Election to Estates General
Bertrand Barere was elected to the Estates General as a Third Estate deputy for Bigorre.
Role range: 1789-1792
Historical biography archive · Updated 2026-11-03
Bertrand Barere Biography and Timeline
Follow Bertrand Barere through 36 dated historical records for France.
Bertrand Barere, historical timeline
A chronological timeline drawn from matching World History Database records.
36Distinct records
1 of 1Page
1789–1794Years on this page
1789
Barere gains parliamentary mandate from Bigorre
Barère entered the national assembly process as a commoner representative from southwestern France. The barere elected third estate deputy formed part of the transition from estate-based consultation toward claims of national sovereignty.
Role range: 1789-1792
Point du Jour
Barere published the Point du Jour to report and interpret the proceedings of the revolutionary assemblies.
Role range: 1789-1792
Article 11 Freedom of Expression and Press
Article 11 protects speaking, writing and printing while allowing legal responsibility for abuses of that liberty.
Role range: 1789-1792
Barere Press Freedom Advocacy during Rights Debate
Barere supports freedom of the press during the constitutional debates that precede adoption of the Declaration of Rights.
Role range: 1789-1792
Press Freedom Advocacy
Barere supported freedom of the press during early constitutional debates in the National Assembly.
Role range: 1789-1792
1792
Election to National Convention
Barere was elected to the National Convention and generally aligned with the Plain before joining emergency government.
Role range: 1789-1792
August legislation faces republican revision
The fall of the monarchy reopened legislative debates about payments owed to former seigneurial lords. Convention deputies considered whether earlier compensation requirements contradicted republican liberty.
Role range: 1789-1792
President of National Convention
The Convention placed Barere in the presidential chair as proceedings against Louis XVI moved toward formal trial.
Role range: 1789-1792
Interrogation of Louis XVI
Barere presides while Louis XVI appears before the Convention and answers charges concerning his conduct as king.
Role range: 1789-1799
Presiding over Royal Interrogation
As Convention president, Barere presided during proceedings in which Louis XVI was questioned by the deputies.
Role range: 1789-1792
First Republican Dating of Official Acts
The Convention began dating public acts from the first year of the Republic, marking a symbolic departure from the monarchy's calendar of government.
Role range: 1789-1799
Louis XVI Questioned Before Deputies
As presiding officer, Barere supervised the former king's appearance before deputies examining royal correspondence and conduct during the Revolution.
Role range: 1789-1799
Convention considers unredeemed feudal dues
The National Convention inherited unresolved seigneurial obligations and petitions from rural communities. The issue connected peasant support for the republic with the practical meaning of legal equality.
Role range: 1789-1792
1793
Committee of Public Safety formed: Convention reports consolidated
Barère participated in developing the Committee's role as a coordinating body of national defence. Official reports supplied legislators with a political account of emergency decisions.
Role range: 1793-1799
Montagnard constitution prepared: Emergency executive takes drafting role
Barère was active in a Committee of Public Safety charged with urgent constitutional and military tasks. Preparations for the new constitution occurred amid civil war and foreign invasion.
Role range: 1793-1799
Final abolition of feudal dues adopted
The National Convention abolished remaining feudal dues without indemnity. The act overcame compensation requirements that had limited the August 1789 settlement.
Role range: 1793-1799
Robespierre joins emergency committee: Committee leadership rebalanced
Barère continued to deliver major reports amid changes in committee membership. The evolving executive concentrated wartime supervision in a small body answerable to the Convention.
Role range: 1793-1799
End of remaining seigneurial claims publicized
The Convention's July abolition measures were communicated to local authorities and rural communities. Enforcement depended on ensuring that former lords could no longer lawfully collect the suppressed dues.
Role range: 1793-1799
Mass levy supports national defence: Convention mobilization proclaimed
Barère helped present emergency mobilization as a national duty shared across society. The levy demanded not only soldiers but also supplies and labor for the war effort.
Role range: 1793-1799
Law of Suspects
The Law of Suspects expands arrests of those considered enemies of the Revolution during Jacobin rule
Role range: 1789-1795
Law of Suspects
The Law of Suspects expands arrests of those considered enemies of the Revolution during Jacobin rule.
Role range: 1789-1795
Terror becomes political watchword: Committees face multiple threats
Barère reported on the combined challenges of foreign armies, rebellion and supply shortages. These pressures encouraged the Convention to authorize increasingly exceptional measures.
Role range: 1793-1799
Convention Approves Levee en Masse
Barere reported on mass mobilization as the Convention directed French society and local authorities to support the armies defending the Republic.
Role range: 1789-1799
Convention Orders Arrest of Girondin Deputies
The Convention approved arrests of prominent Girondins under pressure from surrounding armed forces, reshaping the political majority within the chamber.
Role range: 1789-1799
Convention Responds to External Coalitions
Barere and fellow deputies debated emergency mobilization while France faced an expanding coalition of European enemies after the king's execution.
Role range: 1789-1799
Jacobin Government Calls for Mass Mobilization
Barere supported emergency legislation to supply armies fighting the coalition. The Jacobin aligned Convention treated popular mobilization as essential to military survival.
Role range: 1793-1799
1794
Ventose property proposals: Revolutionary committees oversee enforcement
Barère belonged to the emergency leadership expected to turn legislation into effective administrative action. Confiscation plans faced difficulties of identifying assets and beneficiaries.
Role range: 1793-1799
Thermidor Crisis
Barere accepts the turn against Robespierre and supports emergency measures by the Convention
Role range: 1789-1799
Thermidor Crisis
Barere accepts the turn against Robespierre and supports emergency measures by the Convention.
Role range: 1789-1799
Committee powers redistributed - Political consequence
Bertrand Barere figured in events surrounding committee powers redistributed at Paris. Barere's former prominence exemplified the influence being reduced as members sought a new balance of power. It exposed divisions among revolutionary deputies over who should control punishment, representation and public order.
Role range: 1793-1799
Committee powers redistributed
The Convention curtailed the concentration of authority in the Committee of Public Safety through institutional reorganization. Barere's former prominence exemplified the influence being reduced as members sought a new balance of power.
Role range: 1793-1799
Committee Reform
The Convention redistributes executive power among committees to prevent another concentration of authority
Role range: 1789-1799
Committee Reform
The Convention redistributes executive power among committees to prevent another concentration of authority.
Role range: 1789-1799
Convention Debates Victory and Military Rewards
Barere presented military affairs to the Convention as Coalition armies faced increasingly effective French offensives and demands for public recognition of soldiers.
Role range: 1789-1799
General Maximum Abandoned
The Convention repealed wartime price controls late in 1794, exposing consumers to rising costs and intensifying criticism of Thermidorian economic policy.
Role range: 1789-1799
Records, sources and methodology
These dates and descriptions come from the historical_events database. Exact duplicate records have been collapsed. Names are grouped by the country, Name 2 and Name 1 fields; records with missing Name 2 cannot be reliably assigned to an individual biography. Check the underlying sources before formal citation.