[aramistinguette]

my talented friend made me these really cool guillotine earrings, I'm obsessed I will wear them every day

[wigfucker]

:3

[milomarmar]

no working drawing tablet has me doodling hamburr 1920s silent film style

[aramistinguette]

i keep drawing the same corny saintspierre kiss sorry

[saintjustitude]

Saint-Just wasn't only "one man among 21 who supported Robespierre" and even the Thermidorians knew it

Let's find the origin of this anecdote:

“[Saint-Just] was pushed into the bay of a window, from which he could see, on the other side of the room, a noisy group round a table. ‘Move up a bit,’ someone said, ‘let him see his king lying on a table, like any ordinary man’. There was silence then as they waited to see what Saint-Just would do. He came over to the table, sat down by it, and gazed in silence at his friend. Through the last hours of the night and on into the dawn, he sat there with his bitter thoughts, watching over the wounded man.”

— J. B. Morton, Saint-Just (1939).

Now Morton isn't writing fanfiction. This isn't just a 20th-century narrative embellishment. He's repeating a well-known observation made in a pamphlet published within a few days after Thermidor. This is a hostile, contemporary Thermidorian pamphlet noting "in real-time" (kind of - with the amount of details given you can tell it was someone who was in the room) the exact differences in behavior between Saint-Just, Dumas (the president of the Revolutionary Tribunal) and Payan (named at the Commune to replace Chaumette):

They bring in St.-Just, Dumas, and Payan, all three bound; they are escorted by gendarmes. They remain standing for a good quarter of an hour at the door of the Committee room; they are made to sit in the embrasure of a window; they have not yet uttered a single word. ​Some jokers clear away the people surrounding these three men, saying: "Move aside then, so these gentlemen can see their King sleeping on a table, just like a man." ​St. Just steps forward to look at Robespierre. St.-Just had a downcast, humbled countenance; his wide, swollen eyes painted a picture of grief/sorrow.

​Dumas, whose face is naturally gaunt and emaciated, and entirely lacking in color, did not seem very affected; he had a dreamy air, a fixed gaze, and made no movement. He merely twitched his fingers near his thigh.

​Payan had an occasionally mocking air; he was seen smiling; being seated, he made a nod of the head, as if to say, "I do not fear death at all." But this feeling did not remain painted on his face for long; fear spread across his features, and his countenance became downcast.

We have three important men (in their functions) being led to "their king". Yet, even through the intensely biased lens of a Thermidorian writer who wanted to paint them all as fallen tyrants, Saint-Just's profound grief/sorrow (le chagrin) and focus on Robespierre stand out uniquely. The pamphlet literally documents that while the other two were projecting stoicism or defiance, Saint-Just's eyes were fixed entirely on Robespierre's suffering. Even they noted his devotion and loyalty to a friend, and struggled to reduce it to the fanaticism of a mere acolyte.

Now before you think of dismissing it, keep in mind this is the pamphlet that reports Saint-Just's last words (in the next paragraph), and tells us the clothes he was wearing. If we accept these as facts, why wouldn't this also be?

[xiorc-0714]

art collab with @revolutionarywig ! I did the coloring part. it’s been finished very long ago and finally i could post it skshjskhhd

and here’s the line art of @revolutionarywig

[revolutionarywig]

Heres the other side of the collab lets goooooooo

[citizentaleo]

Drink.

[alchemyfire]

LTELV (part 1) picspam

It hasn't been here for a long time, has it? :-)

Okay, stop staring at each other. Let's go to dinner.

those happy moments

mother Duplay being cute

Élisabeth always hungry

It's rude to barge into a family dinner uninvited, Camille.

That's right, Camille. How could that bother you?

Passionate conversation in bed? Not with you, dear Couthon.

not with you dear Augustin

correct

You didn't expect me to skip this scene, did you?

beautiful, right? so we can continue

Georges, you won't make friends in this house with these manners.

neither with your bad jokes

This sentence and this exaggerated self-confidence remind me of someone. What do you think?

Tell him, Maxime.

true words

<3

This is no way to win him over, Georges.

Sigh.

That's the end, citizens. Hopefully it gave you a pleasant distraction.

