The French Revolution: The Collapse of Royal Power — Fexingo History
In 1789, the French monarchy collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions, unleashing a decade of radical upheaval that reshaped Europe and the world. Lucas and Luna guide listeners through the storm: from the glittering halls of Versailles under Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, to the breadlines of Paris and the storming of the Bastille. They trace the rise of the Third Estate, the Tennis Court Oath, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The narrative follows the radicalization of the Revolution — the Reign of Terror under Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety, the execution of the king and queen, the Vendée uprising, and the Thermidorian Reaction. The series concludes with the Directory, the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the legacy of revolutionary ideals: liberty, equality, fraternity.
Episodes
The Tricolour's Birth: How France Found Its Flag
Before the guillotine fell and the Terror began, France had to choose a symbol. The tricolour cockade — blue, white, red — appears in almost every telling of the Revolution, but its origins are tangled, contested, and surprisingly recent. In this episode, Lucas and Luna trace the cockade's birth in the summer of 1789, from the Palais Royal garden where Camille Desmoulins reportedly pinned a green
The Fall of the Bastille: Why Paris Stormed a Prison
On July 14, 1789, a crowd of Parisians stormed the Bastille, a medieval fortress-prison that had become a symbol of royal tyranny. But who were these insurgents, and why did they attack a prison with only seven inmates? Lucas and Luna dig into the political crisis, the search for gunpowder, the defiant governor Bernard-René de Launay, and the chaotic siege that ended with his brutal death. They ex
The King's Aide-de-Camp: Loyalty at the Tuileries
In episode 210, Lucas and Luna explore the doomed loyalty of the Swiss Guards at the Tuileries on August 10, 1792. They trace the guards' origins in Swiss mercenary service, their oath to the king, and their final stand against the Parisian sans-culottes. Through the eyes of an aide-de-camp, we see the chaos, the massacre, and the aftermath—how the Swiss Guard's sacrifice became a symbol of royali
The King's Bodyguard: The Swiss Guard at the Tuileries
On August 10, 1792, the Swiss Guard stood between an angry mob and the French royal family in the Tuileries Palace. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the history of the Swiss mercenary regiments, their loyalty to Louis XVI, and the bloody massacre that followed the fall of the monarchy. We follow the Guards from their Swiss cantons to the Palace of Versailles, their role in the royal househo
The Silk of the Revolution: Lyon's Weavers and the Machine
In Episode 208 of Fexingo History's French Revolution series, Lucas and Luna turn from the guillotine and the Paris mobs to the silk looms of Lyon. The year is 1789, and the city's canuts — the silk weavers — are among the most skilled artisans in France, yet they live on the edge of starvation. When the Revolution's promise of liberty clashes with the brutal realities of the guild system, and whe
The Réveillon Riot: Paris's First Taste of Revolution
In April 1789, weeks before the Bastille fell, Paris erupted in violence over wallpaper. The Réveillon Riot — named for the wealthy manufacturer Jean-Baptiste Réveillon — pitted hungry workers against the king's troops, leaving hundreds dead and marking the first bloodshed of the French Revolution. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how a rumour about wages ignited a full-scale uprising in th
The September Massacres: Fear and Blood in Revolutionary Paris
In September 1792, as the Prussian army marched on Paris and the fall of Verdun sent panic through the city, the revolutionary government responded with a wave of sanctioned murder. In this episode, Lucas and Luna examine the September Massacres—the brutal killings of over a thousand prisoners in Paris's jails, including refractory priests, Swiss Guards, and common criminals. They trace the Comité
The Champ de Mars Massacre: The Republic's First Blood
On 17 July 1791, the French Revolution crossed a line. Thousands of Parisians gathered on the Champ de Mars to sign a petition demanding the king's abdication, following his failed flight to Varennes. The National Guard, under Lafayette's command, fired into the crowd, killing dozens. The massacre shattered the revolutionary consensus, radicalized the sans-culottes, and pushed the Jacobins toward
The King's Cousin: Philippe Égalité's Revolutionary Betrayal
