Cult of the Supreme BeingThe Cult of the Supreme Being (Culte de l'Être suprême) was a form of deism established in France by Maximilien Robespierre during the French Revolution. It was intended to become the state religion of the new French Republic and a replacement for Roman Catholicism and its rival, the Cult of Reason. It went unsupported after the fall of Robespierre and was officially banned by First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. The French Revolution had occasioned many radical changes in France, but one of the most fundamental for the hitherto Catholic nation was the official rejection of religion.
Council of Five HundredThe Council of Five Hundred (Conseil des Cinq-Cents), or simply the Five Hundred, was the lower house of the legislature of France under the Constitution of the Year III. It existed during the period commonly known (from the name of the executive branch during this time) as the Directory (Directoire), from 31 October 1795 (9 Brumaire) until 9 November 1799: roughly the second half of the period generally referred to as the French Revolution.
French RevolutionThe French Revolution (Révolution française ʁevɔlysjɔ̃ fʁɑ̃sɛːz) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considered fundamental principles of liberal democracy, while the values and institutions it created remain central to French political discourse. Its causes are generally agreed to be a combination of social, political and economic factors, which the Ancien Régime proved unable to manage.
Sans-culottesThe sans-culottes (sɑ̃kylɔt, 'without breeches') were the common people of the lower classes in late 18th-century France, a great many of whom became radical and militant partisans of the French Revolution in response to their poor quality of life under the Ancien Régime. The word sans-culotte, which is opposed to "aristocrat", seems to have been used for the first time on 28 February 1791 by Jean-Bernard Gauthier de Murnan in a derogatory sense, speaking about a "sans-culottes army".
HébertistsThe Hébertists (Hébertistes), or Exaggerators (Exagérés) were a radical revolutionary political group associated with the populist journalist Jacques Hébert, a member of the Cordeliers club. They came to power during the Reign of Terror and played a significant role in the French Revolution. The Hébertists were ardent supporters of the dechristianization of France and of extreme measures in service of the Terror, including the Law of Suspects enacted in 1793.
Louis XVILouis XVI (Louis Auguste; lwi sɛːz; 23 August 1754 - 21 January 1793), sometimes known as The Last, was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir-apparent of King Louis XV), and Maria Josepha of Saxony, Louis became the new Dauphin when his father died in 1765. On his grandfather's death on 10 May 1774, he became King of France and Navarre, reigning until 4 September 1791, when he received the title of King of the French, reigning as king until the monarchy was abolished on 21 September 1792.
Olympe de GougesOlympe de Gouges (ɔlɛ̃p də ɡuʒ; born Marie Gouze; 7 May 1748 - 3 November 1793) was a French playwright and political activist. She is best known for her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen and other writings on women's rights and abolitionism. Born in southwestern France, Gouges began her prolific career as a playwright in Paris in the 1780s. A passionate advocate of human rights, she was one of France's earliest public opponents of slavery.
