The Knight of Maison-Rouge_ A Novel of Marie Antoinette - Alexandre Dumas [201]
LEBRUN, CHARLES-FRANÇOIS (1739–1824): More famous as one of three Consuls of Napoleon Bonaparte’s first government, and then archtreasurer under the Empire, Lebrun briefly served as the GIRONDIN Minister of Foreign Affairs.
MADAME ELISABETH (1764–94): the younger sister of Louis XVI, she remained in France to share prison and ultimately death with her brother and his family.
MADAME ROYALE: Marie Thérèse de Bourbon (1778–1851), daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. After the execution of her parents, she was sent to Austria in exchange for French prisoners of war in 1794. She returned to France with her uncle, Louis XVIII, in 1814. She became one of the chief supporters of the reactionary ultraroyalists, and was forced to flee France again when the Bourbon branch fell in July 1830.
MARAT, JEAN-PAUL (1743–93): physician, writer, and politician, he founded the newspaper L’Ami du peuple (Friend of the Common Man), an organ of extremist positions. A MONTAGNARD in the CONVENTION, he helped to instigate the SEPTEMBER MASSACRES and to bring down the GIRONDINS. He was assassinated in his bath by Charlotte Corday, as famously depicted by Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825) in his painting Marat assassiné.
MONGE, GASPARD (1746–1818): better remembered as a mathematician, Monge was also a politician and member of the JACOBIN Club. He was Minister of the Marine in the first year of the CONVENTION.
MONTAGNARDS: taking their name from the “Mountain,” the high seats they occupied in the legislative assemblies of the Revolutionary governments, the Montagnards were the most radical members of the CONVENTION.
NATIONAL GUARD: the Paris civil militia, founded in 1789 under the command of Lafayette, became a major factor in the factional battles of the Revolution, frequently used against Royalist forces. On AUGUST 10, 1792, the Garde Nationale aided in the taking of the Tuileries that brought down the monarchy.
OCTOBER 5 AND 6, 1789: In the evening of October 5, a violent Parisian mob, led by the market-women of Les Halles, marched to Versailles to demand the return of the Royal family to Paris. The mob led the King and his family back to the Tuileries the next day; the Bourbons never saw their palace again.
OSSELIN, CHARLES-NICOLAS (1752–94): an ally of DANTON who became an influential member of the CONVENTION. He wrote some of the harsh anti-emigré legislation before he fell in love, ironically, with a beautiful young aristocrat, the Marquise de Charny. Probably at her instigation, he began aiding many political prisoners. When this was discovered, he was expelled from the JACOBIN Club and subsequently arrested and condemned to deportation; when he was found to be plotting in prison, he was sent to the guillotine.
PATRIOT: during the Revolution, the term was appropriated by republicans.
PÉTION (DE VILLENEUVE), JÉRÔME (1756–94): Mayor of Paris from 1791 to 1793, and president of the CONVENTION in 1792, Pétion was a leader of the GIRONDINS. When the MONTAGNARDS took power, he fled Paris and eventually killed himself in order to escape arrest.
PHRYGIAN BONNET: the red cap, popular among the sans culottes, modeled after the hat worn by freed slaves in ancient Rome.
RICHARD: Richard and his wife were the concierges—chief attendants—at the CONCIERGERIE when Marie Antoinette first arrived at that prison. They were judged to be overly solicitous of the CI-DEVANT queen, and were replaced by more “patriotic” staff after the failure of the Carnation Plot.
ROBESPIERRE, MAXIMILIEN DE (1758–94): legendary leader of the JACOBINS and the MONTAGNARDS, and chief architect of the TERROR. His harsh laws led to the deaths of thousands deemed traitors throughout Paris. Robespierre solidified his grasp on power by outmaneuvering political enemies to the left (HÉBERT) and right (the GIRONDINS, DANTON) to become virtual dictator of France. He remained in power for just over a year before his own allies turned on him and brought him down in the coup