Martial Joseph Armand Herman (29 August 1759 – 7 May 1795) was a French lawyer and a

chief judge Chief judge may refer to: In lower or circuit courts The highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. * Chief judge (Australia) * Chief judge (United States) In supreme courts Some of Chief ...

during 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 ...

. His most famous cases were against

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...

and

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 ...

. As the commissioner of police, he dealt with the Luxembourg prison conspiracies, shortly before the Jacobin regime fell.

Life

Martial was born in a family of lawyers. On 26 July 1783, he was admitted to the bar, and in 1786 he bought the post of substitute attorney general of the provincial Estates of

Artois Artois ( , ; ; Picard: ''Artoé;'' English adjective: ''Artesian'') is a region of northern France. Its territory covers an area of about 4,000 km2 and it has a population of about one million. Its principal cities include Arras (Dutch: ...

, which seated in

Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...

. In 1790, he founded the local club of

Jacobins The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (), renamed the Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality () after 1792 and commonly known as the Jacobin Club () or simply the Jacobins (; ), was the most influential List of polit ...

together with his younger brother. In 1791, he was elected criminal court judge in the

Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of France, with 890, and is the ...

. In 1792, he married a lower-class woman from Willerval, who could not read; the couple had one child. On 28 August 1793, on instigation of

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 ...

he replaced

Jacques-Bernard-Marie Montané Jacques-Bernard-Marie Montané (5 January 1751, Toulouse–after 1805) was president of the Revolutionary Tribunal from March to August in 1793, during the French Revolution. He was president at the trial of Charlotte Corday. He was seen as ...

as president of the

Revolutionary Tribunal The Revolutionary Tribunal (; unofficially Popular Tribunal) was a court instituted by the National Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders. In October 1793, it became one of the most powerful engines of ...

. He presided at the trial of

Marie-Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the wife of Louis XVI. Born Archd ...

, and the

Girondins The Girondins (, ), also called Girondists, were a political group during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnards, they initiall ...

in October,

Philippe Égalité Philippe is a masculine given name, cognate to Philip, and sometimes also a surname. The name may refer to: * Philippe of Belgium (born 1960), King of the Belgians (2013–present) * Philippe (footballer) (born 2000), Brazilian footballer * Prince ...

Madame Roland Marie-Jeanne "Manon" Roland de la Platière (Paris, March 17, 1754 – Paris, November 8, 1793), born Marie-Jeanne Phlipon, and best known under the name Madame RolandOccasionally, she is referred to as Dame Roland. This however is the except ...

, and

Jean Sylvain Bailly Jean Sylvain Bailly (; 15 September 1736 – 12 November 1793) was a French astronomer, mathematician, freemason, and political leader of the early part of the French Revolution. He presided over the Tennis Court Oath, served as the mayor of ...

in November, and

Jacques Hébert Jacques René Hébert (; 15 November 1757 – 24 March 1794) was a French journalist and leader of the French Revolution. As the founder and editor of the radical newspaper ''Le Père Duchesne'', he had thousands of followers known as ''the ...

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 ...

in March/April 1794. On the proposal of

Lazare Carnot Lazare Nicolas Marguerite, Comte Carnot (; 13 May 1753 – 2 August 1823) was a French mathematician, physicist, military officer, politician and a leading member of the Committee of Public Safety during the French Revolution. His military refor ...

, Herman set up twelve commissions created by the executive decree of 12 Germinal (1 April). They replaced the six ministries and their offices, of which Herman chaired the first (general administration and courts).

René-François Dumas René-François Dumas (14 December 1753 – 28 July 1794) was a revolutionary French lawyer and politician, regarded as an ally of Maximilien Robespierre. He was guillotined along with Robespierre in Paris. Biography Dumas was born in Jussey, in ...

succeeded Herman when Herman was appointed commissioner of civil administration, police and courts after

Jules-François Paré Jules François Paré (11 August 1755 – 29 July 1819) was a French politician who served as Minister of the Interior from 1793 to 1794, during the French Revolution. Life Paré was born in Rieux, Champagne on 11 August 1755 into a modest fam ...

. Herman lived during this time at 19

Place Vendôme The Place Vendôme (), earlier known as the Place Louis-le-Grand, and also as the Place Internationale, is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madelein ...

. Three days after

9 Thermidor Maximilien Robespierre addressed the National Convention on 26 July 1794, was arrested the next day, and executed on 28 July. In his speech on 26 July, Robespierre spoke of the existence of internal enemies, conspirators, and calumniators, with ...

(30 July 1794), Herman was arrested and spent ten months in prison. In his first hours of captivity, Herman drafted a supporting

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

. He wrote that he always helped the wives and children of the

detainees Detention is the process whereby a State (polity), state or private citizen holds a person by removing or restricting their personal freedom, freedom or liberty at that time. Detention can be due to (pending) criminal charges against the indivi ...

, etc. On 6 May 1795, after receiving the verdict sentencing him to death - with a majority of one vote - he flung his hat out of the window in a moment of rage. It was Scellier who threw a pamphlet at the presiding judge Liger-Verdigny. He was guillotined on the

Place de Grève Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Of ...

, at about eleven o'clock in the morning, together with

Fouquier-Tinville Antoine Quentin Fouquier de Tinville (, 10 June 17467 May 1795), also called Fouquier-Tinville and nicknamed posthumously the Provider of the Guillotine was a French lawyer and accusateur public of the Revolutionary Tribunal during the French Rev ...

the public prosecutor; Scellier (vice chairman of the Revolutionary Court), Lanne (judge) and Herman's assistant; Foucault (judge); Garnier-Launay (judge); Renaudin (juror); Leroy (juror), Vilate (juror); Prieur (juror), Chatelet (juror), Girard (juror); Boyaval; Trey; Verney, and Dupaumier.The public prosecutor of the terror, Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville, p. 294
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References

Sources

* Mémoire Justificatif Pour Le Citoyen Herman - Thermidor An II (1794) * Boutboul, Julien ''Un rouage du Gouvernement révolutionnaire : la Commission des administrations civiles, police et tribunaux (germinal an II-brumaire an IV), vol. II'' (Paris, 2004) * Landeux, Philippe ''Le tribunal révolutionnaire de Paris (1793-1795)'' (2017) {{DEFAULTSORT:Herman, Martial Joseph Armand Jacobins 1759 births 1795 deaths People from Pas-de-Calais Foreign ministers of France People of the Reign of Terror French people executed by guillotine during the French Revolution French interior ministers Presidents of the French Revolutionary Tribunal