3 Floréal
An CCXXXIV
Revolutionary Tribunal
The Revolutionary Tribunal was an extraordinary political court created to combat enemies of the Republic. It was established at the initiative of Danton. Through this institution, he sought to channel the people’s anger into regulated forms
and prevent excesses such as the September Massacres. Ultimately, however, the court became an instrument of power for the radical revolutionaries against the moderates. The Committee of General Security and the Committee of Public Safety used it to remove opponents. Danton himself eventually fell victim to this arbitrary justice. Over the course of the Revolution, the tribunal was granted ever broader powers — culminating in the complete abolition of the right to defense. Fouquier-Tinville, the public prosecutor at the Revolutionary Tribunal, was among the last to be sentenced to death by this court.
1793 - 1795
- March 9, 1793 · On 9 March 1793, the Convention establishes an Extraordinary Criminal Tribunal to prosecute enemies of the Republic (Tribunal criminel extraordinaire).
- April 24, 1793 · Marat, charged with inciting mass murder and the dissolution of the Convention, is acquitted by the Revolutionary Tribunal.
- July 17, 1793 · The Tribunal sentences Charlotte Corday to death for the murder of Marat.
- October 16, 1793 · Conviction and execution of Marie Antoinette.
- October 24, 1793 · Opening of the trial of 21 Girondins.
- October 29, 1793 · The court officially receives the name Revolutionary Tribunal.
- October 31, 1793 · Execution of the Girondins.
- March 22, 1794 · Opening of the trial of the Hébertists for conspiracy against the Revolution.
- March 24, 1794 · Pronouncement of the death sentence against Hébert and eighteen other defendants. The condemned are executed the same day.
- April 2, 1794 · Trial of the Dantonists.
- April 4, 1794 · Saint-Just secures a decree in the Convention allowing the Revolutionary Tribunal to exclude defendants from further hearings if they
defy or insult the court
. - April 5, 1794 · After applying the law adopted the previous day during Danton’s trial, the court reads out the death sentences before empty defendants’ benches. The fifteen condemned are guillotined the same day.
- June 10, 1794 · The Convention adopts the law of 22 Prairial. The Revolutionary Tribunal is expanded and the defendants’ right to defense is abolished. In less than seven weeks, more than 1,600 death sentences are handed down.
- July 27, 1794 · 9 Thermidor. The president of the Revolutionary Tribunal, Dumas, a supporter of Robespierre, is arrested during a session.
- July 28, 1794 · The court, presided over by Judge Scellier, orders—upon mere verification of identity—the execution of Robespierre, Saint-Just, Couthon, Dumas and others declared outside the law by the Convention.
- August 1, 1794 · The Law of Prairial is suspended and definitively repealed on 10 August.
- March 28, 1795 · Opening of the trial against former members of the Revolutionary Tribunal for their involvement in unlawful proceedings during the Terror, including the public prosecutor Fouquier-Tinville as well as the judges Herman and Scellier. Many jurors are also indicted. Lasting 41 days of hearings, this trial becomes the longest in the history of the Revolutionary Tribunal.
- May 6, 1795 · The Tribunal sentences sixteen defendants to death and acquits fifteen. Among those acquitted is Maurice Duplay, former juror and landlord of Robespierre.
- May 7, 1795 · On the Place de Grève in Paris (today’s Place de l’Hôtel-de-Ville), the death sentences are carried out – notably against Fouquier-Tinville, Herman, and Scellier.
- May 31, 1795 · Abolition of the Revolutionary Tribunal.
Quotes
Let us be terrible, so that the people don't have to be.
Danton, March 1793
The purpose of establishing the Revolutionary Tribunal is to punish the enemies of the people.
Law of 22 Prairial, Art. 4, 10 June 1794.
I was only the axe. Do you put the axe on trial?
Fouquier-Tinville, 5 May 1795
Le Moniteur
Mardi 12 mars 1793. L'an deuxieme de la République Française
Châtelet and Prieur, jurors of the Revolutionary Tribunal, during a session. Both were executed on 7 May 1795.
External links
