Jacques Cathelineau

Jacques Cathelineau (born January 5, 1759 in Le Pin-en-Mauges , today in the Maine-et-Loire department , † July 11, 1793 in Saint-Florent-le-Vieil ) was one of the leaders of the Armée catholique et royale de Vendée at the time of the uprising there during the French Revolution .

Life

At the beginning of the French Revolution, Cathelineau was a peddling wool merchant. After the drafting of troops ordered by the National Convention on March 10, 1793, there were disputes between royalists and republican-minded citizens at Saint-Florent . Cathelineau called on the young men to resist and with their help drove the crew out of the village of Jallais . A short time later this uprising spread to other sections of the population. However, Cathelineau felt unable to take the lead and placed himself under the orders of Charles de Bonchamps and Maurice Joseph Louis Gigost d'Elbée .

From March 1793 he commanded a contingent of troops subordinate to him and achieved successes at Jallais, Chemillé and Cholet. After the capture of Saumur on June 13, 1793, Cathelineau, who was extremely popular among compatriots, was elected chief general. Immediately he decided to launch a decisive attack on Nantes . At the head of an 80,000-strong army with a further 30,000 men from Poitou , he set out against the city. The attack ended on June 29th with the dissolution of the Vendéer.

Cathelineau memorial in Le Pin-en-Mauges in 1897 (Fig. From L'Illustration of April 3, 1897)

Cathelineau was fatally wounded in the fighting and was taken to Saint-Florent. There he died on July 11th as a result of his injuries.

monument

In 1827 his home parish erected a memorial for him that the July monarchy had to demolish in 1832. When this was rebuilt on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the anniversary of his death, his direct descendant Xavier Cathelineau, indignant of the procedure, fought against the monument erected on his land and had the statue clad with a wooden frame. The monument visible today shows Cathelineau with a sword in his hanging right hand; the upstretched left one holds a cross at which his gaze is directed.

canonization

It may seem strange that at the end of the 19th century a process of canonization by Cathelineau, which was nicknamed Le Saint d'Anjou because of his piety and his tireless advocacy for the Catholic cause and for the return of the oath-refusing priests , was initiated has been. However, since almost all documents were destroyed in a bomb attack on Angers (1944) and the subsequent fire in the archbishop's archive, this process was not pursued any further. But some people in his hometown and the surrounding area pray to him like a saint.

literature

Louis-Marie Clénet: Cathelineau. The "saint de l'Anjou", premier généralissime de l'armée vendéenne . Perrin, Paris 1991. ISBN 2-262-00796-9

Web links

Commons : Jacques Cathelineau - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

personal data
SURNAME	Cathelineau, Jacques
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	French general of the Vendéer
DATE OF BIRTH	January 5, 1759
PLACE OF BIRTH	Le Pin-en-Mauges
DATE OF DEATH	July 11, 1793
Place of death	Saint-Florent-le-Vieil