Calliope articles from April 2007

Calliope archives from April 2007

5 eyewitness accounts.(Louis XVI, Ludwig van der Fluhe, guillotines market presence )(Quotation)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... Jun 25, 1789 If you abandon me in this great enterprise, I shall continue working for the welfare of my peoples... No king has ever done so much for any nation.--Louis XVI, to the National Assembly July 14, 1789 Daggers, bayonets, pistols...

"What exactly is a revolution?".(MUSINGS)(French Revolution)(Chronology)
April 1, 2007... Liberte, Egalite Fraternite! ("Liberty, Equality, Fraternity!') --a motto of the French Revolution Well, according to Webster's dictionary, "it is the overthrow of a government, form of government, or social system by those...

The oath of the tennis court.
April 1, 2007... The French painter Jacques-Louis avid captured forever the moment the Tennis Court Oath, but not in a finished painting. A final preparatory sketch hung for a short time in his own studio and later in a public salon, where it attracted a large...

2 extraordinary episodes.(French Revolution)
April 1, 2007... (1) Revolutionaries storm the Bastille and arrest the governor of the prison, Bernard de Launay. (2) A contemporary oil painting of the Declaration of the Rights of Man. Note: In small capital letters below the title are the French...

Betrayal.(Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's failed escape plans)
April 1, 2007... Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette never resigned themselves to the role of popular sovereigns of the people. Their unwillingness to cooperate and make political change possible "through no other force than the force of reason, justice, and public...

The revolution of August 10, 1792: a French political cartoon published in 1791. Louis XVI is pictured as a pig with fish on his head. On his leg is a tether held by a man of the Third Estate.
April 1, 2007... In August 10, 1792, the citizens of Paris and the National Guardsmen from the provinces overthrew Louis XVI. France's 800-year-old monarchy had come to an end. What followed was the First Republic, which lasted a mere 12 years. In the...

The Cordelier Club.
April 1, 2007... The political society known as the Cordelier Club was first organized in April 1790. It took its name from the fact that it met at a former Franciscan monastery on the Rue des ("street of the") Cordeliers. Its membership dues were about...

The affair of the necklace.(French Revolution )
April 1, 2007... A would-be countess, a cardinal, and a queen--the perfect cast of characters for a tale of love, betrayal, and trickery. When these characters interacted in 1780s France, it was no fairy tale. Rather, it became the notorious "Affair of the...

A king on trial.(French Revolution)
April 1, 2007... The monarchy had been overthrown, but Louis and his family were still in the Temple. What to do with them was an important issue. Elections were held for the new legislative body known as the Convention. This assembly was divided over the fate...

The Louvre.
April 1, 2007... One of the world's most celebrated museums, home to thousands of paintings and sculptures, including the famed Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, the Louvre is located in the center of Paris. Its construction dates to the 12th century, when Phillip...

A heart tells all.(DNA tests on Louis-Charles' remains to determine royal lineage)
April 1, 2007... DNA contains every organism's I genetic blueprint, and every human being--except identical twins--has unique DNA that he or she inherits from both parents. It is DNA that determines each person's physical characteristics, including hair and eye...

Word origins.(FUN WITH WORDS)
April 1, 2007... Revolution The English word "revolution" has similarly spelled counterparts in several languages. Among them are French (revolution), Dutch (revolution), Portuguese (revolucao), and Spanish (revolucion). But, spelling is not all these words...

Word stories.(FUN WITH WORDS)
April 1, 2007... Frank Some 1,500 years ago, tribes living to the east of what is known today as France invaded the land and conquered its people, the Gauls. To the Romans, who lived to the south, the conquerors were free people, that is, not subservient to...

The "cides".
April 1, 2007... Never heard of the "cides"? Think again! The four letters "cide" form the final syllable of a group of English words that all relate to death and killing. "Cide" is actually a derivative of the Latin verb caedere, meaning "to kill." And, it...

Let them eat cake?(Marie Antoinette)
April 1, 2007... Did Marie Antoinette really say "Let them eat cake"? Even today, many historical novels and nonfiction books continue to attribute this phrase to the wife of Louis XVI. They say the queen carelessly uttered the words after she was told that...

The Terror.(French Revolution)
April 1, 2007... On September 5, 1793, Parisians came before the Convention and demanded that the government "make terror the order of the day." So began the most notorious phase of the French Revolution. From fall 1793 to summer 1794, the revolutionary...

Monsieur Guillotin.(French Revolution)
April 1, 2007... The guillotine--a wooden apparatus whose heavy blade two grooved, upright posts to cut off a prisoner's head--was used as a form of execution. The machine was named after its inventor, the French aristocrat Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin...

Popular politics and the sans-culottes.(French Revolution)
April 1, 2007... The Terror may be the darkest period of the French Revolution, but it also saw the birth of popular democracy. As many citizens were facing the guillotine, others enjoyed greatly expanded civil rights and social services. Never before had...

