Jean-Lambert Tallien (, 23 January 1767 – 16 November 1820) was a French politician of the revolutionary period. Though initially an active agent 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 ...

, he eventually clashed with its leader,

Maximilien 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 ferv ...

, and is best known as one of the key figures of the Thermidorian Reaction that led to the fall of Robespierre and the end of the Terror.

Early life and journalism

Tallien was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to Lambert Tallien, the '' maître d'hôtel'' of the Marquis de Bercy, and Jeanne Lambert. The marquis, noticing his ability, had him educated, and got him a place as a lawyer's clerk. Supportive of the Revolution, he gave up his desk to enter a printer's office, and by 1791 was overseer of the printing department of the Comte de Provence. During his employment, he conceived the idea of the '' journal-affiche'', and after the arrest of the king at Varennes in June 1791 he placarded a large printed sheet on all the walls of Paris twice a week, under the title of the ''L'Ami des Citoyens, journal fraternel''. This enterprise had its expenses paid by the

Jacobin Club 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 ...

and made Tallien well known to the revolutionary leaders. He became even more present in politics after organizing, together with Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois, the great ''Fête de la Liberté'' on 15 April 1792, honouring the release of the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

''régiment de Châteauvieux'', imprisoned since the Nancy Mutiny of 1790.

Paris Commune

On 8 July 1792, he was the spokesman of a deputation of the section of the Place Royale which demanded from the Legislative Assembly the reinstatement of the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

, Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve, and the ''Procureur'', Louis Pierre Manuel. Tallien was one of the most active popular leaders in the storming of the Tuileries Palace on 10 August; on that day he was appointed secretary to the insurrectional Commune of Paris. He committed himself to his new mission and habitually appeared at the bar of the Assembly on behalf of the Commune. He participated in the September Massacres of 1792, and, with the help of Georges Danton, would eventually be elected a member of the National Convention. He announced the September Massacres in terms of apology and praise, and he sent off the famous circular of 3 September to the French departments, recommending them to take similar action. At the same time, he had several people imprisoned in order to save them from the violence of the mob and protected several suspects himself.

National Convention and missions

Tallien resigned his post in the Commune on being elected, in spite of his youth, deputy to the

National Convention The National Convention () was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the ...

by the '' department'' of Seine-et-Oise, and he began his legislative career by defending the conduct of the Commune during the massacres. He took his seat upon The Mountain, and showed himself one of the most vigorous Jacobins, particularly in his defence of Jean-Paul Marat, on 26 February 1793; he voted in favor of the execution of King

Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

, and was elected member of the

Committee of General Security The Committee of General Security () was a parliamentary committee of the French National Convention which acted as police agency during the French Revolution. Established as a committee of the Convention in October 1792, it was designed to protec ...

on 21 January 1793, the day of the King's execution. He was sent as representative on mission to the department of

Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River. In 2019, it had a population of 610,079.insurrection of 31 May, which resulted in the overthrow of the Girondists. For the next few months he kept a low profile, but on 23 September 1793 Tallien was sent with Claude-Alexandre Ysabeau on a mission to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. This was the month in which the

was organized under the superintendence of the

Committees of Public Safety The Committee of Public Safety () was a committee of the National Convention which formed the provisional government and war cabinet during the Reign of Terror, a violent phase of the French Revolution. Supplementing the Committee of General De ...

and

. On 6 October he arrived in

Saint-Émilion Saint-Émilion (; Gascon dialect, Gascon: ''Sent Milion'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in Southwestern France. In the heart of the country of Libournais (the area around Libourne), in a regio ...

to arrest suspect deputies. Not long after the introduction of the Law of 22 Prairial Pétion de Villeneuve and Francois Buzot committed suicide; Marguerite-Élie Guadet and Charles Barbaroux were guillotined. Tallien was one of the most notorious envoys sent over to establish the Terror in the departments, and soon established a revolutionary grip on Bordeaux. The young Tallien, who was not yet 27, became notorious for his administration of justice in Bordeaux through his bloody affinity to "feed ''la sainte guillotine''". Tallien's methodology of subjugation at Bordeaux has been described as "fear and flour": the guillotining of Girondist leaders and exploitation of food shortages by withholding bread from the already-hungry province. However, after the initial days of his mission in Bordeaux, Tallien began to shift away from his bloody Terrorist tendencies. This tendency may be due to his romantic involvement with Thérésa Cabarrús, the daughter of Francisco Cabarrús and former wife of the émigré Marquis de Fontenay. Tallien not only spared her life but fell in love with her. As she was extremely wealthy and desired by many, it is possible that she became involved with Tallien in order to escape from the guillotine at Bordeaux and influence him to show lenience towards her aristocratic associates. Tallien suggested, "It is better to marry than to be beheaded." After Tallien became involved with Cabarrús, there was a notable decline in the number of executions in Bordeaux. Thérésa was a moderating influence, and for the lives she saved by her entreaties she received the name of ''Notre-Dame de Thermidor'' ("Our Lady of Thermidor") after the onset of the Thermidorian Reaction in July 1794. Tallien was elected president of the Convention on 24 March 1794 until 5 April and had to deal with the trial of Georges Danton and Camille Desmoulins.

