Information about French Republican Calendar
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A French Revolutionary Calendar in the Historical Museum of Lausanne.
Origins and overview
The calendar was designed by the politician and agronomist Charles Gilbert Romme, although it is usually attributed to Fabre d'Églantine, who invented the names of the months. It was adopted by the Jacobin-controlled National Convention on 24 October 1793.)
French Republican Calendar of 1794, drawn by Louis-Philibert Debucourt.
A period of four years ending on a leap day was to be called a "Franciade". The leap year was called Sextile because it contained a sixth complementary day.
The Concordat of 1801 re-established the Roman Catholic Church in France with effect from Easter Sunday, 18 April 1802, restoring the names of the days of the week with the ones they had in the Gregorian Calendar, while keeping the rest of the Republican Calendar, and fixing Sunday as the official day of rest and religious celebration.[1]
Napoléon finally abolished the calendar with effect from 1 January 1806 (the day after 10 Nivôse an XIV), a little over twelve years after its introduction. However, it was used again during the brief Paris Commune, 6–23 May 1871 (16 Floréal–3 Prairial An LXXIX).
Many conversion tables and programs exist, largely created by genealogists. Some enthusiasts in France still use the calendar, more out of historical re-enactment than practicality.
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Clock dial.
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Clock dial.
Criticism and shortcomings of the calendar
Leap years in the calendar are a point of great dispute, due to the contradicting statements in the establishing decree[2] stating:| Each year starts at midnight, with the day when the true autumnal equinox falls for the observatory of Paris. |
| The period of four years, at the end of which this addition of one day is usually necessary, is called the Franciade...The fourth year of the Franciade is called Sextile. |
These two specifications are incompatible, as leap years defined by the equinox do not recur on a regular four year schedule. Thus, the years III, VII, and XI were observed as leap years, and the years XV and XX were also planned as such, even though they were five years apart.
A fixed arithmetic rule for determining leap years was proposed in the name of the Committee of Public Education by Gilbert Romme on 19 Floréal An III (8 May 1795). The proposed rule was to determine leap years by applying the rules of the Gregorian calendar to the years of the French Republic (years IV, VIII, XII, etc. were to be leap years) except that year 4000 (the last year of ten 400-year periods) should be a common year instead of a leap year. Because this proposal was never adopted, the original astronomical rule continued, which excluded any other fixed arithmetic rule. The proposal was intended to avoid uncertain future leap years caused by the inaccurate astronomical knowledge of the 1790s (even today, this statement is still valid due to the uncertainty in ΔT). In particular, the committee noted that the true equinox of year 144 was predicted to occur at "11:59:40 p.m.", which was closer to midnight than its inherent 3 to 4 minute uncertainty.
The calendar was abolished because having a ten-day work week gave workers less rest (one day off every ten instead of one day off every seven); because the equinox was a mobile date to start every new year (a fantastic source of confusion for almost everybody); and because it was incompatible with the secular rhythms of trade fairs and agricultural markets.
Perhaps the most famous date in this calendar was immortalised by Karl Marx in the title of his pamphlet, The 18th Brumaire of Louis Napoléon (1852). The 18 Brumaire An VIII (9 November 1799) is considered the end of the French Revolution.
Another famous revolutionary date is 9 Thermidor An II (July 27 1794), the date the Convention turned against Robespierre, who, along with others associated with the Mountain, was guillotined the following day. (See Glossary of the French Revolution for other significant dates under this calendar.)
Based on the above event, the term "Thermidorian" entered the Marxist vocabulary as referring to revolutionaries who destroy the revolution from the inside and turn against its true aims. For example, Trotsky and his followers used this term about Stalin.
Emile Zola's novel Germinal takes its name from the calendar, as does the dish, Lobster thermidor. The frigates of the Floréal class all bear names of Republican months.
Months
The Republican calendar year began at the autumn equinox and had twelve months of 30 days each, which were given new names based on nature:- Autumn:
- Vendémiaire (from Latin vindemia, "vintage") Starting Sept 22, 23 or 24
- Brumaire (from French brume, "mist") Starting Oct 22, 23 or 24
- Frimaire (From French frimas, "frost") Starting Nov 21, 22 or 23
- Winter:
- Nivôse (from Latin nivosus, "snowy") Starting Dec 21, 22 or 23
- Pluviôse (from Latin pluviosus, "rainy") Starting Jan 20, 21 or 22
- Ventôse (from Latin ventosus, "windy") Starting Feb 19, 20 or 21
- Spring:
- Germinal (from Latin germen, "seed") Starting Mar 20 or 21
- Floréal (from Latin flos, "flower") Starting Apr 20 or 21
- Prairial (from French prairie, "meadow") Starting May 20 or 21
- Summer:
- Messidor (from Latin messis, "harvest") Starting Jun 19 or 20
- Thermidor (from Greek thermos, "hot") Starting Jul 19 or 20
- Fructidor (from Latin fructus, "fruits") Starting Aug 18 or 19
In England, people against the Revolution mocked the calendar by calling the months: Wheezy, Sneezy and Freezy; Slippy, Drippy and Nippy; Showery, Flowery and Bowery; Wheaty, Heaty and Sweety [3][4].
