The Human Cost of Revolutionary France

When you think about the French Revolution, what comes to mind? The guillotine? Do you ask yourself, ‘What was it all about? Who invented that horrid guillotine? Were all the Aristocrats and nobility guillotined? How many died in the French Revolution? Who started the Revolution? Was it evil and power-hungry political leaders or bold leadership into a new French Republic? Madness or dark side of liberty? Even Historians can’t quite agree about the justifications of murders throughout France, and the trials, whether guilty or innocent of the accused crimes, and their subsequent death sentences. Pushing aside abject horror, the fact is, not all of the French people who were condemned to death were executed by the guillotine. A good many more were executed by firing squads, drownings, hangings, murder, or died by what ever means in massacres.

Most of the condemned had little fanfare at their executions. A crowd jeering, then a cheer when it was over, and on to the next victim. Those people condemned to death as a conspirator, or for assassination attempts on ’cause celebre’ (such as Robespierre), had the distinction of wearing ‘une chemise rouge’, a red shirt of some kind to denote the crime, on their way to the guillotine.? Most cases of conspiracies were judged in Paris, then the condemned were executed.

Unfortunately, not all executions were recorded, as well as the genealogical information surrounding the condemned were available or recorded. For example, if the victim was charged and sentenced as a ‘brigand of the Vendée, you might find very little information about them, including place of birth. Across France, thousands were slain in wars or in city sieges. It has been estimated that roughly 400,000 people lost their lives in the French Revolution.

There are 14,000 recorded victims in the Dictionary of Condemned to Death two volumes by Louis M Prud’homme ( Dictionnaire des individus envoyés à la mort judiciairement: révolutionnairement et contre-révolution, pendand la révolution France ‘ Volumes I and II) You can discover the indexed names and identities of what is available of the unfortunate victims who faced arrest and execution of the French Revolution between 1792-1796 here. Search for ancestors, historical figures, victims and villains, all information indexed from Louis M. Prudhomme’s books  (1796). ‘Dictionnaire des individus envoyés à la mort judiciairement: révolutionnairement et contre-révolution, pendand la révolution France ‘ Volumes I and II,

Where to find online genealogical resources on the French people who were arrested and charged with crimes, and then executed during the French Revolution? I know of three online sources. Louis Marie Prudhomme’s two-volume books are available at GoogleBooks, the Rathelot collection hosted at FamilySearc,h and 10 volumes of the names of the guillotined in Paris who were executed as conspirators located at Gallica.. You can find a wealth of genealogical information. Several genealogy sites carry the searchable database of names of Prudhomme’s volumes of the French people condemned to death during the French Revolution but with a paid subscription. One disadvantage is they fail to include detailed descriptions of the charges against the accused. Easy to understand. It’s all in French. You can use an online translator to understand the details of their crimes. There are many exciting stories of assassination attempts, conspirators, the death of political priests, prison plots, fighting brigands, and much more.

To look for the names and information of those who were brought to trial and condemned to death, there are three sources I recommend

Louis M. Prudhomme’s books  (1796). ‘Dictionnaire des individus envoyés à la mort judiciairement: révolutionnairement et contre-révolution, pendand la révolution France ‘ Volumes I and II

This is a wealth of information, but it’s all in French. An online translator is a must.. You’ll find an alphabetical listing of 14,000 individuals recorded and executed for various crimes. The information you might find is the age, profession, military, detailed criminal charges, place of birth, place of residence, date of trial, and the cities or departments for the place of trial of the person. The dictionary contains spelling faux pas, altered surname spellings, and towns recorded in the wrong departments. Two blaring examples of errors found in Louis Prudhomme’s dictionaries lists Lyon recorded as being in the department of Seine, and Paris as being in the department of Mayenne et Loire (!) We know that’s not right.

All the names of the executed are in alphabetical order. Not all of them were executed by guillotine. These dictionaries by Louis Prudhomme are available at Google Books for download, but also each volume can be downloaded from this site.

