Madame Roland

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Madame Roland
ManonRolandSignature.jpg

Jeanne-Marie "Manon" Roland de La Platière , better known as Madame Roland (born March 17, 1754 in Paris , † November 8, 1793 in Paris), was a political figure in the French Revolution who led a salon in Paris and at the side of her husband significantly influenced Girondist politics . She died under the guillotine during the Reign of Terror .

Life

Childhood and youth

Jeanne-Marie Roland was the daughter of the Parisian engraver Gratien Philipon, relatives and friends called her Manon. The intelligent and inquisitive girl could read early and soon became interested in historical, philosophical and religious topics. At the age of nine, she discovered Plutarch's comparative biographies of famous Greeks and Romans. Plutarch was always one of the authors she valued; he excited her for the idea of ​​the republic .

At the age of eleven, Jeanne-Marie had a serious desire to become a nun, and with the consent of her parents, she lived in a religious order in the Paris suburb of Saint-Michel from May 1765 until the spring of 1766 . Not convinced of monastic life, she spent a year with her grandmother Phlipon on the Seine island of Saint-Louis. During one of her occasional excursions into Parisian society, she was introduced to a wealthy noble lady whose arrogant and arrogant behavior she did not forget for a lifetime. This impression strengthened the middle-class child in their critical attitude towards the aristocracy of the ancien régime . Back in her parents' household, Voltaire was one of her favorite authors. During this time she also read Shakespeare and English novels and poems; In addition to English, she also spoke Italian. When Jeanne-Marie was fourteen years old, she had doubts about the Catholic faith of her childhood and, like many enlighteners , she turned to the deistic conception of God (God created the world, but he no longer influences). At the same time, she studied the writings of the famous preachers Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet and Jean-Baptiste Massillon .

Jeanne-Marie's mother died in June 1775 and she now had to take care of the household of her father, who had got into economic difficulties. She withdrew with her books and decided never to get married. She rejected young suitors, preferring the spiritually profitable society of older, educated men. During this time she read Rousseau , who impressed her as much as Plutarch; his ideas determined her future political thinking and action.

The Roland couple

In January 1776, Jeanne-Marie Philipon met Jean-Marie Roland de La Platière , who was twenty years his senior , who was the inspector of trade and factories in Amiens . She valued his diverse interests and sharp mind. Despite objections from their families, the unlikely couple married in February 1780. The Rolands lived in Paris for the first six months of their marriage, although Monsieur Roland had his office in Amiens. Madame Roland assisted her husband in the publication of his writings. She made the acquaintance of writers and scholars of the Enlightenment , and with regret she left the capital in the autumn of 1780 to move to Amiens. Their daughter Eudora was born there in October 1781.

In May 1784, Madame Roland traveled to Paris in order to obtain a noble patent for her husband in recognition of his many years of service . She was unsuccessful, but got his promotion to general inspector and transfer to Lyon. The Rolands moved to Villefranche-sur-Saône, not far from Lyon, to the family's poor old country estate.

Paris and the Revolution

With the outbreak of the revolution in 1789, the quiet life came to an end. From the beginning, the Rolands supported the revolutionary movement. They were convinced that the abolition of kingship was necessary. Madame Roland wrote articles in the Courrier de Lyon under the name of her husband , which were also noticed in the capital. This resulted in a correspondence, including with Jacques Pierre Brissot de Warville , whom the Rolands had known since 1787. In the following years Madame Roland also wrote articles for Le Patriote Français , a revolutionary newspaper published by Brissot. In November 1790, supporters of the revolution dominated the city council of Lyon and Jean-Marie Roland was entrusted with public tasks: because of the city's debts, he traveled to Paris in February 1791 to negotiate with parliament. Madame Roland accompanied her husband and opened her first political salon in the Hôtel Britannique on rue Guénégaud . Many of the leaders of the revolution were her guests: Jacques-Pierre Brissot , Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve , Maximilien de Robespierre , François Buzot and others.

In September 1791, the Rolands returned to Lyon as the job was done. The office of inspector of the manufactories had since been abolished and Monsieur Roland could no longer pursue his professional activity. In order to enforce a pension entitlement after almost forty years of service, the Rolands traveled back to Paris in December, where they were immediately embroiled in the revolutionary events again.