Ten days of the week
The month is divided into three décades or 'weeks' of ten days each, named simply:- primidi (first day)
- duodi (second day)
- tridi (third day)
- quartidi (fourth day)
- quintidi (fifth day)
- sextidi (sixth day)
- septidi (seventh day)
- octidi (eighth day)
- nonidi (ninth day)
- décadi (tenth day)
Days of the year
Instead of most days having a saint as in the Traditional Catholic Calendar, each day has an animal (days ending in 5), a tool (days ending in 0) or else a plant or mineral (all other days) associated with it.Autumn
| Vendémiaire (Sep 22 ~ Oct 21) | Brumaire (Oct 22 ~ Nov 20) | Frimaire (Nov 21 ~ Dec 20) |
|---|---|---|
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Winter
| Nivôse (Dec 21 ~ Jan 19) | Pluviôse (Jan 20 ~ Feb 18) | Ventôse (Feb 19 ~ Mar 20) |
|---|---|---|
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Spring
| Germinal (Mar 21 ~ Apr 19) | Floréal (Apr 20 ~ May 19) | Prairial (May 20 ~ Jun 18) |
|---|---|---|
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Summer
| Messidor (Jun 19 ~ Jul 18) | Thermidor (Jul 19 ~ Aug 17) | Fructidor (Aug 18 ~ Sep 16) |
|---|---|---|
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Complementary days
- La Fête de la Vertu "Virtue Day" on Sept 17 or 18
- La Fête du Génie "Talent Day" on Sept 18 or 19
- La Fête du Travail "Labour Day" on Sept 19 or 20
- La Fête de l'Opinion "Opinion Day" on Sept 20 or 21
- La Fête des Récompenses "Rewards Day" on Sept 21 or 22
- La Fête de la Révolution "Revolution Day" on Sept 22 or 23 (Leap years)
Converting to Gregorian Calendar
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CCXV
- The leap years would continue to vary in order to ensure that each year the autumnal equinox falls on 1 Vendémiaire, as was the case from year I to year XIV. This is the only method that was ever in legal effect, although it means that sometimes five years pass between leap years.http://www.gefrance.com/calrep/decrets.htm
- The leap year would have jumped after year 15 to year 20, after which a leap year would have fallen on each year divisible by four (thus in 20, 24, 28…), except most century years, according to Romme's proposed fixed rules. This would have simplified conversions between the Republican and Gregorian calendars since the Republican leap day would usually follow a few months after 29 February, at the end of each year divisible by four, so that the date of the Republican New Year remains the same (September 22) in the Gregorian calendar for the entire third century of the Republican Era (1993-2092 CE).http://prairial.free.fr/calendrier/calendrier.php?lien=discoursromme
- The leap years would have continued in a fixed rule every four years from the last one (thus years 15, 19, 23, 27…) with the leap day added before, rather than after, each year divisible by four, except most century years. This rule has the advantage that it is both simple to calculate and is continuous with every year in which the calendar was in official use during the First Republic. Concordances were printed in France, after the Republican Calendar was abandoned, using this rule to determine dates for long-term contracts.http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC24574361&id=oUoMAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PR9&lpg=RA1-PR9&num=100#PRA24-PA183,M1http://prairial.free.fr/calendrier/calendrier.php?lien=manuel-eng
- Beginning with year 20, years divisible by four would be leap years, except for years divisible by 128. The date of the Republican New Year remains the same (September 23) in the Gregorian calendar every year from 129 to 256 (1920-2047 CE).http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/jlmartinmas/repcalendar/calendar.htmlhttp://www.projectpluto.com/calendar.htm#republicanhttp://webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-french.html
| RE | CE | Equinox | Romme | Continuous | 128-Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCXIV (214) | 2005 | September 22* | September 22 | September 22 | September 23 |
| CCXV (215) | 2006 | September 23 | September 22 | September 22* | September 23 |
| CCXVI (216) | 2007 | September 23 | September 22* | September 23 | September 23* |
| CCXVII (217) | 2008 | September 22 | September 22 | September 22 | September 23 |
| CCXVIII (218) | 2009 | September 22* | September 22 | September 22 | September 23 |
| CCXIX (219) | 2010 | September 23 | September 22 | September 22* | September 23 |
See also
External links
- Date converter for numerous calendars, including this one
- Antique Decimal Watches
- Dials & Symbols of the French revolution. The Republican Calendar and Decimal time.
- Brumaire - The Republican Calendar, with Windows and Mac OS X applications, including a Dashboard's widget. (fr es en eo pt de nl)
- Another Republican calendar page, with an alternative Dashboard's widget
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The French Revolution (1789–1799) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal
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The French Revolution (1789–1799) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal
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Timeline of the French Revolution
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