Henri Grégoire
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Henri Jean-Baptiste Grégoire, often referred to as the Abbé Grégoire, was a French Catholic priest, constitutional bishop of Blois and a revolutionary leader. He was an ardent abolitionist and support
Portrait by Joseph François, 1800
Signature Henri Grégoire
Title page of Grégoire's 1808 book on Negro literature
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
Henri Grégoire
…the supposed "enemies of the nation". He later took a leading role in the abolition of the privileges of the nobility and the Church. Under the new Civil Constitution of the Clergy, to which he was the first priest to take the oath (27 December 1790), Grégoire was elected bishop by two départements. He selected that of Loir-et-Cher…
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