How did people celebrate the Christmas during the French Revolution? In white-knuckled terror behind closed doors. Anti-clericalism reached its apex on 10 November 1793, when a Fête de la Raison was held in honor of the Cult of Reason. Churches across France were renamed “Temples of Reason” and the Notre Dame was “de-baptized” for the occasion. The Commune spared no expense:
“The first festival of reason, which took place in Notre Dame, featured a fabricated mountain, with a temple of philosophy at its summit and a script borrowed from an opera libretto. At the sound of Marie-Joseph Chénier‘s Hymne à la Liberté, two rows of young women, dressed in white, descended the mountain, crossing each other before the ‘altar of reason’ before ascending once more to greet the goddess of Liberty.”
As you can probably gather from the above description, 1793 was not a great time to celebrate Christmas in the capital.
Feast of Reason 1793
From 1789 to 1799, the holiday went underground. Religious services were banned and carols were altered “by substituting names of political leaders for royal characters in the lyrics, such as the Three Kings.” The anti-clerical laws even affected pastries. In the aftermath of the French Revolution, the “Galette des Rois” (King Cake) was briefly replaced with the “Gâteau de l’Égalité” (Equality Cake).
Ready for the kicker? The Christian associations of the old Gregorian calendar were deemed unacceptable, so the National Convention decided to replace it with one better-suited to Republican ideals. Created by Charles-Gilbert Romme, The Republican Calendar was adopted by the Jacobin-controlled National Convention in 1793. Each of the 360 days was renamed after a seed, tree, flower, fruit, animal, or tool. Christmas was rechristened “Le Jour Du Chien” (Dog Day) and All Saints’ Day was dedicated to the Goat’s Beard Herb. The Republican Calendar was abolished on 1 January 1806 by Emperor Napoleon I.
Feature image via LandLopers