In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna explore the life and fate of Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, the king's cousin who voted for Louis XVI's execution. They trace his transformation from a wealthy, liberal-minded noble to a champion of the Revolution, his election to the National Convention as Philippe Égalité, and his descent into suspicion and the guillotine. Along the way, they touch o
The King's Trial Verdict: Unanimity or Mercy
In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into the tense days of January 1793, when the National Convention held a roll-call vote on the fate of Louis XVI. They explore the unprecedented act of a people judging their king, the pressure of the sans-culottes, and the personal histories of the regicides—from the Girondins who wavered to the Montagnards who pushed for death. Discover how the secret ballot
The Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat: A Revolutionary Icon
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the life and death of Jean-Paul Marat, the radical journalist whose assassination by Charlotte Corday made him a martyr of the French Revolution. They discuss Marat's early career as a physician, his transition to political writing with L'Ami du Peuple, and his relentless attacks on the monarchy and the Girondins. The conversation covers the circumstances of
The King's Executioner: Charles-Henri Sanson
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the life of Charles-Henri Sanson, the royal executioner who became the most famous—and conflicted—figure of the French Revolution's Reign of Terror. From his aristocratic beginnings to his role as the head of the Sanson dynasty, Sanson executed thousands, including Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The conversation looks at the personal toll of the job, his se
The Flight to Varennes: The King's Doomed Escape
In June 1791, King Louis XVI and his family slipped out of Paris in a disguised carriage, hoping to reach the frontier and rally counter-revolutionary forces. The plan unraveled at a small town called Varennes-en-Argonne, where the postmaster Jean-Baptiste Drouet recognized the king from his portrait on an assignat. This episode unpacks the botched escape, the king's chilling detachment on the ret
The Vendée's Secret Weapon: The Chouans' Guerrilla War
In 1793, as the French Revolution turned inward, a peasant army of the Vendée rose against the Republic. But while the Catholic and Royal Army fought pitched battles, a shadow war simmered in the hedgerows — led by the Chouans. This episode looks at how counter-revolutionary guerrillas, named for a counterfeit owl's cry, used local knowledge, ambush, and the rough terrain of the bocage to outfight
The Trial of Louis XVI: A King Before the Bar
In December 1792, the deposed king of France stood before the National Convention to answer for his crimes against the nation. This episode follows the dramatic trial of Louis XVI — the charges, the evidence, the impassioned speeches, and the final vote that sent him to the guillotine. We explore the legal and political dilemmas the Convention faced, the roles of key figures like Robespierre, Sain
The King's Last Meal: Dining on the Eve of Execution
Paris, January 1793. Louis XVI sits down to his final dinner—a meal that reveals the daily mechanics of monarchy even as the revolution closes in. This episode follows the king's last day: the menu, the servants, the guards, and the strange normalcy of routine in the Tuileries and later the Temple prison. We trace the provisioning of the royal table, the role of the king's personal chef, and the c
The King's Confessor: Religion and Revolution in France
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the life of Jean-Baptiste de la Porte, the Catholic priest who served as King Louis XVI's confessor through the most turbulent years of the French Revolution. From the king's private prayers at Versailles to his final confession before the guillotine, de la Porte witnessed the collapse of royal power and the rise of a new secular order. We'll discuss the Civ
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy: A Church Divided
In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna explore the Civil Constitution of the Clergy — the revolutionary attempt to rebuild the Catholic Church in France from the ground up. Passed in July 1790, this law turned priests into state employees, made bishops elected by citizens, and demanded an oath of loyalty to the Revolution. But what seemed like a rational reform sparked a religious schi
The Great Terror: When the French Revolution Consumed Its Own
In the autumn of 1793, the French Revolution turned on itself. This episode digs into the machinery of the Terror: the laws that made suspicion a crime, the Revolutionary Tribunal that processed thousands to the guillotine, and the men who ran it — from Robespierre to Saint-Just, from Fouquier-Tinville to Carrier. We trace how the Committee of Public Safety centralized power, how the Law of Suspec
