REVOLUTIONARY TRIBUNAL, THE (le tribunal revolutionnaire)

This article appears in Volume V23, Page 224 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: RAY-RHU

REVOLUTIONARY TRIBUNAL, THE (le tribunal revolutionnaire) , a

court

COURT
COURT (from the O. Fr. court, Late Lat. cortis, curtis, a popular form of class. Lat. cohors, gen. cohortis; the mod. Fr. form tour is due to the
influence
- INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)
of the Lat. curia, the word used in medieval documents to translate " court " in the feudal sense)
COURT, ANTOINE (1696-176o)

which was instituted in Paris by the Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders, and became one of the most powerful engines of the Terror. The news of the failure of'the French arms in Belgium gave rise in Paris to popular movements on the 9th and loth of

March

1793, and on the loth of

March

, on the proposal of Danton, the Convention decreed that there should be established in Paris
REWA
an extraordinary criminal tribunal, which received the official name of the Revolutionary Tribunal by a decree of the 29th of October 1793. It was composed of a jury, a public prosecutor, and two substitutes, all nominated by the Convention; and from its judgments there was no appeal. With M. J. A. Hermann as president and Fouquier-Tinville as public prosecutor, the tribunal terrorized the royalists, the refractory priests and all the actors in the counter-revolution. Soon, too, it came to be used for personal ends, particularly by Robespierre, who employed it for the condemnation of his adversaries. The excesses of the Revolutionary Tribunal increased with the growth of Robespierre's ascendancy in the Committee of Public Safety; and on the loth of June 1794 was promulgated, at his instigation; the infamous Law of 22 Prairial, which forbade prisoners to employ counsel for their defence, suppressed the

hearing

HEARING (formed from the verb " to hear," O. Eng. hyran, heron, &c., a common Teutonic verb; cf. Ger. Koren, Dutch hooren, &c.; the O. Tent. form is seen in Goth. hausjan; the initial h makes any connexion with " ear," Lat. audire, or Gr. &Kobew very doub

of witnesses and made death the sole penalty. Before 22 Prairial the Revolutionary Tribunal had pronounced 1220 death-sentences in thirteen months; during the

forty

FORTY

-nine days between the passing of the law and the fall of Robespierre 1376 persons were condemned, including many innocent victims. The lists of prisoners to be sent before the tribunal were prepared by a popular commission sitting at the museum, and ,signed, after revision, by the Committee of General Security and the Committee of Public Safety jointly. Although Robespierre was the

principal

PRINCIPAL

purveyor of the tribunal, we possess only one of these lists bearing his signature. The Revolutionary Tribunal was suppressed on the 31st of May 1795. Among its most celebrated victims may be mentioned Marie Antoinette, the Hebertists, the Dantonists and several of the Girondists. Similar tribunals were also in operation in the provinces.
See H. A. Wallon, Histoire du tribunal revolutionnaire de Paris (Paris, 6 vols., 188082); E. Campardon, Le Tribunal revolutionnaire de Paris (Paris, 2nd ed., 2 vols., 1866) C. Berriat Saint-Prix, La

Justice

JUSTICE (Lat. justitia)

revolutionnaire a Paris,

Bordeaux

BORDEAUX

, Brest, Lyon, Nantes, . (Paris, 1861), and La

Justice

JUSTICE (Lat. justitia)

revolutionnaire (aoflt z792L prairial an II.) d'apres des documents originaux (Paris, 187o); also G. Len3tre, Le Tribunal revolutionnaire (1908). For a bibliography of its records see M. Tourneux,

Bibliog

BIBLIOG

. de la ville de Paris . . (1890, vol. i. Nos. 3925-3974).

End of Article: REVOLUTIONARY TRIBUNAL, THE (le tribunal revolutionnaire)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/RAY_RHU/REVOLUTIONARY_TRIBUNAL_THE_le_.html">
REVOLUTIONARY TRIBUNAL, THE (le tribunal revolu...
</a>

(Previous)
REVOLUTIO

(Next)
REWA KANTHA

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email