Download:

• Volume 1 : names that begin with A-H, ( page 105 to 606)
• Volume 2: names that begin with I-Z (page 11)

The beginning of the first volume contains pages of historical information. Unfortunately for those of us who are ‘English” language only people, we won’t have the pleasure of reading, what looks like to be, exciting accounts of the people, the events, and the background information that started and occurred during the events of the French Revolution.

The second volume also offers two additional supplements of people after the original dictionaries were published. The first Supplement contains names of the people and their information who were executed in Paris as conspirators in the 4th & 5th year of the French Republican calendar, Supplement II offers, yet again, the names of the condemned to death in year 1793- an 2. You can find those who were executed in Paris as conspirators in the 4th and 5th year of the French Republican calendar, index of the last names of women and daughters with their married and maiden names, the corrected spelling errors from both Prudhomme’s volumes, and those who faced a firing squad for their crimes In the city of Saumur year (an) II, in the city of Angers by the Military Commission an 2, and the individuals who were punished to death by firing squad (or just shot) on the orders of Jean-Baptiste Carrier at the Tribunal of Nantes. This does not include the deaths by drowning and by other atrocities ordered by him.

You can type the data of crimes into an online translator to understand what they were charged with. In To make it easier to find the beginning of each ‘letter’ page from the dictionaries, click on each letter to browse through:

You’ll be scrolling and scrolling and scrolling through each letter. I am working on a searchable database so you can find the name you’re looking with all the information the Prudhomme’s dictionaries provide. There are additional supplement names at the end of ‘Z’ , plus those who were condemned as conspirators. I think you’ll find more information of them in the volumes of the executions in Paris during the ‘Reign of Terror’.

Executions in Paris 1793-1794

Ten volumes of the Liste générale et très-exacte des noms, âges, qualités et demeures de tous les conspirateurs qui ont été condamnés à mort par le tribunal révolutionnaire établi à Paris par la loi du 17 août 1792 available at the Gallica Digital Library

These Volumes contain an accurate account of the names of the people who were condemned to death and guillotined in the 3rd year (1793-1794) of the French Republic. Extended information on them is recorded:

• Age
• Profession or Position
• Military
• Place of Birth
• Place of Residence
• Charges against the Accused
• Date of Trial & Execution by the Revolution Tribunal -1793-1794 (French Republican Calendar)
• Hearings and Trial Court
• The names of Parisienne town squares or other large public places designated as Execution sites

These accurate ten volumes are written out in the same manner of Prudhomme’s volumes. The catalogs lists the names of the condemned executed by the Guillotine as penalty for their crimes. They were judged by the Tribunal Révolutionnaire as enemies of the party as conspirators, accomplices or complicit to conspiracies in the 3rd year of the French Republic (1793-1794). Unfortunately, these tomes are in French and the names were not alphabetically listed but were numbered. You will have to use an online translator

• Volume 1: 36 pages of the list of names # 1-336
• Volume 2: 32 pages of the list of names #290 – 486
• Volume 3: 32 pages of the list of names # 487-686
• Volume 4: 32 pages of the list of names #687-945
• Volume 5 : 32 pages of the list of names #936-1191
• Volume 6: 32 pages of the lists of the condemned #1192- 1498
• Volume 7: 32 pages of the lists of the guillotined #1499- 1794
• Volume 8: 32 pages of the lists of the condemned #1796-2140
• Volume 9: Supplement 32 pages of the lists of the condemned #2506-2742
• Volume 10: Installment of the new Tribunal Révolutionnaire 31 pages, lists of the names of the condemned #2743-2787, includes the hearings, courtroom drama, and information on the genocide at Nantes.

The Rathelot Collection

The Rathelot Collection provides documented death extracts of those who were brought before the French Revolution Tribunal in Paris and executed as conspirators between March 1793 – September 1794. Information you might contain full name, age and place of birth. This source will verify the information from the Paris executions.

Names: Ab- Goy
Index: Ab-Goy

Names: Gra – Zol
Index: T-Z

The latter is a bit tricky to get around.

Available at FamilySearch