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Bertrand Barère
Barère was never a fanatic. But he always had a sense for which way the wind was blowing. When the times turned revolutionary, he made a name for himself among the radicals of the Revolution with statements such as, The tree of liberty can grow only when watered with the blood of tyrants!
A brilliant orator, he became the spokesman of the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror. For a long time, Barère acted alongside Robespierre, but he abandoned him when he realized he could no longer be saved. His involvement in the Terror caused him problems afterwards: he faced charges and had to go into hiding several times before reappearing in Paris under Napoleon. Toward the end of his life, he – like many others – regretted his role on 9 Thermidor. Bertrand Barère lived to the age of 85 and died as the last surviving member of the Committee of Public Safety.
1755 - 1841
- September 5, 1755 · Born in Tarbes, the son of a lawyer. His mother, Jeanne-Catherine Marrast, came from an old noble family.
- 1775 · Admitted to the bar.
- 1785 · Marriage to Catherine-Elisabeth de Monde-Briquet, a member of the local minor nobility.
- 1789 · Deputy to the Estates-General for Bigorre.
- September 1792 · Deputy for the department of Hautes-Pyrénées in the National Convention.
- April 7, 1793 · Elected to the Committee of Public Safety.
- July 27, 1794 · 9 Thermidor. Barère takes part in the fall of Robespierre.
- March 22, 1795 · The Convention decides to prosecute Barère for his involvement in the Reign of Terror and places him under house arrest.
- April 1, 1795 · The Convention orders the deportation of Barère and other former terrorists. That very night, he is taken with Collot and Billaud to the island of Oléron on the French Atlantic coast, to be shipped to Guiana.
- October 1795 · Barère escapes from the island of Oléron and hides in Bordeaux for several years.
- December 24, 1799 · The amnesty decreed by First Consul Napoleon also applies to Barère.
- 1815 · Under the Restoration, he is banished from France and settles in Brussels.
- 1830 · Return to France.
- January 15, 1841 · Death in Tarbes.
Quotes
The royalists want blood? Very well, let them see the blood of the conspirators flow — of people like Brissot and Marie Antoinette.
Barère, 5 September 1793.
The strength of the revolutionary government will be multiplied a hundredfold by the fall of the tyrant.
Barère on 10 Thermidor. Shortly afterwards, the Convention decided to renew a quarter of the Committee’s members each month, which considerably weakened the government’s stability.
Do not forget Robespierre! He was an upright man and a true republican.
Barère on his deathbed, 1841.
Le Moniteur
Dimanche, 8 septembre 1793. An deuxieme de la République française
Barère, Collot and Billaud are taken away for deportation, April 2, 1795.
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Jan Knupper 2025 | CCXXXIV