The Great Fear: Peasant Uprising That Toppled Feudalism
In the summer of 1789, while the National Assembly drafted grand declarations in Versailles, a wave of panic swept through the French countryside. The Great Fear — la Grande Peur — saw peasants arm themselves against rumored brigands, burn châteaux, and destroy feudal records. This episode follows the spread of fear from village to village, the myth of the aristocratic plot, and the uprisings that
The Death of Danton: When the Revolution Devours Its Own
In April 1794, Georges Danton—the man who had steered France through the September Massacres, rallied the troops at Valmy, and helped create the Revolutionary Tribunal—went to the guillotine himself. How did the Revolution's most powerful orator end up its victim? In this episode, Lucas and Luna trace Danton's rise from a provincial lawyer to the heart of the Parisian Revolution, his role in the C
The Guillotine: France's Machine of Terror
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the guillotine's origins, its adoption by the National Assembly, and its role in the Terror. They discuss Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin's humane intentions, the machine's first use on highwayman Nicolas-Jacques Pelletier, and its grim efficiency during the Reign of Terror. The conversation examines the guillotine as a symbol of equality and revolutionary justi
The Death of Marat: Assassin's Blade, Revolutionary Martyr
In July 1793, Charlotte Corday walked into a Paris bathhouse and stabbed Jean-Paul Marat while he soaked in his medicinal tub. The murder turned a radical journalist and notorious instigator of the September Massacres into a revolutionary martyr, immortalized by Jacques-Louis David's iconic painting. But who was Marat really — the 'Friend of the People' or a bloodthirsty demagogue? And what drove
The Diamond Necklace That Doomed Marie Antoinette
In 1785, a dazzling diamond necklace became the centerpiece of a scandal that shattered the French monarchy's remaining prestige. When Cardinal de Rohan, a powerful bishop, was duped by a con artist into buying a 1.6 million-livre necklace for Queen Marie Antoinette—who had never asked for it—the ensuing trial laid bare the corruption and folly of the court. Despite the queen's innocence, her repu
When the Revolution Took Control of the Church
In 1790, the National Assembly passed the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, a radical restructuring of the Catholic Church in France. Priests became state employees, bishops were elected by citizens, and all clergy were required to swear an oath of loyalty to the nation. This episode explores how the Revolution, in its quest to rationalize and unify, created a devastating schism. The 'juring' cons
The Fall of the Bastille: The Spark That Ignited the Revolution
In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into the dramatic events of July 14, 1789, when a Parisian mob stormed the Bastille, the medieval fortress that symbolized royal tyranny. They explore the tense context: the Estates-General turned National Assembly, the dismissal of Necker, and the king's troop concentrations. The conversation follows the crowd's desperate search for weapons, the governor Berna
The Lost Dauphin: The Fate of Louis-Charles
After Louis XVI's execution, his young son Louis-Charles became the focus of royalist hopes as Louis XVII. But the boy was imprisoned in the Temple, subjected to brutal treatment by his guardian Antoine Simon, and died in 1795 at age ten. This episode explores his short life, the political forces that used him, the mystery surrounding his death, and the royal pretenders who later claimed his ident
The October Days: When Women Marched on Versailles
In Episode 185 of our French Revolution series, we dive into the pivotal October Days of 1789—the women's march on Versailles that changed the course of the revolution. Lucas and Luna explore how a bread shortage in Paris ignited a crowd of thousands of market women, who marched twelve miles to the royal palace, demanding bread and the king's return to the capital. We follow the dramatic events of
The Night of August 4th: The End of Feudalism
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the dramatic night of August 4, 1789, when the French National Assembly voted to abolish the feudal system—a turning point that dismantled centuries of aristocratic privilege. They discuss the context of the Great Fear, the key figures like the Vicomte de Noailles and the Duc d'Aiguillon, and the enthusiastic yet complex decisions that ended serfdom, tithes,
