29 Fructidor
An CCXXXIV
Louis-Marie La Révellière-Lépeaux
Révellière hated the Catholic Church, and not without reason: as a child, he was educated by a priest who brutally abused him. The cleric’s beatings left Révellière with a hunchback. For the rest of his life, he thus bore the mark of a victim of the Church’s power. Révellière became a politician. In the Convention, he sided with the Girondins and had to go into hiding at the height of the Terror. After returning, he was elected to the Directory in 1795, where he initially supported, with some reluctance, an attempt to reconcile the Republic with Rome. The coup of 18 Fructidor gave him a new opportunity. He tried to introduce the religion of Theophilanthropy in France as a replacement for Catholicism. Yet his undertaking was no more successful than Robespierre and his Cult of the Supreme Being. Napoleon eventually banned Theophilanthropic ceremonies. After Révellière was forced to resign from the Directory, he withdrew from politics for the rest of his life.
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1753 - 1824
- August 24, 1753 · Louis-Marie Révellière-Lépeaux is born in Montaigu, the son of Marie Anne Maillocheau and the lawyer Jean-Baptiste de La Révellière.
- 1775 · Révellière completes his law studies and becomes a lawyer in Paris.
- 1789 · Deputy for the Third Estate of the province of Anjou in the Estates-General.
- September 1792 · Elected as a deputy to the National Convention. He sympathizes with the Girondins, but in January 1793 votes unconditionally for the death of the former king Louis.
- June 2, 1793 · Fall of the Girondins. Révellière has to go into hiding.
- December 1794 · Following the recall of the Girondins, Révellière resumes his seat in the National Convention.
- November 1, 1795 · Elected to the Directory.
- May 1, 1797 · In a speech at the Institut national, Révellière-Lépeaux advocates a natural religion based on Theophilanthropy.
- September 4, 1797 · Together with the directors Barras and Reubell, Révellière carries out the coup of 18 Fructidor. He uses this republican turn to pursue his plan to establish Theophilanthropy as a replacement for the Catholic religion.
- June 18, 1799 · Following the Councils’ coup against the Directory on 30 Prairial Year VII, Révellière resigns under pressure from the deputies. He withdraws from politics.
- March 27, 1824 · Dies in Paris.
Quotes
When a religion has been abolished, it must always be replaced.
Révellière on Catholicism
To found his religion, Jesus Christ was crucified and resurrected. You should have tried to do as much.
Talleyrand to La Révellière-Lépeaux, May 1797.
The best and most steadfast republican of those times.
Jules Michelet on La Révellière-Lépeaux, 1871
Le Moniteur
Theophilanthropic baptism, 1798
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