History
article | Reading time11 min
Meet famous or anonymous figures in the Hall of Names of the Conciergerie!
A place of memory
A funereal and partisan memory around the condemned
It is a very diversified society which passes by the cells of the Conciergerie, composed for the immense majority of ordinary people, coming especially from the "third state": they do not belong neither to the clergy, nor to the nobility. One in five prisoners came from the latter two orders, but they made up only a very small proportion of the country's population. Indeed, former nobles and refractory priests (refusing to take the oath to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy) were particularly targeted by the revolutionary justice.
From the day after the Revolution, lists of the victims of the Terror were cultivated as a fashionable genre and mentioned only the guillotined, honored as martyrs, often in opposition to the Republic.
Do not miss the "Room of Names", during your visit to the Conciergerie. This room has been fitted out and enriched with a digital model to better appreciate the great diversity of the profiles of the more than 4000 prisoners who passed through the Conciergerie before being judged by the Revolutionary Court.
In addition to the condemned, it mentions the acquitted, who represented nearly half of the detainees between the spring of 1793 and 1795, a figure that dropped to one in five in the weeks preceding the fall of Robespierre and his execution, on July 27 and 28, 1794 (9 and 10 Thermidor II).
Benjamin Gavaudo - Centre des monuments-nationaux
The chapels of the Conciergerie, witnesses of the plurality and competition of memories
The chapel known as the "expiatory" chapel (see detail: article Marie-Antoinette at the Conciergerie) and the chapel known as the "Girondins" chapel face each other on the tour route and their history, as well as their respective names, bear witness to a struggle of memories that was particularly lively in the 19th century. Indeed, from the Restoration (1815-1830) and throughout the century, every square meter of these spaces was disputed by the supporters of the Republic and those of the monarchy.
The chapelle expiatoire was built on the site of Marie-Antoinette's former dungeon to intensify the homage to the martyred queen and thus exalt the monarchy by rejecting the revolutionary legacy.
A few steps away from this monarchist sanctuary, the chapel of the "Girondins" evokes the republican memory through the figure of the Girondin deputies: the invented tradition says that on the night of October 29 to 30, 1793, 21 Girondin deputies had their last meal together there. This former oratory of the prison, rebuilt after the fire of 1776, was most probably used as a collective cell at the time of the Revolution because of the overcrowding of the prison.
Bernard Acloque - Centre des monuments nationaux
Do you recognize them?
Benjamin Gavaudo - Centre des monuments-nationaux
Philippe Berthé - Centre des monuments-nationaux
Bernard Acloque - Centre des monuments nationaux
Some famous prisoners of the Conciergerie during the Revolution
Marie-Antoinette de Habsbourg-Lorraine, (1755 - 1793), youngest daughter of the Empress of Austria, who became Queen of France in 1774 and was imprisoned in the Conciergerie for 76 days before being sentenced by the Revolutionary Court.
Manon Roland, known as Madame Roland (1754-1793), was known as the muse of the Girondins political party. She was tried on November 8, 1793 and sentenced to death for participation in the conspiracy against the Republic.
Aubry, Marie Olympe Grouze, known as Olympe de Gouges (1748 -1793), a woman involved in the Revolution, author of the declaration of the rights of the citizen and of the woman.
Marat, Jean-Paul (1743 - 1793), radical journalist, director of the "Ami du Peuple", he was assassinated by Charlotte Corday, a young unknown woman who hoped to terrorize the sans-culottes by killing their spokesperson.
Barry (Madame du), Jeanne Bécu de Cantigny, (1743 -1793), former favorite of Louis XVI, symbol of the depravity of the court, she was condemned by the Revolutionary Court.
Charlotte Corday (1768-1793), young unknown aristocrat famous for having assassinated Jean-Paul Marat on July 13, 1793.
Danton, Georges Jacques (1759 -1794), a famous lawyer, then a popular radical deputy, he was arrested and then judged after having opposed Robespierre head on.
Desmoulins, Camille Benoist (1760 -1794), one of the main journalists of the Revolution, he was elected deputy. He was judged and guillotined after having denounced the harshness of the repression.
Élisabeth Philippine Marie Hélène de France (1764 - 1794) sister of Louis XVI, known as Madame Élisabeth, incarcerated in the temple with the royal family, recipient of the last letter of Marie-Antoinette.
Robespierre, Maximilien François Isidore (1758 -1794), radical deputy, member of the Committee of Public Safety, central figure of the Montagnards, nicknamed "the Incorruptible", Robespierre spent his last hours in the Conciergerie before being guillotined. His execution directly followed his arrest, so he was not tried by the Revolutionary Court.
Fouquier-Tinville, Antoine Quentin (1746 -1795), public prosecutor of the Revolutionary Court, he was the main organizer of the trials at the Conciergerie. He was in turn tried and guillotined in March 1795.
