Storming of the Bastille

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The Storming of the Bastille was an event that occurred on 14 July 1789, during which angry Parisian citizens stormed and captured the infamous Bastille prison, a symbol of monarchist oppression in France.

History

Although the prison was thought to be filled with political prisoners, only seven inmates were held at the time of the storming. Two of them were Pierre Bellec, a member of the French Brotherhood of Assassins, and Arno Dorian, the son of the late Assassin, Charles Dorian. After the two met in the Bastille, Bellec began training Arno in combat.

On 12 July 1789, Swiss courtier and military officer Marquis de Besenval withdrew his troops from Paris in the face of government inaction in suppressing the popular riots, which culminated two days later. On 14 July, a delegation of the National Assembly was invited to the Bastille to discuss terms with the governor. However, the protesters outside had become restless and managed to cut the chains holding the raised drawbridge. The fortress was attacked by outraged Frenchmen joined by the Templar Élise de la Serre, who was searching for Arno. The general of the Bastille, de Launay, was killed by the mob; his head was hanged on a pike, which served as the start of the French Revolution.

During the havoc, Arno and Bellec used the opportunity to escape. After breaking out of their cell, they fought through the prison's guards to reach the roof, where Bellec demonstrated a Leap of Faith to Arno. Cornered by the incoming guards, Arno reluctantly followed Bellec's example and escaped from the prison. The novelist Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was another notable prisoner held in the Bastille, but had been transferred shortly before the building fell to the mob.

After the attack, the Bastille was used as a powerful propaganda tool during the French Revolution, symbolizing the might and willpower of the people. In the following months, and after much debate on what to do with the former prison, the comte de Mirabeau settled the matter by destroying the first brick. By November, almost the entire structure had been demolished. In the same month, the Marquis de Besenval was imprisoned, wrongly accused of having instigated the burning of Paris and the massacre of its inhabitants.

The date of the storming, 14 July, was commemorated the following year as Le quatorze juillet, or French National Day, known around the world as Bastille Day.

Gallery

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  Concept art of revolutionaries on the streets
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  Concept art of a crowd gathering to storm the fort
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  Concept art of civilians storming the fortress walls
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  The storming, as seen from Notre-Dame's rooftops
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  Citizens rioting outside the Bastille

Behind the scenes

Despite the fact that the prison was demolished by 1790, it remains intact throughout the storyline of Assassin's Creed: Unity, albeit heavily damaged.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Unity (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Unity novel
• Assassin's Creed Unity: Abstergo Entertainment – Employee Handbook
• L'Armoire de Fer (mentioned only)
• Echoes of History (mentioned only)