The Fall of the Girondins: Revolution Turns on Itself
In June 1793, the French Revolution reached a bloody turning point. The moderate Girondins, who had once led the charge against the king, were purged from the National Convention by the radical Montagnards backed by the sans-culottes of Paris. This episode traces the events of May 31 to June 2, the insurrection that forced the arrest of twenty-nine Girondin deputies, including Brissot, Vergniaud,
9 Thermidor: The Fall of Robespierre
In late July 1794, Maximilien Robespierre, the architect of the Reign of Terror, was overthrown in a dramatic coup that reshaped the French Revolution. This episode dives into the events of 9 Thermidor Year II — the Convention session where Saint-Just was silenced, the arrest and near-rescue of Robespierre at the Hôtel de Ville, and his execution the next day without trial. We explore the internal
The War in the Vendée: France's Bloody Civil War
In the spring of 1793, the French Revolution faced its most dangerous internal enemy: a peasant army fighting in the name of God and King. This episode dives into the War in the Vendée, a brutal civil war that erupted when the National Convention imposed mass conscription. We trace the uprising from its origins in rural resentment against the revolutionary secularisation and tax hikes, through the
The Battle of Valmy: How Raw Recruits Saved the French Revolution
In September 1792, the fate of the fledgling French Republic hung in the balance. Prussian and Austrian armies, led by the Duke of Brunswick, marched on Paris, intending to crush the revolution and restore Louis XVI. France's army was a ragtag mix of volunteers and former royal soldiers, poorly trained and equipped. Yet at the village of Valmy, under the command of generals Dumouriez and Kellerman
Flight to Varennes: The King's Desperate Escape
In June 1791, King Louis XVI of France, his wife Marie Antoinette, and their children attempted a desperate flight from Paris to the royalist stronghold of Montmédy. The plan, orchestrated by the Swedish count Axel von Fersen, involved a disguised family, a large berline carriage, and a network of loyal soldiers. But the flight unraveled when the king was recognized at Sainte-Menehould by postmast
August 10 1792 The Day the French Monarchy Fell
Lucas and Luna dive into the insurrection of August 10, 1792, the day when Parisian sans-culottes and federated National Guards stormed the Tuileries Palace, massacred the Swiss Guard, and forced Louis XVI to seek refuge with the Legislative Assembly. This episode follows the lead-up from the Brunswick Manifesto, the role of the revolutionary Commune and the Jacobins, and the king's final moments
The King's New Guard: How Lafayette Abandoned His King
In this episode of The French Revolution: The Collapse of Royal Power, Lucas and Luna explore the pivotal moment when the Marquis de Lafayette, hero of two worlds and commander of the National Guard, turned his back on Louis XVI. After the Women's March on Versailles in October 1789, Lafayette insisted the royal family move to Paris, effectively making the king a prisoner in his own capital. We di
The Women of the Revolution: From Salons to the Scaffold
In 1789, women had no political rights in France. Yet by 1793, they were leading marches, running political clubs, writing constitutions, and being sent to the guillotine for their ideas. This episode follows the extraordinary arc of women's participation in the French Revolution — from the October Days when market women marched on Versailles to demand bread from the king, through the founding of
The Revolutionary Calendar: Time as a Weapon
In October 1793, the French Republic didn't just behead a king — it beheaded time itself. This episode walks through the creation of the French Republican Calendar, a radical attempt to erase Christian and royalist chronology and replace it with a decimal, nature-based system. We cover the calendar's architect Charles-Gilbert Romme, the poet Fabre d'Églantine who named the months, and the strange
The White Terror: France's Bloody Revenge After Robespierre
After the fall of Robespierre in July 1794, France did not find peace. Instead, a brutal wave of vigilante violence known as the White Terror swept the country. In the south, particularly in Lyon, Avignon, and the Rhône Valley, royalist gangs and Catholic counter-revolutionaries hunted down Jacobins, former terrorists, and Protestants. They broke into prisons, massacred inmates, and murdered suspe
The September Massacres: When Paris Turned on Its Prisoners
In September 1792, as revolutionary France teetered between hope and terror, a wave of violence swept through Parisian prisons—hundreds of inmates were dragged from their cells and killed by mobs in just four days. The September Massacres remain one of the most debated episodes of the Revolution. Were they an outburst of popular fury born from fear of invasion and betrayal? Or were they tacitly sa
