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Encyclopedia :
F :
FR :
FRE :
French Republican Calendar |
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French Republican CalendarThe French Revolutionary Calendar or French Republican Calendar is a calendar proposed during the French Revolution, and in use by the French government for 13 years from 1793. It was abolished by Napoléon partly to appease the Catholic Church, which opposed the calendar because it abolished the Sabbath and saints' days. It was designed by the politician and agronomist Charles Gilbert Romme, although is usually attributed to Fabre d'Églantine, who invented the names of the months. The calendar was adopted by the Jacobin-controlled National Convention on October 24, 1793. Years appear in writing as Roman numerals (usually), counted from the beginning of the 'Republican Era', beginning on September 22 1792 (the day of the proclamation of the French First Republic, one day after the Convention abolished the monarchy). As a result the calendar is based on a date one year before it was actually adopted. The new year began on the autumnal equinox. There were 12 months, each divided into three ten-day weeks called décades. Each day was divided into ten hours, each hour into 100 decimal minutes and each decimal minute had 100 decimal seconds. Clocks were manufactured to display decimal time of day, but it did not catch on and was abandoned in 1795. Napoléon finally abolished official use of the calendar on January 1, 1806 (in fact at midnight, the 10 nivôse year XIV aka December 31, 1805), thirteen years after its introduction. However, it was to be used again during the brief Paris Commune in 1871 (year LXXIX). Many conversion tables and programs exist, largely created by genealogists. Some enthusiasts in France still use the calendar, more out of historical re-enactment than practicality. The legal texts that were adopted when the Revolutionary Calendar was official and are still in force in France have kept their original dates for citation purposes. The monthsRevolutionary Calendar year began in autumn equinox and had twelve months of 30 days each, which were given new names based on nature:
The days of the yearInstead of each day having a Saint as in the Catholic Church's calendar, each day has a plant, a tool or an animal associated with it. Autumn
Winter
Spring
Summer
The ten days of the weekThe month divides into 3 "weeks" each of ten days, named simply: Left-over daysFive left-over days (six in leap years) were used as national holidays at the end of every year. These were known at first as Les Sans-Culottides (after the sans-culottes), and after the year III (1795) as les jours complémentaires:
Perhaps the most famous date in this calendar was immortalised by Karl Marx in the title of his pamphlet, The 18th Brumaire of Louis Napoléon (1852). The 18 Brumaire (November 9 1799) is considered the end of French Revolution. Another famous revolutionary date is 9 Thermidor, the date the Convention turned against Robespierre, who, along with others associated with the Mountain, was guillotined the following day. (See Glossary of the French Revolution for other significant dates under this calendar.) Emile Zola's novel Germinal takes its name from the calendar, as does the dish, Lobster Thermidor. It is notable that with the removal of religious influences this "universal" calendar was in fact made particular to France, since the descriptive month names would range from slightly to completely inaccurate when used in other climates (most obviously in the Southern Hemisphere). Also, the Autumnal Equinox - the event used to mark the start of each new year - does not occur on the same calendar date all over the world (based on local time), for example usually falling one day later in eastern Asia than in North America. External links
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