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If the Fall of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, marks the symbolic beginning of the French Revolution, then August 4 is the day the Old Regime ended, for it was on that day (or, more precisely, that night) that the National Assembly met and undertook sweeping reforms that ultimately led to a complete reconstruction of the French polity. What began as a prearranged meeting with limited objectives suddenly took on a frenzied atmosphere during which dozens of noble deputies renounced their traditional privileges and dues. By the end of the night, the Assembly had instituted more meaningful reform than had the monarchy in decades of futile efforts. In The Night the Old Regime Ended, Michael Fitzsimmons offers the first full-length study in English of the night of August 4 and its importance to the French Revolution.
Fitzsimmons argues against Fran?ois Furet and others who maintain that the Terror was implicit in the events of 1789. To the contrary, Fitzsimmons shows that the period from 1789 to 1791 was a genuine moderate phase of the Revolution. Unlike all of its successor bodies, the National Assembly passed no punitive legislation against recalcitrant clergy or ?migr?s, and it amnestied all those imprisoned for political offenses before it disbanded. In the final analysis, the remarkable degree of change accomplished peacefully is what distinguishes the early period of the Revolution and gives it world-historical importance.
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fitzsimmons/book 10/28/02 8:41 PM Page i The Night the Old Regime Ended fitzsimmons/book 10/28/02 8:41 PM Page ii fitzsimmons/book 10/28/02 8:41 PM M I C H A E L Page iii P. F I T Z S I M M O N S The Night the Old Regime Ended AUGUST 4, 1789, AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION The Pennsylvania State University Press University Park, Pennsylvania fitzsimmons/book 10/28/02 8:41 PM Page iv To the Belmont Abbey College Class of 1971 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Fizsimmons, Michael P., 1949– The night the Old Regime ended : August 4, 1789 and the French Revolution / Michael P. Fitzsimmons. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-271-02233-7 (alk. paper) 1. French—History—Revolution, 1789–1799. 2. Feudalism—France. I. Title DC168.0804.F57 2002 944.04'1—dc21 2002012192 Copyright © 2003 The Pennsylvania State University All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, PA 16802-1003 It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper. Publications on uncoated stock satisfy the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1992. fitzsimmons/book 10/28/02 8:41 PM Page v Contents ix Preface One The National Assembly and the Night of August 4 1 Two The Impact on the Church 47 Three The Abolition of Nobility 93 The Ramifications in the Countryside 137 The Reverberation in the Cities 173 Conclusion 215 Bibliography 223 Index 237 Four Five v fitzsimmons/book 10/28/02 8:41 PM And this, Page vi repeated I with exultation to myself, this is the National Assembly of France! Those men now before my eyes are the men who engross the attention, the astonishment of Europe; for the issue of whose decrees surrounding nati