Thermidorian Reaction

Tallien was recalled to Paris from Bordeaux after being denounced by the Committee of Public Safety for "'' modérantisme''". Cabarrús, who had accompanied him, was arrested for a second time and imprisoned. She was set to face trial and probably would have been executed. She sent a letter to Tallien on 26 July, which included a dagger and a note accusing him of weakness for not attempting to free her. Thérésa stated, "I die in despair at having belonged to a coward like you." In Prairial (May–June) he was expelled from the Jacobin Club by Robespierre, and from then on Tallien became a leading conspirator for his overthrow, allying himself with other opposers of the Terror. Robespierre's own political ideas implied his readiness to strike at many of his colleagues in the committees, and Tallien was one of the men condemned. Robespierre's rivals were determined to strike first. During a session at the National Convention on

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 ...

(27 July), Tallien interrupted Robespierre helper Louis Antoine de Saint-Just and, after going up to the tribune: "Yesterday a member of the government was left quite isolated and made a speech in his own name; today another one has done the same thing. Tallien continued: "Need I recall to you that expression addressed y Robespierreto the journalists in one of the last sittings of the Jacobins? "I prohibit you from inserting my discourses in your papers till you have previously communicated them to me." He brandished a dagger and threatened to stab Robespierre in the chest if the Convention did not decree his accusation, calling him "the new Cromwell". The movement was successful: Robespierre and his closest allies were arrested and guillotined on the next day. Tallien, as the leading Thermidorian, was elected to the Committee of Public Safety. He was instrumental in suppressing the Revolutionary Tribunal and the Jacobin Club; he attacked Jean-Baptiste Carrier and Joseph Le Bon, who had been representatives of the Committee to

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

and Arras respectively, and he fought with energy against the insurgents of Prairial (20 May 1795). Tallien's actions and his motivation behind his shifting loyalties have been described thus: "His only claim to a place in history was to have realized that people were sick of the terror, that the inevitable reaction was imminent, and that it was better to be a part of it than to be crushed by it." In all these months he was supported by Thérèse, whom he married on 26 December 1794, and who became the leader of the social life of Paris. This cemented Tallien's transition from the infamous Terrorist at Bordeaux to the "reformed terrorist" of the Thermidorian reaction. On 18th Thermidor, in order to secure the release of his mistress, to gain popular support, and to popularize his image as a Thermidorian (rather than a Jacobin), Tallien stated, "There is not a single man in prison today who does not claim to be an ardent patriot and who has not been an enemy of Robespierre's."Georges Lefebvre, ''The Thermidoreans and the Directory'', New York: Random House, 1964, p. 168. In the next five days, nearly 500 prisoners, many of whom were moderates or right-wing opposition to Robespierre and the leftist Jacobins, were released. Tallien and the Thermidorians almost immediately repealed the law of 22 Prairial, ending the power of the Committee of Public Safety to arrest representatives without a hearing. In addition, measures were passed causing one-fourth of the Committee to be up for election each month, with a one-month period between the terms that deputies could serve on the Committee. For Tallien's role in 9 Thermidor, he was elected to the Committee of Public Safety. In a complete reversal of his earlier positions, Tallien appealed to the new rising class of the ''jeunesse dorée'' ("gilded youth"), who viewed him as their leader, by stating "I sincerely admit that I had rather see twenty aristocrats set at liberty today and re-arrested tomorrow than see a single patriot left in chains."Mathiez p. 29. In addition, Tallien helped pass a measure that would publish the lists of the freed prisoners, helping ensure that the National Convention would be accountable for any imprisonments. Furthermore, he promoted a compromise that prevented a list of those who acted as guarantees for the loyalty of released prisoners. This prevented him from being publicly accountable for the release of his mistress and future wife. Shortly after, Tallien and his allies Freron and Lecointre were removed from the Jacobin clubs. On the 23rd of Fructidor, an assassination attempt was made on Tallien. The minor gunshot wound and knife wound gave Tallien and his allies the necessary public support to begin their attacks on the Jacobin clubs. With the threat of a Jacobin-Terrorist plot in the air, Tallien and Freron used public proclamations and physical intimidation (through the ''jeunesse dorée'') to wipe out the central Parisian Jacobin club. Tallien began campaigning for free speech in 1795. This increased his popularity with the ''jeunesse dorée'', as many were journalists. He reestablished his paper, ''L'Ami des Citoyens'', and contributed to the unified attack of the Thermidorians on the remaining Jacobins. Although the journalistic freedom gave the Jacobins the legal opportunity to also mount an attack through the press, their Thermidorian opponents were far more unified. Thermidorian journalists had even got into high positions on Jacobin newspapers. In addition, the Thermidorians did nothing to stop the monarchist resurgence. Eventually, the Thermidorians ordered that all émigrés and émigré supporters hand over their weapons and expel all foreigners from the country. However, there is evidence that Tallien was arranging a compromise with Spain and would support the imposition of Louis XVIII as a king "without the abuses". In July 1795, a large division of émigrés, with support from the British, attempted to invade through Quiberon. However, General Lazare Hoche outmaneuvered the émigrés and trapped them on the end of the Quiberon peninsula. Tallien was sent by the National Convention to the scene. Partially because Tallien had been corresponding with the Bourbons in Spain, he set up military commissions to put all of the émigré prisoners on trial. Under current law, all of the émigrés were convicted and summarily executed. Tallien was held responsible and lost support from the ''jeunesse dorée'' and Thermidorians. His political influence were thus greatly reduced.

