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Quintidi 25 Brumaire An CCXXXIV |
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Thérésia Cabarrus
On 9 Thermidor,Tallien raised a dagger in his hand to signal the attack on Robespierre. Not to end the Terror, but to free his lover, Thérésia Cabarrus. Her beauty tipped the scales, steering the Republic away from the path of virtue and onto the road of corruption, decadence, and vice. Cabarrus became the Notre Dame of Thermidor, the party icon of the Directory. Deputies, bankers, and speculators gathered at her house for lavish celebrations. Her marriage to Tallien was brief; she went on to wed a wealthy count and died in a splendid château in Belgium.
1773 - 1835
- July 31, 1773 · Born in Carabanchel near Madrid.
- February 21, 1788 · At the age of 14, she marries the wealthy Jean-Jacques Devin, who brings her to the royal court in Paris.
- 1791 · After Devin emigrates, the marriage is dissolved.
- 1793 · She is imprisoned in Bordeaux, but released by the Convention commissioner Tallien, who falls in love with her.
- May 1794 · Upon her arrival in Paris, she is arrested again.
- August 1794 · She is freed after Robespierre’s fall on the 9th of Thermidor.
- December 26, 1794 · She marries Tallien. In the following years, Thérésia has numerous affairs with influential men, including Director Barras and the banker Ouvrard.
- April 1802 · Her marriage to Tallien ends in divorce.
- August 1805 · She later marries François-Joseph-Philippe de Riquet, Count of Caraman and Prince of Chimay.
- January 15, 1835 · She dies at Chimay Castle in Belgium.
Quotes
I had a dream: Robespierre no longer existed, and the prisons were open. But thanks to your admirable cowardice, soon there will be no one left in France who can make it come true.
Letter from Thérésia Cabarrus to Tallien from prison, shortly before the 9th of Thermidor
Don’t you see that these shameless women, these adventuresses of noble birth, who today grant you the honor of prostituting themselves in your bourgeois arms, will destroy you as soon as they have succeeded in returning things to their former course?
Gracchus Babeuf on the famous courtesans of the early Directory
She was a charming young girl, but she has turned into a dishonored and dissolute woman.
Emperor Napoleon on Thérésia Cabarrus, 1805
Queen of the Directory
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Jan Knupper 2025 | CCXXXIV
