Reviews for The revolutionary and Napoleonic period

The average rating for The revolutionary and Napoleonic period based on 2 reviews is 2 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2021-01-09 00:00:00 Michel Devries "De-christianization" - a euphemism for the attempt to exterminate Catholics and Catholicism from France during the Terror phase of the French Revolution - is an important, fascinating, and increasingly relevant period of history. French historian Michel Vovelle's book "The Revolution Against the Church," although very thorough and "scientific" with regards to statistics, is a typical academic book written for an academic audience: mind-numbingly dull and obsessed with methodology rather than story-telling. It will likely turn off all but the most determined academic readers. Vovelle does have some interesting statistics. For example, during de-Christianization, at least 34% of priests in France abdicated (renounced) their priesthood and took up other professions such as teaching. Many of the most ardent de-Christianizers were apostate priests. At a certain point, the Revolutionaries tried to force all priests to get married. Either through fear of persecution or enthusiasm for the Revolution, approximately 6,000 did so. One curious phenomenon of the persecution is that - during the wave of anti-Catholic propaganda preceding the Revolution and during the Revolution itself - the Catholic Church put up little or no resistance. Vovelle explains that de-Christianization really occurred in two phases: during the Enlightenment and during the Reign of Terror from 1793-1794. The Enlightenment prepared the mentalities of the French people to accept the de-Christianizing violence of the French Revolution. The latter could not have happened without the former. They are really one and the same movement. In its fight to destroy Catholicism, the Revolution organized mock processions all over France. Local Jacobins would sack churches, smash relics and stained glass windows, and dress up donkeys with priestly vestments and march them through the streets in mockery of the faith. They also tried to replace Catholicism with another religion: the religion of "patriotism," "virtue," and the "Cult of the Supreme Being" invented by Robespierre. Vovelle does include some very interesting examples and anecdotes to illustrate these episodes. It almost makes me want to recommend his book. But between his dull style and the fact that Vovelle also tends to sympathize with the Jacobin ideas, the general reader should look elsewhere.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-02-06 00:00:00 Tim Johnston Terribly stuffy!