Germinal () is the seventh
month
A month is a unit of time, used with calendars, that is approximately as long as a natural phase cycle of the Moon; the words ''month'' and ''Moon'' are cognates. The traditional concept of months arose with the cycle of Moon phases; such lunar mo ...
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 spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
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
Ventôse (; also ''Ventose'') was the sixth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin word ''ventosus'' 'windy'.
Ventôse was the third month of the winter quarter (''mois d'hiver''). It started between 19 an ...
and precedes
Floréal
Floréal () was the eighth 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 or ...
.
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 leading figure of the French Revolution. A modest and unknown lawyer on the eve of the Revolution, Danton became a famous orator of the Cordeliers Club and was raised to gove ...
and
Camille Desmoulins
Lucie-Simplice-Camille-Benoît Desmoulins (; 2 March 17605 April 1794) was a French journalist, politician and a prominent figure of the French Revolution. He is best known for playing an instrumental role in the events that led to the Stormin ...
, which took place during Germinal of 1794, four months before the
Thermidorian Reaction
In the historiography of the French Revolution, the Thermidorian Reaction ( or ''Convention thermidorienne'', "Thermidorian Convention") is the common term for the period between the ousting of Maximilien Robespierre on 9 Thermidor II, or 27 J ...
in which
Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; ; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre fer ...
himself was executed. The events of Germinal 1794 signaled the beginning of the end of the
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...
.
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 (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...
titled after the month
External links
Spring Quarter of Year II (facsimile)
{{Revolutionary calendar months
French Republican calendar months
March
April
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