The French Revolution: The Execution of Louis XVI
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the trial and execution of King Louis XVI, a pivotal moment that transformed the French Revolution. They discuss the king's imprisonment in the Temple, the discovery of the iron cabinet revealing his secret dealings, the debates in the National Convention between the Girondins and Montagnards, and the final vote that condemned him to death. The episode cover
The Revolutionary Tribunal: France's Factory of Condemnations
In this episode of The French Revolution: The Collapse of Royal Power, Lucas and Luna explore the Revolutionary Tribunal, the court that became the engine of the Terror. Created in March 1793 to try counter-revolutionaries, it swiftly evolved from a judicial body into a political weapon. Lucas explains how the Tribunal's structure—no jury for the first months, then a jury handpicked by the Committ
The Law of Suspects: France's Terror Apparatus
During the French Revolution, the Law of 17 September 1793—the Law of Suspects—turned everyday suspicion into a legal weapon. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how the law redefined 'enemy of the revolution,' creating a category so broad that anyone could be arrested. They follow its passage in the National Convention, its enforcement by revolutionary committees, and its role in fueling the
The Cult of the Supreme Being: Robespierre's New Religion
In the spring of 1794, at the height of the Reign of Terror, Maximilien Robespierre attempted to replace Christianity with a new state religion: the Cult of the Supreme Being. This episode explores how the architect of the Terror sought to impose a deistic faith on revolutionary France, culminating in a massive public festival on the Champ de Mars on 20 Prairial Year II (8 June 1794). We examine R
The Festival of the Federation 1790 Revolutionary Unity
In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna explore the Fête de la Fédération of July 14, 1790, a massive festival on the Champ de Mars meant to celebrate the first anniversary of the fall of the Bastille and the unity of the French nation. We delve into the massive construction project that saw Parisians level the Champ de Mars by hand, the design of the Autel de la Patrie, and the key mom
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy: How the Revolution Split the Church
In July 1790, the National Assembly passed the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, a radical reform that required all French priests to swear loyalty to the state over the Pope. This episode explores how that single piece of legislation fractured French society, created a permanent divide between refractory and constitutional clergy, and sparked some of the bloodiest conflicts of the Revolution—incl
Charlotte Corday: The Assassin Who Killed Marat
In July 1793, a 24-year-old woman from Normandy traveled to Paris with a kitchen knife hidden in her dress. Her name was Charlotte Corday, and she believed that killing one man could save the Republic. That man was Jean-Paul Marat, the radical journalist and Montagnard deputy whose newspaper L'Ami du Peuple had called for hundreds of thousands of heads. Corday's act didn't end the Terror—it intens
The Coup of 18 Brumaire: Napoleon Seizes Power
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the dramatic events of 18 Brumaire, Year VIII (November 9, 1799), when General Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the Directory and established the Consulate. They discuss the political chaos of the late Revolution—the corruption of the Directoire, the resurgent threat of royalist and Jacobin factions, and the military failures abroad. The conversation focuses on
The Guillotine: The Rise of France's Terror Machine
In this episode of The French Revolution: The Collapse of Royal Power, Lucas and Luna explore the guillotine's origins and its transformation from a humanitarian reform into the symbol of revolutionary terror. They trace its invention by Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, a physician who lobbied the National Assembly for a more humane execution method, and its adoption in 1792 following the work of Germ
The King's Trial: Louis XVI Before the Convention
In December 1792, Louis XVI stood before the National Convention to answer for his crimes against the French people. This episode follows the dramatic three-week trial that pitted the Mountain against the Girondins, the king's defiant defense against the relentless accusations of Saint-Just and Robespierre. We explore the legal arguments, the key votes, and the final roll-call that sent the former
