C. Results—Attacks on the Church

 Rationalism and Religious Nationalism exploded into conflicts that saw several attacks against the Church.

1. The French Revolution: 1789-1794

[I’m assuming you know its basics from Socials 9.]

 While some results of the French Revolution were social advancements, many things about it were anti-Catholic.

a) Hostility to the Church before the Revolution

  • Because of the Louis XIV’s Absolutism in France, the Church was seen as another royal department.
  • Because of this, the Church was seen as one of the causes of the neglect occurring in France at the time i.e., the 1st Estate that joined the 2nd in block voting.
  • Rationalist (Voltaire) anti-Church writings didn’t help.
  • Also, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were devoted Catholics, so attacks on them were linked to attacks on Catholicism.

b) Anti-Catholic elements during the French Revolution.

  • June 1789: the Tennis Court Oath

* The 3 Estates meet to reform nation [good].

* One of the suggestions: make bishops clergy elected by the people instead chosen by the pope [bad].

  • Aug 1790: the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (CCC)

* The above suggestion is made into law [bad].

* 128 of 134 bishops and most of the priests stay loyal to the pope and refuse to obey the law; the king agrees with them [good].

* Pope Pius VI condemns the CCC [good]; the National Assembly uses this to attack the Church again [bad].

  • September 1792: the September Massacres

* The clergy who refused to obey the CCC were sent into exile and deprived of their income [bad].

* Many priests and nuns refused to leave so they could take care of their parishes [good].

* Thousands of them were massacred in the streets of Paris because they were seen as being enemies of the Republic [really bad].

  • 1793: The Vendée Counter-Revolution

* After the Louis was guillotined, peasants and minor nobles in the southwest rebelled in the name of the Church and king [good].

* The Vendéans take the West and nearly reach Paris and Nantes [good].

* In the end, the Vendéans fail [bad, because…]

  • 1793 to 1974: The Reign of Terror

* The Committee of Public Safety(CPS) was established to root out the “Republic’s enemies” [bad].

* The CPS replaced God and Christianity with the “Goddess of Reason” at Notre Dame Cathedral [bad].

* The CPS authorizes a new calendar and clock to remove references to Catholic saints’ days [bad].

* The CPS bans references to Christian religion and practices [bad].

* Dueto threats of foreign invasion and the Vendéans, the CPS wants to root out counter revolution.

* About 30,000 people are guillotined for being “counter-revolutionaries” e.g. nobles, but many were merely being loyal Christians [really, really bad].

* Eventually, the Reign of Terror eats its own, and the leaders of the CPS (Danton & Robespierre) themselves are guillotined [good, sort of].

c) After the French Revolution

  • 1795: the Terror was over, but now there was a power vacuum which was filled by a 5’4” corporal from Corsica who would also pressure the Church in his own way.

Assignment

  1. How did Rationalism and Religious Nationalism help cause the French Revolution?
  2. In what ways was the French Revolution an attack on Catholicsm?