French Republican Calendar Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The French Revolutionary Calendar or French Republican Calendar is a calendar proposed during the French Revolution, and in use by the French government for 13 years from 1793. It was abolished by Napoléon partly to appease the Catholic Church, which opposed the calendar because it abolished the Sabbath and saints' days.It was designed by the politician and agronomist Charles Gilbert Romme, although is usually attributed to Fabre d'Églantine, who invented the names of the months. The calendar was adopted by the Jacobin-controlled National Convention on October 24, 1793.
Years appear in writing as Roman numerals (usually), counted from the beginning of the 'Republican Era', beginning on September 22 1792 (the day of the proclamation of the French First Republic, one day after the Convention abolished the monarchy). As a result the calendar is based on a date one year before it was actually adopted. The new year began on the autumnal equinox.
Napoléon finally abolished official use of the calendar on January 1, 1806 (in fact at midnight, the 10 nivôse year XIV aka December 31, 1805), thirteen years after its introduction. However, it was to be used again during the brief Paris Commune in 1871 (year LXXIX).
Many conversion tables and programs exist, largely created by genealogists. Some enthusiasts in France still use the calendar, more out of historical re-enactment than practicality.
The legal texts that were adopted when the Revolutionary Calendar was official and are still in force in France have kept their original dates for citation purposes.
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2 The days of the year 3 The ten days of the week 4 Left-over days 5 Critiques and shortcomings of the calendar 6 External link |
The months
Revolutionary Calendar year began in autumn equinox and had twelve months of 30 days each, which were given new names based on nature:
- Autumn:
- Winter:
- Spring:
- Summer:
The days of the year
Instead of each day having a Saint as in the Catholic Church's calendar, each day has a plant, a tool or an animal associated with it.
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Vendémiaire (Sep 22 ~ Oct 21)
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Brumaire (Oct 22 ~ Nov 20)
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Frimaire (Nov 21 ~ Dec 20)
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Nivôse (Dec 21 ~ Jan 19)
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Pluviôse (Jan 20 ~ Feb 18)
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Ventôse (Feb 19 ~ Mar 20)
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Germinal (Mar 21 ~ Apr 19)
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Floréal (Apr 20 ~ May 19)
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Prairial (May 20 ~ Jun 18)
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Messidor (Jun 19 ~ Jul 18)
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Thermidor (Jul 19 ~ Aug 17)
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Fructidor (Aug 18 ~ Sep 16)
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The ten days of the week
The month divides into 3 "weeks" each of ten days, named simply:
Left-over days
Five left-over days (six in leap years) were used as national holidays at the end of every year. These were known at first as Les Sans-Culottides (after the sans-culottes), and after the year III (1795) as les jours complémentaires:
- La Fête de la Vertu "Virtue Day" on Sept 17 or 18
- La Fête du Génie "Talent Day" on Sept 18 or 19
- La Fête du Travail "Labor Day" on Sept 19 or 20
- La Fête de l'Opinion "Opinion Day" on Sept 20 or 21
- La Fête des Récompenses "Rewards Day" on Sept 21 or 22
- La Fête de la Révolution "Revolution Day" on Sept 22 or 23 (Leap years)
Critiques and shortcomings of the calendar
Leap years in the calendar are a point of great dispute, due to the contradicting statements requiring the year to start on the Autumnal Equinox while adding a leap day every 4 years (like the Gregorian Calendar). The years III, VII, and XI were observed as leap years, and the years XV and XX were also planned as such. However, an algorithm for determining leap years after year XX was never developed. As such, attempts to extend the calendar beyond year XIV often use differing methods of determining leap years. Most such attempts use a form of the Gregorian method (with or without a proposed 400-year rule in which every year divisible by 400 would be a non-leap year). Alternative systems included one that would have excluded leap years on years divisible by 128, and also one which would have divided each century into four "quarters" of 25 years each, with the 2nd, 6th, 10th, 14th, 18th and 22nd years of each "quarter" being leap years (creating a scenario whereby four times each century the leap years would be spaced five years apart instead of four, from the 22nd year of one quarter to the second year of the next); in addition, every fourth year ending in "00" would also be a leap year, thus exactly echoing the Gregorian practice of having 97 out of every 400 years be leap years.The calendar was abolished because the Catholic Church strongly opposed it as an attempt to rid the calendar of all Christian influences; because having a ten-day work week gave workers less rest (one day off every ten instead of one day off every seven); because the equinox was a mobile date to start every new year (a fantastic source of confusion for almost everybody); and because it was incompatible with the secular rhythms of trade fairs and agricultural markets.
Perhaps the most famous date in this calendar was immortalised by Karl Marx in the title of his pamphlet, The 18th Brumaire of Louis Napoléon (1852). The 18 Brumaire (November 9 1799) is considered the end of French Revolution. Another famous revolutionary date is 9 Thermidor, the date the Convention turned against Robespierre, who, along with others associated with the Mountain, was guillotined the following day. (''See Glossary of the French Revolution for other significant dates under this calendar.)
Emile Zola's novel Germinal takes its name from the calendar, as does the dish, Lobster Thermidor.
It is notable that with the removal of religious influences this "universal" calendar was in fact made particular to France, since the descriptive month names would range from slightly to completely inaccurate when used in other climates (most obviously in the Southern Hemisphere). Also, the Autumnal Equinox - the event used to mark the start of each new year - does not occur on the same calendar date all over the world (based on local time), for example usually falling one day later in eastern Asia than in North America.
External link
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