A Tale of Two Cities.
April 1, 2007... A Tale of Two Cities, a historical novel written by the renowned English author Charles Dickens (1812-1870), highlights life before and during the French Revolution. While A Tale of Two Cities does not focus on the causes and effects of...

Political smarty-pants: you are what you wear!
April 1, 2007... The Wealthy (Nobility & Royals) clothing showed to which class you belonged * the fancier your clothes were, the more important you were * clothing showed that "money makes the man!" The Sans-Culottes (Commoners) wanted a republic...

Tempus fugit: (Latin for "time flies").(metric time)
April 1, 2007... French scientists at the time of the French Revolution thought it would be just dandy if everyone adopted a new way of keeping time. As meters and liters were just starting to take off, they thought, "Why not try metric time? It would be only...

The emigration.(French Revolution, painting)
April 1, 2007... This sketch of Azilum from across the Susquehanna River was done in 1794 by le Comte Colbert de Maulevrier. On the night of July 17, 1789, three carriages left the palace of Versailles, bound for Belgium. The Prince de Condo, a close...

The revolution spreads.(French Revolution)
April 1, 2007... Was Goethe right? Did a new era begin with the French Revolution? Most historians today would say "yes." "Modern history," at least for the Western world, seems to start with the French Revolution. But why? What kinds of changes occurred, not...

La Fayette--Liberty's defender.(French Revolution, Marquis de La Fayette)
April 1, 2007... The French Revolution had a profound impact on the United States. From an undeclared naval war to the sale of the Louisiana Territory in 1803, French and American destinies were closely intertwined. Among those who played a significant role...

The rise and fall of Maximum.(French Revolution)
April 1, 2007... In a way, the Revolution was the result of an economic crisis. The rising national debt had led to the calling of the Estates-General in 1789, and the high cost of food that summer had fueled the anger of the Parisian mob that drove the...

Revolutionary calendar.(French Revolution)
April 1, 2007... In their desire to modernize French life, the revolutionaries introduced a new calendar. Months were given names referring to seasons and farming, such as Nivose (snow) or Floreal (flowering). Each month had three decades of 10 days each, and...

Jacques-Louis David.(French Revolution)
April 1, 2007... "If you drink hemlock, I will drink it with you!" cried painter Jacques-Louis David in support of his friend Robespierre on the evening of July 26, 1794. But the next day he stayed home, claiming a "sudden illness." This probably saved his...

Can you identify?(French Revolution)
April 1, 2007... Frenchmen, run, fly, leave everything, make haste to be present at the Oath of the Tennis Court, and if you are not burned, consumed by patriotic passion at this scorching fire, be assured that you are not worthy of liberty. So spoke an...

Ask Calliope.(Islam, Chinooks, money)(Column)
April 1, 2007... [?] Today Islam is widely practiced in North Africa. How did this Middle Eastern religion spread? Were any religions practiced before Islam? Destiny, Web post [!] Within decades after the prophet Muhammad's death in A.D. 632, his...

Books.(Cultural Atlas of France)(The French Revolution: The Fall of the Monarchy)(The French Revolution and Napoleon: An Eyewitness History)(Recommended readings)
April 1, 2007... Cultural Atlas of France by John Ardagh with Colin Jones (Facts On File, 1991, www.factsonfile.com) presents an excellent review of French history and culture, accompanied by a wealth of well-chosen maps, diagrams, and illustrations. The...

Classroom resources.(OFF THe SHeLF)(www.jackdaw.com)(Website overview)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... The French Revolution (Jackdaw, www.jackdaw.com) includes a terrific selection of key historical documents, including eyewitness accounts, newspaper reports, a translation of the Declaration of the Rights and much more, together with...

On the net.(French Revolution, Web sites)(Website list)
April 1, 2007... Here's a terrific--and very comprehensive--site on the French Revolution, including 600 primary documents: http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/ This site includes links to a great variety of sources, including some with audio, that relate...

Cobblestone resources.(OFF THe SHeLF)
April 1, 2007... Materials that complement this issue's theme, "The French Revolution," and are available from Cobblestone Publishing include: Napoleon (CAL0404) Louis XIV (CAL0204)

Legacy of a revolution.(French Revolution)(Cover story)
April 1, 2007... News of the revolution in France soon inspired upheavals in its colonies. Indeed, the drama, violence, and bloodshed in France were especially intense in its most profitable colony, Saint-Domingue (later to become Haiti). Located in the western...

Then and now: fast-forward to the 21st century.(France)
April 1, 2007... Fast-forward to the 21st century and France is still one of the leading fashion capitals of the world. What do you think of the styles these mannequins are modeling in a storefront window in Paris? Imagine wearing the dress and hairdo of...