Cordeliers Club

To give its more formal title The Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was established in 1790.  It gained the name it was more commonly known as from the Cordeliers Convent it first met in.   The club had subscription rates which were significantly lower than many of the other clubs in Paris.  This meant that it soon became home to a broad range of individuals.  Women were also accepted as were passive citizens.

The club saw its role to maintain the rights of the whole population of France as set out in the Declaration of the Rights of Man.  When the King was returned from his brief attempt at escape in June 1791 they saw their opportunity to end the threat of what they saw as despotic rule.  They created a petition calling for the abolishment of the monarchy in France.  The ceremony which saw thousands assembling at the Champ de Mars ended in bloodshed as fifty citizens were killed by the National Guard.  In the immediate aftermath of this event many of the leaders of the Cordeliers fled Paris or France altogether including Danton.

Over the following year however they were able to reorganise and played a significant role in the events surrounding August 10th 1792.  It was believed that Danton in particular was central to the planning of the insurrection.  In the subsequent political vacuum Danton would become Justice Minister.  There is conflicting evidence as to how involved he or other Cordelier members were in the September massacres however it was clear that many including Marat were more than happy to condone the activities.  The Cordeliers Club soon became the beacon for the radical elements of the revolution most notably the Hébertists who called for more radical solutions to the Republic’s problems.

From December 1793 with the publication of the Vieux Cordelier (Old Cordelier) Desmoulins with support from Danton attempted to reclaim the Cordelier Club from the radical elements and the revolution from what they began to see as the unnecessary excesses of the terror.  When Jacques Hébert was arrested, tried and executed it seemed that the more moderate or indulgent elements of the Cordeliers would reclaim their club and possibly the revolution itself.  However Cordeliers sympathisers were suppressed across France by Jacobin representatives on a mission.  Robespierre would then arrest, try and then execute Desmoulins, Danton and the other leading lights of the perceived Indulgent faction.  Thus ending the power of the Cordeliers.