Rebellion The Vendeans ask Cathelineau to lead the uprising, by Jules Gabriel Hubert-Sauzeau, 1900Īs the war developed, the Vendeans became incensed by the massacres and atrocities committed by the revolutionaries on both Catholic clergy and their fellow Vendeans. He collected an army of peasants and waged a private war against the government of the First French Republic. In the first years of the Revolution, Cathelineau joined the numbers of Vendean peasants disgusted by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, the draft laws, and the execution of King Louis XVI of France. His great physical strength, charisma, and piety enabled him to command the respect of his fellow Vendeans. He was a devout Catholic, and supported the Church's traditional role in French society. Life Early life Engraving of Jacques Cathelineauīorn at Le Pin-en-Mauges, in the lands now forming the département of Maine-et-Loire, he became well known in Anjou, a region over which he travelled as a peddler and alleged dealer in contraband goods. After the Bourbon Restoration, in honour of the heroism and sacrifices of Cathelineau, his family were ennobled. Without his leadership the royalists were defeated and soon they broke up into different factions. In the summer of 1793, while he and his men were storming the city of Nantes, Cathelineau was shot down by a sniper and died soon afterwards. He inspired his troops by fighting alongside them on the front lines, which proved to be his downfall. Cathelineau rallied an army of peasants loyal to the monarchy and the Church and waged an uprising against the revolutionaries, capturing several villages and castles, leading more volunteers to follow him.Īs the War in the Vendée grew in success, Cathelineau joined forces with other counterrevolutionary leaders and was made generalissimo of the Catholic and Royal Army. When the Kingdom of France was abolished and the French First Republic was established, the revolutionaries committed atrocities against the civilians of the Vendée during the Reign of Terror. He was known among his followers as the Saint of Anjou. Generalissimo Jacques Cathelineau ( French pronunciation: 5 January 1759 – 14 July 1793) was a French Vendéan insurrectionist leader during the Revolution. Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, French First Republic Jacques Cathelineau (1759-1793), généralissime vendéen, by Girodet (1816)
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