Roland became a member of the Paris Club of the Jacobins , in which the future Girondists, the men around Brissot, and the future Montagnards still debated together. In March 1792, Jean-Marie Roland was appointed Minister of the Interior in the new cabinet by the King. His wife, who had always been a skilled helper, was now indispensable to him. Madame Roland did some of his correspondence and was also at his side with advice and action on political issues. With the reopening of her salon in her new domicile on rue Neuve des Petits Champs , Madame Roland was at the social and political center of the new government. Twice a week she invited to dinner: Brissot, Pétion, Charles-Jean-Marie Barbaroux, Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvray and François Buzot, with whom she had a mutual affection, and others were the guests "... one sensitive and passionate for the righteous woman entering; " Madame Roland "was the soul of the Gironde ..."

On June 10, 1792, Minister of the Interior Roland sent a letter to the king because he was obstructing legislation through vetoes. Madame Roland, who had edited the letter, demanded that the king not only withdraw his objection to two decrees but also greater patriotism. This letter triggered the dismissal of Roland and his Girondin colleagues and with it the mass demonstration against the king on June 20 in the Tuileries .

After the deposition of King Louis XVI. on August 10, 1792 , Jean-Marie Roland was in the newly formed Provisional Executive Council and after the meeting of the National Convention on September 21, was again responsible for domestic policy. Dismayed by the course of the revolutionary events, he soon came into opposition to the Mountain Party , which repeatedly attacked him violently. Because of his stance in the trial against the king he was accused of royalism . The attacks were also directed against his wife. On December 7th, Madame Roland was summoned to the National Convention to defend herself against all allegations. After a passionately presented justification of her husband's policy, she was not only acquitted on all counts, but also passed with honor. She received the assembly's honorary certificates , the honneurs de la séance , and left the room to the applause of almost all the MPs.

Prison and death

Two days after the execution of King Louis XVI. on January 21, 1793, Jean-Marie Roland resigned from his ministerial office. Despite repeated petitions, the Rolands were not allowed to leave Paris. After leading Girondins were arrested on May 31, Jean-Marie Roland managed to escape to Rouen. Madame Roland stayed behind at her own request and was arrested on June 1st. She was taken to the Abbaye's prison , then to Sainte-Pélagie, and finally to the Conciergerie . Respected by her guards, she was given writing materials and occasionally had visitors. In prison she wrote her Appel à l'impartiale postérité , her memoir dedicated to her daughter Eudora.

After the execution of 21 Girondists on October 31, 1793, their trial before the Revolutionary Tribunal took place on November 8. Sentenced to death , Madame Roland died that same evening on the Place de la Révolution , today's Place de la Concorde, under the guillotine . Before she laid her head on the block, at the sight of the Statue of Liberty she shouted the famous words: "Oh freedom, what crimes are committed in your name!"

Fonts

  • Mémoires particuliers de Madame Roland suivis des notices historiques sur la révolution, du portrait et anecdotes et des derniers écrits et dernières pensées, par la même

German editions:

  • Memoirs from the dungeon. A youth in pre-revolutionary France . Artemis, Zurich and Munich 1987 ISBN 3-7608-0729-1
  • Memoirs and correspondence . Kiepenheuer, Leipzig and Weimar 1988 ISBN 3-378-00207-7

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Madame Roland  - Sources and full texts
Wikiquote: Jeanne-Marie Roland de la Platière  - Quotes
Commons : Jeanne-Marie Roland de la Platière  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Convent of the Ladies of the Congregation. Madame Roland  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (engl.)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.answers.com  
  2. ^ Albert Soboul: The great French Revolution. An outline of their history (1789-1799). 5th edition, Athenäum-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1988 p. 203.
  3. ^ Gallica: Histoire parlementaire de la Révolution française Vol. 21, p. 241. (French)
  4. ^ German edition: Memoirs from the dungeon . (see writings )
personal data
SURNAME Roland, madame
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Roland de la Platière, Jeanne-Marie (full name); Roland, Marie Jeanne; Philipon, Jeanne-Marie (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French revolutionary
DATE OF BIRTH March 17, 1754
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH November 8, 1793
Place of death Paris