The Trial of Georges Danton: The Revolution Devours Its Own
In April 1794, the man who had been the voice of the French Revolution—Georges Danton—stood before the Revolutionary Tribunal, accused of corruption and conspiracy. This episode follows Danton's dramatic fall from power, from his early days as a fiery orator at the Cordeliers Club to his role in the Committee of Public Safety and his final, defiant speech in court. We explore the accusations of fi
The Fall of the Bastille: Myth, Riot, and Revolution
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789—not as a single heroic act, but as a chaotic, multi-layered event that became the symbol of the French Revolution. They discuss the Bastille's history as a royal fortress and prison, the political crisis that brought Parisians to its gates, the role of the Gardes Françaises who defected to the crowd, and the brut
The King's Guard: How the Swiss Guard Died Defending the Tuileries
On August 10, 1792, insurgent Parisians stormed the Tuileries Palace, defended by the Swiss Guard—some 950 professional soldiers sworn to protect the royal family. Lucas and Luna explore the events of that bloody day: the poorly coordinated defense, the order to cease fire (and its fatal consequences), the massacre of the surrendering guards, and the aftermath that saw the monarchy's final collaps
The Girondins: France's Doomed Moderate Revolutionaries
In the shadow of the guillotine and the roar of the sans-culottes, the Girondins rose as the voice of moderate revolution—only to be crushed by the extremists they helped unleash. This episode follows the rise and fall of Brissot, Vergniaud, and Madame Roland, the brilliant salonnière who became its intellectual heart. From the Jacobin Club to the National Convention, the Girondins pushed for war,
The Assignat: How Paper Money Bankrupted Revolutionary France
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the rise and catastrophic fall of the assignat, the paper currency that was supposed to save the French Revolution but instead triggered hyperinflation and economic collapse. From 1789, when the National Assembly seized church lands and issued assignats as bonds, to the disastrous overprinting and forged notes that destroyed confidence, they trace how a revo
The Exiled Royalists: How French Émigrés Fought the Revolution
While the French Revolution raged inside France, thousands of nobles, clergy, and royalist officers fled abroad — and they didn't just wait for things to blow over. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the world of the émigrés: their exile in cities like Koblenz, Turin, and London, their military campaigns alongside foreign powers, and their internal divisions that often hurt their cause. They
The Flight to Varennes: Louis XVI's Doomed Escape
In June 1791, King Louis XVI attempted to flee revolutionary France with his family, heading for the royalist stronghold of Montmédy. The plan, orchestrated by Swedish Count Axel von Fersen, unraveled at a village called Varennes-en-Argonne when the postmaster Jean-Baptiste Drouet recognized the king from his portrait on an assignat. The flight transformed Louis from a beloved constitutional monar
The King's Aunts: How the Flight of Mesdames Tantes Fueled the Revolution
In this episode of The French Revolution: The Collapse of Royal Power, we explore the often-overlooked story of Louis XVI's aunts, Mesdames Adélaïde and Victoire, who fled France in February 1791. Their departure set off a political firestorm that exposed the deepening rift between the monarchy and the revolution. We trace their journey to Rome, the National Assembly's decree allowing their escape
The Women of the October Days 1789 Bread and Revolution
When thousands of Parisian women marched on Versailles in October 1789, they didn't just demand bread — they forced the royal family back to Paris, shifting the balance of revolutionary power forever. This episode focuses on the women themselves: the market women (poissardes) of Les Halles, the working-class mothers and fishwives who organized the march, and the little-known figure of Louison Chab
The Champ de Mars Massacre: When Revolutionary France Shot Its Own Citizens
On July 17, 1791, just weeks after Louis XVI's failed flight to Varennes, the National Guard opened fire on a crowd of unarmed petitioners on the Champ de Mars in Paris. This episode explores how the massacre tore apart the revolutionary consensus, radicalized the republican movement, and paved the way for the Terror. Lucas and Luna walk through the details: the Cordeliers' petition calling for th
The Death of Marat: Art, Propaganda, and Revolutionary Martyrdom