Council of Five Hundred and Egyptian campaign

After the beginning of the

French Directory The Directory (also called Directorate; ) was the system of government established by the Constitution of the Year III, French Constitution of 1795. It takes its name from the committee of 5 men vested with executive power. The Directory gov ...

, Tallien's political importance came to an end, for, although he sat in the Council of Five Hundred, the moderates viewed him as an enforcer of the Terror, and the extreme party as a renegade. Madame Tallien also rejected him, and became the mistress of the rich banker Gabriel-Julien Ouvrard.

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, however, who is said to have been introduced by him to Paul Barras, took him on to his military expedition to Egypt of June 1798 as part of the political economy section of the Institut d'Égypte, and after the capture of

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, he edited the official journal there, the ''Décade Égyptienne''. General Jacques François Menou sent him back to France. On his passage, he was captured by a British cruiser and taken to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where he had a good reception among the Whigs and was received by Charles James Fox.

Later years

On returning to France in 1802 he obtained a divorce from Thérésa (who in 1805 married François-Joseph-Philippe de Riquet) and was left for some time without employment. Eventually, through the interventions of Joseph Fouché and Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, Tallien was appointed consul at

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

, and remained there until he lost the sight of one eye from yellow fever. Back in Paris, Tallien lived on half-pay until the fall of the

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

and the Bourbon Restoration in 1815, when he received the favour of not being exiled like the other '' regicides'' (those who had voted for the Louis XVI's execution) due to his poor health. He spent his last years in poverty, living in a small house in the Allée des Veuves. He was forced to sell his collection of books in order to sustain himself, and in May 1818 asked the government of King

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. Before his reign, he spent 23 y ...

for some relief money, which was granted in 1000

francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' ( King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centur ...

by minister Élie Decazes. Tallien died of

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

on 16 November 1820,Microsoft PowerPoint - Committee of Public Safety balloon debate presentations[1]
and was buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery.

Works

Magazines

Tallien wrote for the following magazines: *''L'Ami des citoyens'' *''L'Ami des sans-culottes'' *''Le Sans-culotte'' (1793) *''Le Courier de l'Armée des côtes de La Rochelle'' *''La Décade egyptienne'' (1798-1800)

Other works

References

*Albert Mathiez, ''After Robespierre: The Thermidorian Reaction'', New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1965, OCLC 565901384 * ''In turn, it gives the following references:'' **"Tallien et l'Expedition d'Égypte", in ''La Révolution Française: Revue d'histoire moderne et contemporaine'', p. 269. ** Arsène Houssaye, ''Nôtre Dame de Thermidor'', Paris, 1866

External links

Complete list of works
in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France {{DEFAULTSORT:Tallien, Jean Lambert 1767 births 1820 deaths Writers from Paris Politicians from Paris Montagnards Thermidorians People on the Committee of Public Safety Deputies to the French National Convention Presidents of the National Convention Members of the Council of Five Hundred Regicides of Louis XVI Représentants en mission Historians of the French Revolution Commission des Sciences et des Arts members Newspaper editors of the French Revolution People of the Reign of Terror Deaths from leprosy Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery