Armand de Aiguillon4 August 1789
Deputies feared the Great Fear would spread and threaten property, increasing pressure for a political response.
France · Revolution / Revolution of France. Chronological records rendered directly from the World History Database.
Deputies feared the Great Fear would spread and threaten property, increasing pressure for a political response.
In the first days of August, the Bretons planned to rise in the Assembly and renounce certain feudal dues. This task was assigned to the Duke of Aiguillon, a radical nobleman, and Viscount de Noailles, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War
Liberal deputies from the Breton Club (the forerunner to the Jacobin movement) believed the peasants could only be calmed by a grand gesture from the Assembly, such as a partial surrender of feudal rights.
News of this rural violence electrified discussions among deputies of the Assembly. Dominated as they were by members of the bourgeoisie and liberal nobility, the majority of deputies were concerned that the Great Fear would spread further and pose a significant threat to property rights.
The Duke of Aiguillon and the Viscount de Noailles were assigned to propose renunciation of selected feudal dues.
With no means of suppressing the peasants by force, the Assembly's only avenue was to pacify them.
Artwork was produced and medallions struck to commemorate the event
Paris Mayor Jean-Sylvain Bailly declared that 'gthe National Assembly achieved more for the people in a few hours than the wisest and most enlightened nations had done for many centuries¿.
The August Decrees abolished tithes and other privileges, drawing the peasantry more directly into the Revolution.
The August Decrees created fundamental change across the breadth of the nation. They stripped away the domination and privilege of the nobility, creating a society based on individualism, equality and merit.
The abolition of the tithe halved the income of the Church. The peasantry, previously kept at arm¿s length from the revolution, were now part of it. The Assembly¿s deputies were hailed as heroes and praised for their self sacrifice.
The response from the revolutionaries was as euphoric as the mood in the Assembly on August 4th.
Any kind of tithes, as well as any substitution for them are abolished. All seigneurial justices are abolished with no compensation.
Contemporary reports described collapsing tax collection, feudal dues and local authority as unrest spread through parts of France.
It was reportedly prompted by the reading of a report on the misery and disorder which prevailed in the provinces.
Reports from the provinces described attacks on chateaux, convents and farms, reinforcing pressure for the Assembly's August reforms.
Selling judicial and municipal offices is abolished, justice should be dispensed freely & all such magistrates are to do their duty until further instructions from the National Assembly.
Selling judicial and municipal offices is abolished, justice should be dispensed freely and all such magistrates are to do their duty until further instructions from the National Assembly.
The Assembly responded to the crisis by abolishing several long-standing privileges and abuses.
The abolition of the feudal system took place during the famous night session of the National Assembly on August 4th 1789.
The report declares that 'g Letters from all the provinces indicate that property of all kinds is a prey to the most criminal violence. on all sides chateaux are being burned, convents destroyed, and farms abandoned to pillage.
This record states: The taxes, the feudal dues, all are extinct. the laws are without force, and the magistrates without authority." With the hope of pacifying and encouraging the people, the Assembly, in a fervour of enthusiasm and excitement.
This record states: straightway abolished many of the ancient abuses.
Crowds of women appear in front of the King who then accepts the August decrees
Crowds of women appear in front of the King who then accepts the August decrees.
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