Favorite Robespierre anecdote?

hadleyspazzy:

bunniesandbeheadings:

#anon #Robespierre #someone fact check me please

On 12 June 1783 Robespierre wrote a letter to his friend Buissart and Buissart’s wife containing a description of a brief vacation he was taking to visit family relatives nearby. Sure enough, he describes his entry into the neighboring town:

revolution-avec-revolution:

This instance was mentioned in a Robespierre biography by Jean Matrat, although I don’t have the book on-hand to quote it directly.

So basically, Robespierre was going through the countryside in a carriage, and he had this idea that the people living there were jolly and welcoming. 

Robespierre got really excited, right, and so upon seeing some people outside of his carriage window, he poked his head out and shouted “hello!”, waving to them like a lunatic.

Of course, the bewildered citizens did not return his strange gesture, and this made Robespierre rather disgruntled. Apparently, it ruined his day. 

I believe that this is based off of a letter that he wrote to someone while he was travelling. Augustin, perhaps? I’m really not sure. But I laugh every time I read about it. Poor Robey.

It was five in the morning when we left; our chariot issued from the gates of the town [Arras] precisely at the moment that the sun’s chariot sprang from the ocean’s bosom. It was decorated with a cloth of dazzling whiteness, a piece of which floated in the air, the sport of zephyrs; it was thus we passed before the dawn-risen gatekeepers. You may be sure that I did not fail to turn my eyes upon them; I wished to see whether these Arguses of the farm would belie their ancient reputation for civility; I dared to hope that I might exceed them in politeness, if that were possible. I leant out of the carriage; I removed the new hat which covered my head; I saluted them with a gracious smile; I counted on a fitting return. Would you believe it, those gate- keepers, immobile like wayside gods at the door of their hut, gazed upon me with a fixed stare, and did not return my bow! My self-love has always been excessive; this look of contempt wounded me to the quick; I was in an abominable temper for the rest of the day.

This zany tone holds throughout, eventually spiraling down into that infamous “fruit tart” poem that tumblr loves so much.

Regarding Robespierre’s personal manner, the butt of the letter’s joke is always Robespierre himself, who he caricaturizes as vain, attention seeking, and overdramatic. The common sneer, that Robespierre couldn’t laugh at himself, that Robespierre never joked, etc., is contradicted — even if we don’t find it funny (and I do) it’s nonetheless clear that Robespierre is jesting. 

With that said, certain historians – I think G. Lenotre, for example, but feel free to correct me if I’m getting him flopped with someone else – argue that since Robespierre Never Joked, this letter must be read in flat seriousness. This loop is fascinating: Robespierre Never Joked. Well, I mean, we have this letter here where he seems to be joking, but since I just said he never joked, obviously this letter must be a deadpan reflection of the events Robespierre portrays. It’s the epitome of twisting your evidence to suit your theory and —- and I got WAY off track here. 

Yes, Robespierre once Got Excited about being in a new town, waved like a crazy person, and was rebuffed because it’s 5 A.M dammit, no one is in the mood for this shit .

This is actually one of my favorite Robespierre anecdotes, too.