Revolutionary Tribunal

A Paris court established in 1793 to try alleged enemies of the French Revolution. It became a central instrument of political justice during the Reign of Terror.

Law of Suspects: A French law of 1793 that enabled authorities to arrest people suspected of opposing the Revolution. It supplied the Tribunal with a broad pool of people accused of counterrevolutionary activity.
French Revolution: A period of political and social upheaval in France from 1789 to 1799 that ended the monarchy and transformed the state. The Tribunal was created within this revolution to address perceived internal enemies.
Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville: A French lawyer who served as public prosecutor of the Revolutionary Tribunal during the Reign of Terror. He organized many of the prosecutions most closely associated with the court.
Reign of Terror: A period of the French Revolution, chiefly from 1793 to 1794, marked by emergency government and widespread executions. The Tribunal became one of the Terror’s principal institutions of prosecution and execution.
Law of 22 Prairial: A 1794 law that curtailed defense rights and narrowed the Revolutionary Tribunal’s verdicts to acquittal or death. It sharply accelerated trials and executions during the Terror.
National Convention: The elected assembly that governed France from 1792 to 1795 and proclaimed the republic. The Convention established the Tribunal in March 1793.
Georges Danton: A leading figure of the French Revolution who helped establish the First French Republic. The Tribunal condemned Danton and his associates to death in April 1794.
Thermidorian Reaction: The political reversal after Robespierre’s fall in July 1794 that dismantled much of the Jacobin regime. The reaction curtailed the Tribunal and brought its most intense phase to an end.
Public Prosecutor of the Revolutionary Tribunal: The office responsible for bringing and prosecuting cases before the Revolutionary Tribunal. Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville became its best-known holder, directing prosecutions during the Terror.
War of the First Coalition: A series of wars from 1792 to 1797 between revolutionary France and shifting European coalitions. Military threats intensified fears of treason that helped justify the court’s creation.

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