Hi there,
Welcome back to The History Edit! Hope you’re all having a marvellous summer thus far.
I have mostly been writing away at Revell HQ and have popped some extended versions of this newsletter’s feature stories on Medium.
In other good news I have finally had my first Covid jab and have already got my appointment for my second one in three weeks’ time. I felt fine afterwards apart from the fact I had a rather sore arm. 😊
I’ve recently been toying with the idea of creating a podcast. It will take a bit of planning but maybe watch this space! 👀
As ever you can find more history snippets or more about me on Instagram.
Bastille Day
Wednesday 14th July saw France celebrating Bastille Day or fête nationale with a public holiday, military parades, and plenty of fireworks. My local town of Nérac had a beautiful firework display over the river judging by the pictures appearing on my Instagram feed, but the boys are still a bit too small for such a late-night celebration.
So why do the French celebrate Bastille Day?
Let them eat cake
By the late 1780s France was experiencing famine and was on an economic knife edge. Bread prices were extortionate and the average worker was spending the greater part of his wages on buying it.
Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette, safely on the other side of the palace walls far away from the great unwashed, continued their life of unimaginable luxury and were spending extravagantly on personal effects and unneeded foreign wars. This angered the population, who were suffering greatly, and they began to chaffe against the royal authority.
The prison
The Bastille was a fortified prison built in the 1300s, and was originally built to protect the Eastern entrance to Paris. The building boasted a moat, 100 foot wall, and over 100 soldiers guarding it.
During its evolution as a prison though the centuries, it became known as a place where people were put under the king’s authority without a trial. This was usually because they went against royal authority. Famous inmates include Voltaire and the Marquis de Sade.
The Bastille had become a symbol of the hated monarchy and its oppression.
Tensions rise
In an attempt to calm the situation and growing anger of the people, Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates-General. This was a National Assembly of three groups: the clergy, the nobility, and the common people. The common people could be outvoted by the other two groups and, tired of having no real voice, they broke away and made themselves into a new group: the National Assembly. Louis had to accept the group as many nobles and clergy had rallied to them, but he still shored up Paris with troops. Tensions were rising.
On July 11 1789, Louis rid himself of one Jacques Necker, a popular-with-the people minister. Jacque was not a noble and he tried to tread the line between keeping the king happy and reform. This dismissal was the spark that lit the French Revolution with the storming of the Bastille.
The Revolution begins
Mass unrest across Paris saw an increasingly angry mob pressuring royal soldiers to withdraw, burning down customs posts, and ransacking for food and weapons. By 14th July the unrest reached the Hôtel les Invalides, where they seized thousands of muskets and some cannon. Some gunpowder barrels had previously been moved from the military hospital to the Bastille for safe keeping, meaning the would-be revolutionaries turned their gazed towards the prison.
The Bastille’s governor refused the crowd’s demands but invited them to talk instead, probably to buy time. In the mean time the crowd grew increasingly restless and stormed the outer walls, while inside the governor ordered his soldiers to shoot, leading to a violent and bloody battle, with most of the casualties being from the revolutionaries’ side.
A regiment of French Guards switched sides later that day to support the revolutionaries turning the wheel of fortune for the Bastille’s governor. The governor surrendered and was duly dispatched by the angry crowd, who beheaded him and displayed it on a spike.
As a much-despised symbol of the monarchy, the Bastille was eventually destroyed, much like royal authority would be in the coming weeks and months. This is symbolically seen as the beginning of the French Revolution.
Today, every 14th July, the people of France and its citizens scattered across the globe come together to celebrate this historic event and its symbols: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité
The Edit
In the news
This week saw Dippy the Diplodocus assembled in the nave of Norwich Cathedral as part of his or her UK tour.
Dippy can be seen at the cathedral until 30th October 2021, when he returns to the Natural History Museum.
Listening to
Professor Susannah Lipscomb, Tudor expert and beloved TV historian, hosts a great podcast brilliantly named Not Just The Tudors.
This podcast covers many interesting topics, which Susannah discusses with historians and other experts.
Favourite episodes of mine include Treasures from the National Trust Collections and How Coffee and Tobacco Captivated Britain.
I hope you enjoyed this edition of The History Edit. Does anyone have a favourite podcast that they want to share with me? I’m always looking for new ones to try.
If you have any suggestions, recommendations, or burning questions, then please don’t hesitate to contact me on here or Instagram. 😊
See you soon!
Jade x
Ps! Check out my son’s very happy looking sunflower! 🌻