GERLE, CHRISTOPHE ANTOINE (1736c. 1801)

This article appears in Volume V11, Page 769 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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GERLE, CHRISTOPHE ANTOINE (1736c. 1801) , French, revolutionist and mystic, was born at Riom in Auvergne. Enter-, ing the Carthusian order early in life, he became prior of

Laval

LAVAL
LAVAL, ANDRE DE, SEIGNEUR DE LOHEAC (c. 1408-1485)

-Dieu in Perche, and afterwards of Pont-Sainte-Marie at Moulins. Elected

deputy

DEPUTY (through the Fr. from a Late Lat. use of deputare, to cut off, allot; putare having the original sense of to trim, prune)

to the states-general in 1789, Gerle became very popular, and though he had no seat in the assembly until after the Tennis Court oath, being only'

deputy

DEPUTY (through the Fr. from a Late Lat. use of deputare, to cut off, allot; putare having the original sense of to trim, prune)

suppleant, he is represented in

David

's classic painting as taking part in it. In 1792
X1. 25he was chosen elector of Paris. In the revolutionary turmoil Gerle developed a strong vein of

mysticism

MYSTICISM (from Or. µuety, to shut the eyes; µuorrts, one initiated into the mysteries)

, mingled with ideas of reform, and in June 1790 the prophetic

powers

POWERS, HIRAM (1805-1873)

of Suzanne Labrousse (19471821), a visionary who had predicted the Revolution ten years before, were brought by him to the notice of the Convention. In Paris, where he lived first with a spiritualistic

doctor

DOCTOR (Lat. for " teacher ")

and afterwards, like Robespierre, at the

house

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

of a cabinetmaker, his mystical tendencies were strengthened. The insane fancies of Catherine Thcot, a convent servant turned prophetess, who proclaimed herself the Virgin, the "

Mother

MOTHER

of God " and the " new Eve," were eminently attractive to Gerle; in the person of Robespierre he recognized the

Messiah

MESSIAH (Dan. x. 25, 26)

, and at the meetings of the Theotists he officiated with the aged prophetess as co-president. But the activities of Catherine and her adepts were short-lived. The Theotists' cult of Robespierre was a weapon in the hands of his opponents; and shortly after the festival of the Supreme Being, Vadier made a report to the Convention calling for the prosecution of Catherine, Gerle and others as fanatics and conspirators. They were arrested, thrown into prison and, in the confusion of Robespierre's fall, apparently forgotten. Catherine died in prison, but Gerle, released by the Directory, became one of the editors of the Messager du soir, and was afterwards in the office of Pierre Benezech (17751802), minister of the interior. Having renounced his monastic vows in Paris, he is thought to have married, towards the close of his life, Christine Raffet, aunt of the artist Denis Raffet. The date of his-death is uncertain.

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