Time and the French Revolution: The Republican Calendar, 1789-year XIVA history of the innovation and effects of the French Republican Calendar.The French Republican Calendar was perhaps the boldest of all the reforms undertaken in Revolutionary France. Introduced in 1793 and used until 1806, the Calendar not only reformed the weeks and months of the year, but decimalisedthe hours of the day and dated the year from the beginning of the French Republic. This book not only provides a history of the calendar, but places it in the context of eighteenth-century time-consciousness, arguing that the French were adept at working within several systems of time-keeping, whether that of the Church, civil society, or the rhythms of the seasons. Developments in time-keeping technology and changes in working patterns challenged early-modern temporalities, and the new calendar can also be viewed as a step on the path toward a more modern conception of time. In this context, the creation of the calendar is viewed not just as an aspect of the broader republican programme of social, political and cultural reform, but as a reflection of a broader interest in time and the culmination of several generations' concern with how society should be policed. Matthew Shaw is a curatorat the British Library, London. |
Common terms and phrases
administrative agricultural almanacs ancien régime Annuaire Archives argued attempted Besançon brumaire calendar reform Calendrier républicain Cambridge canton Catholic Church citizens clock committee of public concern Convention Côte-d’Or counter-revolution cultivateur cultural day of rest décadi dechristianisation decimal decimalised decree Despite Dijon dimanche Directory Doubs eighteenth century Encyclopédie Enlightenment everyday example Fabre Fabre d'Églantine fairs and markets festivals fêtes décadaires floréal Française France French republican calendar French Revolution Friguglietti frimaire fructidor germinal Gilbert Romme Gregorian Calendar historians ibid importance Jacobin jour liberty linked London Maréchal Mégevand messidor modern months moral Nantes Napoleon nationale nivôse observance officials Ozouf Paris patterns Perovic pluviôse police political popular prairial priests printed proposed Rapport regeneration regulation religion religious republic republican calendar République reveal revolutionary révolutionnaire rhetoric Romme's sans-culottes Sept social society suggested Sundays Sylvain Maréchal symbols temporal Temps thermidor timekeeping timepieces tion towns vendémiaire ventôse watch weights and measures