They were armed with kitchen knives and many other simple weapons, with some carrying muskets and swords. Bread was very difficult to get and very expensive. On October 4, 1789, a crowd of women demanding bread for their families gathered other discontented Parisians, including some men, and marched toward Versailles, arriving soaking wet from the rain. While the march turned into a more general revolutionary upsurge, this fear remained at its roots. It gave the revolutionaries confidence in the power of the people over the king. A group of six women were escorted into the king’s apartment, where they told him of the crowd’s privations. On the morning of October 5, 1789, women were near rioting in the Paris marketplace over the high price and scarcity of bread. This combination of a bread shortage and high prices angered many French women, who relied on bread sales to make a living. But the crowd did not trust that his queen, Marie Antoinette, would not talk him out of this, as she was known by then to oppose the reforms. A month later, in August, feudalism and many of the privileges of the nobility and royalty were abolished with the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen,” modeled on America’s Declaration of Independence and seen as a precursor to forming a new constitution. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson was among the statesmen who gathered in France in June 1919 to sign the Treaty of Versailles, an agreement that did little to heal the wounds of World War I … Thus, they would march to the Palace of Versailles and demand that the king respond. Their demonstrations quickly became intertwined with the activities of revolutionaries, who were seeking liberal political reforms and a constitutional mon… As more and more women and men arrived, the crowd grew to more than 7,000 individuals. Leading up to the March In 1789 France, the main food of the commoners was bread. Fearing for their lives, they agreed, and the palac… The crowd then called for the queen, who emerged with two of her children. Sellers also were anxious about the shrinking market for their goods. The occupation of the deputies' benches in the Assembly created a template for the future, forecasting the mob rule that would frequently influence successive Parisian governments. The power of the King was irreversibly curtailed, and he never again dwelt at Versailles. They demanded to see "the Baker," "the Baker's wife," and "the Baker's boy". The Women's March on Versailles in October 1789 is often credited with forcing the royal court and family to move from the traditional seat of government in Versailles to Paris, a major and early turning point in the French Revolution. The march on Versailles's main purpose was to obtain bread and force the price of bread down to where it had been. On 5th October 1789, a large crowd of protesters, mostly women, began to assemble at Parisian markets. The ceiling was painted by Antoine Coypel, 1708–09. Versailles was known as a royal paradise, and many very important people lived there along with the King and his family. Worst of all, the papers dwelt scornfully on the reputed desecration of the tricolor cockade; drunken officers were said to have stamped upon this symbol of the nation and professed their allegiance solely to the white cockade of the House of Bourbon. On October 5, one young woman began beating a drum at the market in eastern Paris. Their invasion of the palace removed all doubt that the monarchy was subject to the will of the people, and was a major defeat for France's Ancien Régime of heredity monarchy. Stanislas-Marie Maillard, who had been a captain and national guardsman and helped attack the Bastille in July, had joined the crowd. Behind them, at a distance, Lafayette followed with the National Guard. The history of Versailles is inextricably linked with the figure of Louis XIV. For its inheritors, the march would stand as an inspirational example, emblematic of the power of popular movements. March to Versailles On October 5th 1789, a violent dispute broke out in Paris at the Hotel de Ville regarding the lack of bread throughout the country. Maillard remained a hero, but he died in 1794 at age 31. From their starting point in the markets of the eastern section of Paris, the angry women forced a nearby church to toll its bells. Speakers at the Palais-Royal mentioned it regularly, but the final trigger was a royal banquet on October 1 at which the officers at Versailles welcomed the officers of new troops, a customary practice when a unit changed its garrison. Calls for more radical action were increasing, and many nobles and those who were not French nationals left France, fearing for their fortunes or even their lives. A History of the Women's March on Versailles Context. The Women’s March on Versailles stood as an inspirational example, emblematic of the power of popular movements. The march began among women in the marketplaces of Paris who, on the morning of 5 October 1789, were near rioting over the high price and scarcity of bread. At least two guards were killed, and their heads were raised on pikes before the fighting in the palace calmed. The march of the Market Women to Versailles was one of the most significant events at the beginning of the French Revolution. The Women's March on Versailles began among women in the marketplaces of Paris who were near rioting over the high price and scarcity of bread. The Women's March on Versailles October 5, 1789 was a crucial turning point in the French Revolution because it Placed