[aramistinguette]

this heatwave guys...... and the government is doing nothing besides telling us to drink water we are so cooked

[aramistinguette]

moving out on my period and during a heatwave... I am suffering more than jesus right now

[edoutft]

The heat is killing me, at least I have the revolution to think about

[saintjustitude]

The Session of November 5 1792 at the Convention nationale: Better Than Any Play and Sitcom Ever Written

The drama is over-the-top hilarious and amazing. I am working on a semi-modernized translation – I say semi-modernized because they’re literally so catty, petty and bitchy my translation sounds modern anyway!

The session starts at 10am and ends at 4:30pm. Most of the session is spent debating on whether or not they will proceed with the order of the day.

It was planned ahead of time that Robespierre was going to answer to Louvet’s accusation – who, a few days earlier, had accused him of dictatorship or wanting to make a triumvirate with Danton and Marat. In the days preceding Thermidor, Robespierre does mention in speeches that the recent accusations are just recycling Louvet’s.

And so Robespierre talking (for a very, very long time) was planned.

(According to Louvet’s whining, it was already 1pm by then.)

While this happened, people lined up to speak next: for Robespierre, on Robespierre and against Robespierre.

The first for was Saint-Just.

But Louvet kept throwing a tantrum, and thus robbed us from the glorious fact that Saint-Just’s first intervention at the Convention would not have been his speech on the king of November 13, but the classical “Leave Robespierre alone” on November 5.

It’s also amusing? sad? that Saint-Just’s first (didn’t happen) and last (was interrupted) interventions at the Convention were to defend his boyfriend. And they say there isn’t love here!

The session is a highlight of hilarity, featuring:

- Hérault, as president, being completely overwhelmed

- Barbaroux, who’s also secretary, leaving his secretary seat to climb to the rostrum back and forth, and people don’t want him to speak. Presumably Louvet sent him, so we can say we missed out on a Battle of the Boytoys. (No but seriously guys stop sending the new guys who just reached the age to get elected to fix your old drama!)

- Couthon bitching about Barbaroux and calling his attempt to talk “pitiable”.

- Barère rambling that Robespierre is too dumb to be a dictator in a preamble to his new motion to proceed with the order of the day

- Some Dude (Rewbell) objecting to this order of the day because if it was voted, it would make a satire of the Assembly (it did)

- Robespierre also objecting to the order as the preamble is injurious to him

Eventually, AT LAST, they do move on with the order of the day. I guess the day was almost over by then.

Other highlights:

- Someone complains some people have been introduced to the tribunes without permission. Hérault says he authorized the wives of two deputies to be there.

- Barère rambles that this inconsequential drama between small petty people detracts from their Great Purpose and will never have a place in history (unfortunately, here we are)

- An annex featuring Louvet’s publication presumably later this day (someone did tell him to just publish his rant and stop wasting their time) in which he rants: “people who were going to vote for Robespierre: Saint-Just, k, but like I read Manuel was there? Manuel?? If you wanna be with him, then be with him! But you’re not gonna stay long, I can guarantee!” I’m barely exaggerating. This is what he says: “On vit pour Robespierre, Saint-Just, Garnier, et si l'on ne m'a pas trompé, Manuel. Manuel ! qu'il y soit donc, puisqu'il y veut être ; mais j'aime à croire qu'il n'y restera pas longtemps.”

It’s a wonderful piece of drama, with applause, murmurs, sometimes violent murmurs, from members and the tribunes, some who threaten Louvet as well.

Brilliant. 10/10

Here is a link to the actual melodrama for those who can read French. (There are some typos however as it’s transferred from pdf to text. The section saying who’s voting for what also isn’t clear because of the format. You can read a printed version here, starting at p. 151.)

[secondjulia]

I can't get over Max ruling France with a flick of the wrist

"DISMISSED!" (I guess his hands are full)

Bonus stalking tiger Max:

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1999)

If he could shoo people off to the guillotine with a wave of his hand, Brissot's head would've fallen before the monarchy

[aramistinguette]

My local cat shelter names every orange cat with "roux" puns (roux=ginger) such as Rouxbocop, Rouxland Garros etc and every morning I check their website hoping they name one of them Rouxbespierre

[edoutft]

Joyeuse fête de l'Être suprême, à célébrer fraternellement entre citoyens 🤗🤗

[aramistinguette]

Fernig sisters

[dykecostanza-deactivated2024112]

okay youve made me a little obsessed with all the drama of robespierres personal life kejehrhek all i knew before was the gullotining did his brother gets long with the duplays?

