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LECTURE: THE FRENCH REVOLUTION LIVES
TIME:
October 21, 2023 7:00 PM
EVENT DESCRIPTION:
Some date the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789 with the Storming of the Bastille on July 14. The overthrow of the ancient regime led eventually to the Reign of Terror beginning in 1793 which included the beheading of the Catholic King Louis XVI and later his Habsburg wife, Marie Antoinette.
Priests and nuns were executed in the name of the revolution. Over 16,000 death sentences were issued and at least 10,000 were executed without trial. It was a period of intense hatred of religion as the revolutionaries enthroned a prostitute on the high altar of the Notre Dame Cathedral as “Reason” over against the “Superstition” of religion.
Those days may seem far removed but many of the traits of the revolution, both good (promotion of democracy) and bad (a fierce hatred of religion), continue to our own day.
Dr. Thomas Palfrey of Xavier University in New Orleans will speak to the continuing influence of the Revolution even today.
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