the King and Assembly under the pressure of the Paris crowd The "Great Fear" of … The south wing was nicknamed “the princes’ wing,” as the princes du sang (“ princes of the blood ”) were given quarters there. In October, food shortages in the popular markets of Paris fostered discontent and fear, prompting market women and women consumers to show their concern by marching on foot to Versailles and calling upon the king, Louis XVI, to exercise his paternal role by … They were convinced that the royal family lived in luxury oblivious to the problems … Driven to desperation by food shortages, they hoped the king would intervene – but some had more sinister ambitions. The lavish banquet was reported in newspapers as nothing short of a gluttonous orgy, which outraged the commoners. Lafayette eventually attempted to leave France, as many thought he’d been too soft on the royal family. The Women’s March on Versailles, also known as The October March, The October Days, or simply The March on Versailles, was one of the earliest and most significant events of the French Revolution. With few other options available, the President of the Assembly, Jean Joseph Mounier, accompanied a deputation of market-women into the palace to see the king. Many people in Paris were thus hungry and restless. The royals were effectively trapped in Paris. This embellished tale of the royal banquet became the source of intense public outrage. On October 5, 1789, women had suffered enough injustice as a result of the economic crisis in France. The king tries to work with the mob by promises to give them the majority of bread in his supply and when he retreats the women believed he lied. An illustration of the Women’s March on Versailles, October 5, 1789, author unknown. Lafayette (commander-in-chief of the National Guard), who had earned the court’s indebtedness, convinced the king to address the crowd. The Storming of the Bastille took place in Paris, France on July 14, 1789. Some in the crowd called for the children to be removed, and there was fear that the crowd intended to kill the queen. Alexander Vlahos as Monsieur Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, brother of the king. Bringing together people representing sources of the Revolution in their largest numbers yet, the march on Versailles proved to be a defining moment of that Revolution.=. In May of 1789, the Estates-General began to consider reforms, and in July, the Bastille was stormed. As a result of the march, the monarchist faction in the Assembly effectively lost its significance, Robespierre raised his public profile considerably, Lafayette found himself tied too closely to the king; Maillard returned to Paris with his status as a local hero made permanent. In 1789, one loaf of bread cost more than half a day's pay for the common workers. Stories of a plot to destroy wheat crops in order to starve the population provoked the so-called Great Fear in the summer of 1789. For the women of Paris, the march became the climax of revolutionary hagiography. Upon arriving, the women killed several of the king’s guards, putting their severed heads on pikes, and forced the royal family to return to Paris with them. © Sarah DUSAUTOIR/Fotolia. Because of poor harvests for several years, grain was scarce, and the price of bread in Paris had increased beyond the ability of many of the poorer residents to buy it. The whole march happened because the women were outraged by the bread prices, they were just completely fed up with them. The crowd now numbered around 60,000, and they accompanied the royal family back to Paris, where the king and queen and their court took up residence at the Tuileries Palace. It was clear that major upheaval was underway in France. Some even chanted “Vive la Reine!” ("Long Live the Queen!). In October 1789, thousands of Parisians, many of them women, embarked on a 12-mile march to Versailles, the residence of the French king Louis XVI and the National Constituent Assembly. As the Revolution progressed, he was hounded into exile by the radical leadership. What was the Bastille? These uncertainties added to general anxiety. Their demonstrations quickly became intertwined with the activities of revolutionaries, who were seeking liberal political reforms and a constitutional monarchy for France. October 5, 1789 – Women’s March on Versailles The Women’s March on Versailles was also another important turning point of the French Revolution. Womens March to Versailles 1789 Women's March to Versailles Part of Libert é , Egalit é, Fraternité: The French Revolution Exhibit Stuart Bowman as Alexandre Bontemps, valet of the king. Armed with sticks and clubs and shouting, “Bread!” a mob of women and men (some dressed as women) marched the 12 miles from Paris to Versailles on the night of October 5, 1789. Louis attempted to work within the framework of his limited powers after the women’s march but won little support, and he and the royal family remained virtual prisoners in the Tuileries. He led some 15,000 troops and a few thousand civilians to Versailles to help guide and protect the women marchers, and, he hoped, keep the crowd from turning into an uncontrollable mob. However, at about 6 a.m., some of the protesters discovered a small gate to the palace was unguarded. Versailles was seen as a glorious symbol of the absolute monarch, of France’s divinely ordained royal family, and of the state itself. The angry crowd demanded that King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and their children return to Paris. Despite its post-revolutionary mythology, the march was not a spontaneous event. However pleased it may have been by the royal displays, the crowd insisted that the king come back with them to Paris. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Assembly_(French_Revolution), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_to_Varennes, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_March_on_Versailles, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacte_de_Famine, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_March_on_Versailles#/media/File:Women%27s_March_on_Versailles01.jpg, https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/. He was again called to the Tuileries on February 28, 1791, when several hundred armed aristocrats surrounded the palace in an effort to defend the king. Protecting the king during the March on Versailles in October, he diffused the situation—although the crowd demanded that Louis move to the Tuileries Palace in Paris. The royal family briefly attended the affair. More and more women began to gather around her and, before long, a group of them was marching through Paris, gathering a larger crowd as they stormed through the streets. For the women of Paris, the march became the source of apotheosis in revolutionary hagiography. At about 1 p.m. on October 6, the vast throng escorted the royal family and a complement of 100 deputies back to the capital, this time with the armed National Guards leading the way. The clergy and the aristocracy had lost their priviliges, and feudalism had been abolished, but true change for the working class was slow to come.Ordinary citizens were still struggling to keep themselves fed, with the price of grain having skyrocketed due to droughts in the summer of 1788. The Women's March on Versailles, also known as The October March, The October Days, or simply The March on Versailles, was one of the earliest and most significant events of … Rumors swirled that foods, especially grain, were purposely withheld from the poor for the benefit of the privileged. Concerned over the high price and scarcity of bread, women from the marketplaces of Paris led the March on Versailles on October 5, 1789. A famous illustration of Parisian women marching to Versailles, October 1789. ... Summary: "March of the Penguins" is a documentary on the life cycle of Emperor Penguins. One of the men was Stanislas-Marie Maillard, a prominent conqueror of the Bastille, who by unofficial acclamation was given a leadership role. On the morning of October 5, a young woman struck a marching drum at the edge of a group of market women who were infuriated by the chronic shortage and high price of bread. Initially demanding bread, they began, possibly with the involvement of radicals who had joined in the march, to demand arms as well. The Many Roles of Women in the French Revolution, Biography of Marie Antoinette, Queen Executed in the French Revolution, A History of the Palace of Versailles, Jewel of the Sun King, The Bastille, and its Role in the French Revolution, The Estates General and the French Revolution, The French Revolution, Its Outcome, and Legacy, Civil Rights Movement Timeline From 1965 to 1969, The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Biography of Marie-Antoinette, French Queen Consort, Biography of King Louis XVI, Deposed in the French Revolution, American Revolution: Marquis de Lafayette, Everything You Need to Know About Bastille Day, A Narrative History of the French Revolution - Contents, Biography of King Louis XIV, France’s Sun King, M.Div., Meadville/Lombard Theological School. The march became a rallying point through the next stages of the Revolution. The … The Bastille was a fortress built in the late 1300s to protect Paris during the Hundred Years' War. Amira Casar as Béatrice, Madame de Clermont (season 1) Evan Williams as Chevalier de … Following the Storming of the Bastille and the Great Fear, revolutionary fervor spread among the populace. Speakers at the Palais-Royal mentioned it regularly and the idea of a march on Versailles had been widespread. The chapel on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles, France, built on two levels, by Robert de Cotte, 1710. Lafayette, though initially acclaimed, found he had tied himself too closely to the king. The reign of Louis XIV 1638 - 1715. Maillard returned to Paris with his status as a local hero made permanent. Their demonstrations quickly became intertwined with the activities of revolutionaries seeking liberal political reforms and a constitutional monarchy for France. On the morning of October 5, 1789, women in the marketplaces of Paris were near rioting over the high price and scarcity of bread. Lafayette brought her to the same balcony, accompanied by her young son and daughter. Infuriated, the rest surged towards the breach and streamed inside. When the king was finally convinced by Lafayette to appear before the crowd, he was surprised to be greeted by the traditional “Vive le Roi!” ("Long Live the King!") They ended the march on October 7. Although the fighting ceased quickly and the royal troops had cleared the palace attacked by the revolutionaries, the crowd was still everywhere outside. On the 5th of October 1789, the group of working class women were protesting the price of bread and on the 6th of October they marched from Paris to Versailles to confront the king. Summary. The Women’s March on Versailles was one of the earliest and most significant events of the French Revolution. 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