bro he genuinely has the most fascinating personal life from start to finish i could talk about that shit for 600 years

but yeah augustin had no issue with the duplays and im pretty sure he lived in the rooms connected to their house until he died? he was the complete opposite of robespierre (super outgoing, opinionated, lady’s man, etc) which at times led robespierre - who who was always walking a fine line between being a brother and a parent to his siblings - to chide or scold him but they still got along incredibly well. augustin was also a deputy in the convention as well as a rep on mission with the armies. 

one of the coolest fucking things about augustin is that he dated this (married lmao) creole woman named madame de la saudraye who was extremely politically active to the point where she’d piss off a lot of the racist and misogynist jacobins by showing up to give speeches at the provincial clubs. in his letters to robespierre, augustin brings her up a bunch, asking robespierre to meet up with her in paris to get her opinions on the rev. at another point he wrote to robespierre:

“i wish that you would see citoyenne la saudraie [sic]; she will give you true information on all the plots which it is interesting to know in these circumstances.”

we don’t know if robespierre ever took augustin up on this offer but it would be cool as fucking hell if he did

[sieclesetcieux]

The only thing I'd change here is that, unfortunately, he didn't send multiple letters to Maximilien about her, but really only one, the one you quote from. It is, however, a very interesting story.

It took me days of research to find anything about her and, to begin with, her full name: Jeanne-Rosalie Guillodon de Tillet.

Ernest Hamel says she was the wife of "an academician named La Saudraye", most likely Charles-Joseph Lohier de la Saudraye.

Henriette Simon-Viennot, a 19th century woman historian, wrote an annex about her in her book about Marie-Antoinette.

She writes:

"Madame de la Saudraye, veuve d'un riche libraire, était une charmante créole de vingt à vingt-cinq ans, qui vouait sa vie à la pratique de ces vertus difficiles qui n'obtinennent que le mépris des hommes. Elle avait quitté ses nonchalantes et chères habitudes des colonies, elle avait compromis sa fortune, sa réputation et répudié un cercle choisi dont elle était l’idole, pour opposer son ardente charité aux fureurs de Robespierre aîné par l’ascendant du jeune Augustin sur cette âme sanguinaire."

She goes off on a weird anecdote about how La Saudraye interceded on Simon-Viennot's father behalf to Augustin in order to save him from the guillotine -- a rather typical anecdote attributed to many women close to French Revolutionary men.

Charles Nodier tells the story of how she was refused at the Jacobins' Club in Besançon:

"Citoyens, les règlements de notre société interdisent l’entrée de son enceinte aux femmes. Je suis marié, je suis père et je n’ai jamais amené ni ma fille, ni ma femme. Robespierre, qui n’est ni marié, ni père, y a amené une femme. Je demande qu’elle sorte, ou que le procès-verbal constate au moins qu’un républicain a protesté contre l’aristocratie de Robespierre."

Some people, like Albert Mathiez, have argued against the accuracy of the anecdote (because Nodier is, well, always weird when he recounts things which he reportedly witnessed at 13-14 years old), but it's a verified fact that Augustin had trouble in Besançon with Bernard de Saintes, a fellow representative on mission, and the man who denounced her at the club was one of his partisans.

Also, interesting to note: créole doesn't necessarily mean mixed, but their reaction can still be somewhat racist-adjacent. Even if they were born of white European parents, people born in the colonies were seen as "exotic". It fits well with the Robespierre brothers' habit of mingling with people outside of Artois, much to Charlotte's and Guffroy's affront. At that time, "race" was provincial as well. (Or it could mean "class", as in "the Aristocratic race".)

[sieclesetcieux]

Adding more to this, there are at least three pieces of archive available online that give her full identity:

- Pièce 1241: 25 thermidor an III, Documents relatifs à la vente des biens nationaux dans le district de Sens (département de l'Yonne), tome II, published by Charles Porée, p. 22-23.

- Transport de créance par M. Guyenot à Jeanne-Rosalie Guillodon de Tillet, veuve de Charles-Joseph Lohier de Lasaudraye (19 germinal an XI)

- Guillodon de Tillet, Jeanne. – Réponses pour Jeanne Guillodon de Tillet, veuve de Charles Lohier de la Saudraye contre Michel Poupet, négociant à La Rochelle (1800-1801)