More than just a painting, Jacques-Louis David's 'Marat assassiné' turned a murdered journalist into an icon of the French Revolution. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how the artist crafted a secular saint from the corpse of Jean-Paul Marat — a man who was as reviled as he was revered. They discuss David's political ties to the Jacobins, his role as revolutionary propagandist, and the arti
The September Massacres: Paris Prison Bloodbath of 1792
In early September 1792, as Prussian armies marched toward Paris and the fall of Verdun sent shockwaves through the capital, a wave of vigilante violence swept through the city's prisons. Over four days, mobs of sans-culottes, national guardsmen, and ordinary citizens broke into the Abbaye, the Conciergerie, La Force, and other prisons, summarily executing over 1,200 prisoners. Among the victims w
The Great Fear of 1789: Peasant Panic in Revolutionary France
In July and August 1789, as the Bastille fell and the National Assembly debated, a wave of panic swept the French countryside. The Great Fear (Grande Peur) saw peasants arm themselves against imagined brigands, attack chateaux, and burn feudal records. This episode explores the rapid spread of rumors, the role of grain shortages and vagrancy, key incidents like the destruction of the chateau of th
The Thermidorian Reaction: Ending Robespierre's Reign of Terror
In July 1794, the French Revolution turned on itself. Maximilien Robespierre, the architect of the Terror, found himself denounced by his own colleagues in the National Convention. This episode follows the dramatic events of 9 Thermidor Year II — the conspiracy that brought together unlikely allies from the Montagnards and the Plain, the tense debates where Saint-Just's defense crumbled, and the s
The Revolutionary Tribunal: Justice or Terror in the French Revolution
In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna explore the Revolutionary Tribunal, the extraordinary court that tried enemies of the Revolution from 1793 to 1795. Created to judge political crimes swiftly, it became a central instrument of the Reign of Terror. We follow its evolution from the first trial of Marie Antoinette and the Girondins to the infamous Law of 22 Prairial, which sped up co
The Vendée: France's Civil War of Faith and Revolution
In 1793, the French Revolution turned inward with terrifying violence. This episode examines the Vendée uprising, a peasant and Catholic rebellion against the anticlerical conscription decrees of the National Convention. From the first skirmish at Saint-Florent-le-Vieil to the scorched-earth campaigns of the infernal columns, Lucas and Luna trace the brutal logic of a war that killed tens of thous
The 1793 Levée en Masse: How France Mobilized a Nation
When the French Revolution faced invasion from every side, the National Convention took an unprecedented step: the levée en masse, the first mass conscription in modern history. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how the decree of 23 August 1793 transformed French society, drafting young men while ordering women to sew tents and serve in hospitals. They trace the role of Lazare Carnot, the 'O
The Festival of the Supreme Being: Robespierre's Sacred Revolution
In June 1794, at the height of the Terror, Maximilien Robespierre staged an elaborate state festival on the Champ de Mars to inaugurate his new civic religion: the Cult of the Supreme Being. This episode peels back the choreography of that single day — the artificial mountain, the hymns, the burning of Atheism and the emergence of Wisdom — to reveal Robespierre's vision of a virtuous republic clea
Charlotte Corday: The Assassin Who Killed Marat
On July 13, 1793, a young woman from Normandy walked into a Paris bathhouse and plunged a kitchen knife into the heart of Jean-Paul Marat, the radical Jacobin journalist and voice of the Terror. This episode follows Charlotte Corday's path from Caen to the Cordeliers district, her meticulous planning, and the ideological conviction that drove her to murder. We explore the symbolism of her act—how
Marie Antoinette and the Diamond Necklace Affair
In this episode of The French Revolution: The Collapse of Royal Power, Lucas and Luna delve into the Diamond Necklace Affair, the scandal that fatally tarnished Marie Antoinette's reputation a decade before the revolution. We explore the key players: the ambitious Cardinal de Rohan, the scheming Countess de La Motte, the fraudster Cagliostro, and the queen herself. The affair involved a stolen nec
The King's Execution: Louis XVI and the Death of Divine Right
On January 21, 1793, King Louis XVI of France was executed by guillotine on the Place de la Révolution. This episode follows the dramatic final months of the king's life, from his imprisonment in the Temple Tower to his trial before the National Convention, his last meeting with his family, and his final words on the scaffold. We explore the key votes that sealed his fate, the role of the Girondin
