of the common people. Mirabeau, who was briefly president of the Jacobin Club, said of him, "He will go far. He believes everything he says".[1] Little is known of Robespierre's private life, other than the fact that he had an elegant, but unluxurious lifestyle, preferring to study frequently and maintain good company. His extreme distrust often offended supplicants, although his disinterest in popularity only made him more respected as a political figure.[2]
In April 1791, the Templars met at the Hôtel de Beauvais, where Robespierre spoke to fellow Jacobins and called for the abolition of capital punishment. After the Templars had finished their meeting, Robespierre he met up with Germain and Aloys la Touche. La Touche was placed under Robespierre's services, where he was tasked to spread revolutionary terror in Versailles once the revolution had grown sufficiently radical and Robespierre had gained power.[2]
Rising power
- "We are being watched by all nations; we are debating in the presence of the universe."
- ―Robespierre on the revolution.[src]
In April 1792, the revolutionary government of France, dominated by the Jacobins' chief rivals, the Girondists, declared war on the kingdoms of Austria and Prussia. Robespierre was one of the first politicians to criticize the war, which the French appeared to be losing.[3] The war also led to increasing distrust towards King Louis and the royal family, and Robespierre called for the abolition of the monarchy.[1] On 10 August 1792, revolutionaries and forces of the insurrectionary Paris Commune stormed the royal residence at the Tuileries Palace, ending the monarchy and marking the birth of the French Republic.[2]
The new republic was governed by the National Convention, in which Robespierre served as a deputy and represented Paris. He continued agitating revolutionaries to rise up against aristocrats and reversed his stance on capital punishment, now calling for the execution of the deposed King Louis.[1] When the Convention tried Louis for a number of offenses, Robespierre and his fellow Templar Louis-Michel le Peletier voted for execution, and the King was executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793.[2]
Tensions grew in the Convention, and Robespierre became obsessed with conspiracies against the revolution, particularly among political opponents such as the Girondists, whose power diminished as they suffered numerous political defeats. His faction in the Convention, consisting of radicals such as Georges Danton, Jean-Paul Marat and Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, was named "the Mountain" due to their position in the upper galleries of the meeting hall.[2]
In March 1793, the Convention founded the Committee of Public Safety to protect the republic from both internal and external threats, and following its restructuring in July of that year, Robespierre became a leading member along with Saint-Just, Georges Couthon and Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois. As the Committee began executing people on increasingly dubious charges, the Girondists spoke out against Robespierre. In response, Robespierre ordered the arrest of all Girondists, alienating his ally Danton. Under the command of François Hanriot, the National Guard and the Paris Commune brought about the downfall of the Girondists, whose leaders were executed a few months later, marking the beginning of the Reign of Terror.[2]
The Reign of Terror
- "My old friend, you are an enemy of the State. Look what Hanriot found among your papers..."
- ―Maximilien de Robespierre to Georges Danton, 1794.
During his Reign of Terror, Robespierre was instrumental in the trials and executions of several leading figures, including King Louis XVI of France, his queen Marie Antoinette, fellow lawyer Georges Danton, the chemical pioneer Antoine Lavoisier, among countless other nobles, royals, and fellow politicians that the revolutionaries considered to be traitors. Robespierre then visited his former friend Danton, and taunted him with discovered letters, containing the names of Danton's supporters. However, by executing Danton who was considered a hero of the revolution, it had cost Robespierre his popularity.[2]
While Danton's execution was ongoing, Robespierre was absent from his house, apparently ill. The guards believed that his illness was caused by the stress of having to execute his former friends, including Desmoulins. The Assassins took the opportunity to infiltrate Robespierre's house and steal Danton's confiscated letters.[2]
When the Templars discovered incriminating evidence of Mirabeau's correspondences with the deceased King, Robespierre took the opportunity to expose this evidence to the public, coupled with other forms of slander. This publicly disgraced Mirabeau, and the Templars infiltrated the Pantheon to claim Mirabeau's relics, hoping to find any information on the Assassins.[2]
Robespierre's personal spy, Didier Paton, soon became aware of the existence of the Templar Order, and its manipulation of the government. Paton then reported his findings to Robespierre. However, what Paton didn't know was that Robespierre was also a Templar, and had Paton arrested and sentenced to execution. Fortunately for Paton, he was rescued by the Assassins.[2]
Aside from his revisions to France's political system, Robespierre also made changes to the religious system as well. On 7 May 1794, Robespierre supported a decree passed by the Convention that established an official religion, known historically as the Cult of the Supreme Being. He then hosted the Festival of the Supreme Being, whereby Robespierre's followers commemorated his Deist beliefs. According to Élise de la Serre, Robespierre's Deism was a loose interpretation of the Templar doctrine, serving merely as Templar propaganda.[2] In addition, he abolished slavery in France.[4]
Downfall
- "Monsieur Robespierre, take care that you do not allow your personal ambitions to come before the Great Work. That which we do, we do not for our own glory, but to remake the world in de Molay's image. "
- ―Germain in a letter to Robespierre, 1794.
In 1794, Robespierre hosted the Festival, attended by many citizens of Paris; it was here that Élise and the Assassin Arno Dorian orchestrated Robespierre's downfall. As he gave a speech to the audience, Élise spiked Robespierre's drink with powdered ergot, causing Robespierre to experience random hallucinations and give the audience the belief that he was insane and unstable.
At the same time, Arno stole letters containing the names of several members of the National Convention, who were to be victims of Robespierre's mass executions. He then snuck these letters to several of Robespierre's critics. Upon the discovery of the lists, the members of the National Convention deemed that Robespierre had gone too far.
On 27 July 1794, Robespierre was deposed and arrested by the Convention, who declared him and his followers outlaws, and were thus sentenced to execution. However, soldiers of the Jacobin Club freed Robespierre, allowing him to escape from his captors and flee to his hideout at the Hôtel de Ville with the rest of his collaborators. Unbeknownst to him, he was pursued by both Arno and Élise, who aimed to procure Germain's location from him. At his hideout, Robespierre desperately tried to contact Germain for safety. However, Germain believed that Robespierre and his Reign of Terror had served their purpose, instead abandoning his last follower.
Cornered, Robespierre was confronted by Arno, who attempted to coax the Grand Master's location from him, though Robespierre refused to talk, prompting a vengeful Élise to shoot him in the face with her pistol, shattering his jaw. Staggered and fearful of his life, Robespierre weakly wrote down Germain's location. As Arno and Elise made their escape, the French Army had overpowered the Jacobin soldiers and took the wounded Robespierre into custody once more.
Robespierre was executed the next day by the guillotine, bringing an end to his Reign of Terror.
Trivia
- The render of Robespierre used in the game is based largely on Madame Tussaud's mask (which also served as the basis of a widely criticized [5] 3D reconstruction, mostly because Tussaud's death masks are generally considered fakes). The actual Robespierre wore green glasses [6], powdered his face and dressed in flamboyant green and blue outfits.
Gallery
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Concept art of Robespierre -
A portrait of Robespierre -
Robespierre drinking wine spiked with powdered ergot -
Robespierre protected by the Commune -
Robespierre is recaptured -
The execution of Robespierre -
A copy of Robespierre's death mask
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Assassin's Creed Unity: Abstergo Entertainment - Employee Handbook
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 Assassin's Creed: Unity
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Project Widow
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Initiates – Letters to the Dead
- ↑ https://revolutioninfiction.wordpress.com/2014/03/15/making-medical-myths-the-case-of-maximilien-robespierre-by-peter-mcphee/
- ↑ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MaxRobespierre_Best.jpg
