The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was a law passed on 12 July 1790 during the French Revolution, that sought the complete control over the Catholic Church in France by the French government. As a r
A commemorative plate from 1790 shows a curé swearing to the Constitution.
In this caricature, after the decree of 16 February 1790, monks and nuns enjoy their new freedom.
Members of the Catholic Church taking the oath that was required by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.
Victor Henri Juglar, Plundering of a church during the French Revolution of 1793, Vizille, Museum of the French Revolution
French First Republic
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In the history of France, the French Republic, retroactively referred to as the First Republic and sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, was founded on 21 September 1792 dur
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
…administrative districts that had recently been created. It emphasised that officials of the Church could not give their loyalty to anyone outside the First French Republic, specifically meaning the Papacy. Lastly, the Civil Constitution of the Clergy made bishops and priests elected. By having members of the clergy elected…
Georges Danton (Cordeliers/The Mountain)
Jean-Marie Roland de la Platière (Girondins)
Étienne Clavière (Girondins)
Maximilien Robespierre (Jacobins/The Mountain)