Jacobins

The Jacobins were a French political club and revolutionary movement that became a leading force for radical republicanism during the French Revolution.

French Revolution: A period of political and social upheaval in France from 1789 to 1799 that ended the monarchy and reshaped Europe. The Revolution created the political crisis in which the Jacobin Club formed and gained influence.
Jacobin Club network: A system of affiliated political clubs across France connected to the Paris Jacobin Club. Provincial affiliates carried Jacobin ideas and coordinated political pressure far beyond Paris.
Republicanism: A political tradition that rejects hereditary monarchy and grounds government in public authority. The Jacobins made republican government their defining alternative to France’s monarchy.
Reign of Terror: A period of emergency repression and executions in revolutionary France, chiefly from 1793 to 1794. The Terror became the most enduring and disputed consequence of Jacobin dominance.
Breton Club: A political association of deputies from Brittany that met during the Estates-General of 1789. The Jacobin Club began as this deputies’ association before expanding beyond Breton members.
National Convention: The French assembly that governed the First Republic from 1792 to 1795. Jacobin deputies used this legislature to enact republican measures and contest control of the state.
Popular sovereignty: The principle that legitimate political authority ultimately derives from the people. Jacobins invoked popular sovereignty to justify the Republic and revolutionary action against its enemies.
Law of 22 Prairial: A June 1794 law that sharply curtailed defendants’ rights before the Revolutionary Tribunal. This measure intensified political repression during the Jacobin-led Terror.
Dominican Order: A Catholic religious order whose Paris convent housed the Jacobin Club’s meetings. The club’s familiar name came from its meeting place in the former Dominican convent on Rue Saint-Honoré.
Montagnards: A radical faction in the National Convention, named for its members’ high seats in the chamber. The Montagnards formed the Jacobin-aligned bloc that defeated the Girondins in 1793.

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