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy: Church vs State in Revolutionary France
In 1790, the French Revolution took a fateful step: it seized control of the Catholic Church. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy required all priests to swear loyalty to the state, sparking a religious schism that divided France for generations. This episode explores how the National Assembly, led by figures like Abbé Sieyès and Bishop Talleyrand, nationalised Church lands, abolished monastic vo
The King's Boyfriend: How Louis XV's Mistresses Shaped France
Long before the guillotine, France's absolute monarchy began its slow collapse under Louis XV. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the outsized influence of the king's official mistresses—Madame de Pompadour and Madame du Barry—who shaped appointments, policy, and even foreign wars without ever holding formal office. We trace Pompadour's rise from bourgeoisie to de facto prime minister, her ro
The Jacobin Clubs: How Revolutionary Politics Spread Across France
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the network of Jacobin clubs that transformed the French Revolution from a Parisian event into a national movement. From the original Club Breton in Versailles to the thousands of affiliated societies across France, these clubs served as both political schools and organs of revolutionary surveillance. Lucas explains how the Jacobins, originally moderate advo
The Fall of the Bastille: A Symbol of Royal Power Crumbles
In this episode of The French Revolution: The Collapse of Royal Power, Lucas and Luna delve into the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. They explore the fortress's symbolic weight as a prison of royal absolutism, the political tensions that led to the uprising, and the violent occupation that ended with the governor's head on a pike. The conversation highlights key figures like Bernard-Ren
The Assignats: How Paper Money Bankrupted the French Revolution
In episode 137 of The French Revolution, we dive into one of the most consequential economic experiments in history: the assignats. Born as a paper currency backed by confiscated church lands, the assignat started as a clever solution to France's debt crisis. But within a few years, hyperinflation and counterfeiting turned it into a symbol of revolutionary failure. We trace the rise and fall of th
The Coup of 18 Brumaire: Bonaparte's Rise to Power
In this episode of The French Revolution: The Collapse of Royal Power, Lucas and Luna explore the Coup of 18 Brumaire, Year VIII—the moment Napoleon Bonaparte seized control of France. They trace the political chaos of the Directory era, the rise of Napoleon through his Italian and Egyptian campaigns, and the plotting that brought him back to Paris. The conversation covers key figures like Emmanue
The Flight to Varennes: When Louis XVI Tried to Escape
In June 1791, King Louis XVI and his family fled Paris in a desperate attempt to reach royalist strongholds in the east and rally foreign armies against the Revolution. The secret escape, known as the Flight to Varennes, ended in disaster when the king was recognized in a small town and forced to return to the capital under guard. This episode traces the detailed plan, the near-successful getaway,
The Enragés and the Maximum: Jacques Roux's Radical Challenge
In the spring of 1793, as the French Revolution radicalised into the Terror, a priest from the Parisian sans-culottes quarter of the Gravilliers demanded something extraordinary: the death penalty for hoarders, price controls on bread, and a 'maximum' on all essential goods. Jacques Roux and his followers, the Enragés, pushed the National Convention further left than even the Montagnards wanted to
The Law of Suspects: How Fear Became a Legal System
In September 1793, the French National Convention passed the Law of Suspects — a decree that turned vague accusations into grounds for arrest and trial. Lucas and Luna explore how this law transformed revolutionary justice, expanding the power of local surveillance committees and flooding Paris's prisons. They trace its origins in the panic following the Federalist revolts and the fall of the Giro
Recommended
Learn English B1 with Daily News | English Listening Practice
Bad Friends
The Swerve Podcast: Obscure Topics | Conspiracy Theories
The Bread and Banter Podcast
The Church of What's Happening Now: The New Testament
Deadline: White House
English Vocabulary Help
این نقطه
Solved Murders - True Crime Stories
紐約鳥｜New York Aperture
Doctor Zhivago Slow Read
Apple News In Conversation
