Germinal () was the seventh
month in the
French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
word ''germen'', "germination". Germinal was the first month of the spring quarter (''mois de printemps''). It started March 21 or March 22, and ended April 19 or April 20. It follows
Ventôse and precedes
Floréal.
In the context of the French Revolution, ''Germinal'' sometimes refers to the downfall and execution of the Indulgents,
Georges Danton
Georges Jacques Danton (; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a French lawyer and a leading figure in the French Revolution. He became a deputy to the Paris Commune, presided in the Cordeliers district, and visited the Jacobin club. In Augu ...
and
Camille Desmoulins
Lucie-Simplice-Camille-Benoît Desmoulins (; 2 March 17605 April 1794) was a French journalist and politician who played an important role in the French Revolution. Desmoulins was tried and executed alongside Georges Danton when the Committee ...
, which took place during Germinal of 1794, four months before the
Thermidorian Reaction
The Thermidorian Reaction (french: Réaction thermidorienne or ''Convention thermidorienne'', "Thermidorian Convention") is the common term, in the historiography of the French Revolution, for the period between the ousting of Maximilien Robespie ...
in which
Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...
himself was executed. The events of Germinal 1794 signaled the beginning of the end of the
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First French Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public Capital punishment, executions took pl ...
.
Day name table
Like all FRC months, Germinal lasted 30 days and was divided into three 10-day weeks called ''décades'' (decades). Every day had the name of an agricultural plant, except the 5th (Quintidi) and 10th day (Decadi) of every decade, which had the name of a domestic animal (Quintidi) or an agricultural tool (Decadi). The 26th and 27th changed their role in later years.
Conversion table
See also
*''
Germinal'', a novel by
Émile Zola
Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...
titled after the month
External links
Spring Quarter of Year II (facsimile)
{{Revolutionary calendar months
French Republican calendar
March
April
sv:Franska revolutionskalendern#Månaderna