Priests of the French Revolution
JOSEPH F. BYRNES
Priests of the French Revolution
SAINTS AND RENEGADES IN A NEW POLITICAL ERA
THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS
UNIVERSITY PARK, PENNSYLVANIA
FRONTISPIECE: “Put ’er there, Father, I knew you would be on our side” might well translate the French caption “Touchez-là, M[onsieur] l’Curé. J’savais ben qu’vous seriais des nôtres,” the words of a poor French peasant. This simplified the story somewhat, because the Revolution was mainly a revolution of the middle class, but the commoner class included everyone who was not an aristocrat, making it possible to suppose that the Revolution belonged to the poor—and that good priests would work on their behalf in particular. (Bibliothèque nationale de France)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Byrnes, Joseph F., 1939– , author.
Priests of the French Revolution : saints and renegades in a new political era / Joseph F. Byrnes.
p. cm
Summary: “Explores how priests and bishops who embraced the French Revolution creatively followed or destructively rejected traditional versions of priestly ministry”—Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-271-06377-5 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. France—History—Revolution, 1789–1799—Religious aspects.
2. Christianity and politics—France—History—18th century.
3. Church and state—France—History—18th century.
4. Priests—France—History—18th century.
5. France—Church history—18th century.
I. Title.
DC158.2.B97 2014
940.2’71—dc23
2014004247
Copyright © 2014 The Pennsylvania State University
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press,
University Park, PA 16802-1003
The Pennsylvania State University Press is a member of the Association of American University Presses.
It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper. Publications on uncoated stock satisfy the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Material, ANSI Z39.48–1992.
This book is printed on paper that contains 30% post-consumer waste.
For VERONICA AND MICHAEL
Contents
1 The Formation of a Revolutionary Priest: Sieyès and Grégoire
2 The Priests in Action: From Estates General to National Assembly
3 Claude Fauchet at the Bastille
4 The Church of Adrien Lamourette and His Allies
5 The Failed Relationship of Revolutionary Church and State
7 Terrorists and Abdicators: Ultimate Renegades
8 The New Constitutional French Church
9 Stabilizing the Constitutional Church: Claude Le Coz and the Council of 1797
10 Constitutional Irresolution in the See of Paris: Jean-Baptiste Royer and the Council of 1801
11 Constitutional Clergy in the Church of Napoleon’s Concordat
12 The Afterlife of the Constitutional Church: Hopes and Reality
Appendix: Administration of the Constitutional Church and Oath Adherence by Department
FIGURES
1 Priest patriot swearing oath of loyalty to the nation, the law, and the king
2 Tennis Court Oath, the abbé Henri Grégoire in the foreground
3 The abbé Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès in clerical dress
4 The abbé Grégoire intervening before the Constituent Assembly
5 The abbé Jacques Jallet, priest and diarist
6 Canon lawyer Pierre Durand de Maillane
7 Caricature of clergy refusing the oath of loyalty in the Assembly