Louis Antoine de Saint-Just

For other people or places named Saint-Just, in whole or with the three children. She saved diligently for her only
in part, see Saint-Just (disambiguation).
sons education, and in 1779 he was sent to the Oratorian
school at Soissons. After a promising start, Saint-Just acLouis Antoine Lon de Saint-Just (French pronuncia- quired a reputation as a troublemaker, augmented by infamous stories (almost certainly apocryphal) of how he led
tion: [s yst]; 25 August 1767 28 July 1794), ususchool.[4]
a
ally known as Saint-Just, was a military and political a students rebellion and tried to burn down the [5]
Nonetheless, he earned his graduation in 1786.
leader during the French Revolution. The youngest of
the deputies elected to the National Convention in 1792, His restive nature, however, did not diminish. As
Saint-Just rose quickly in their ranks and became a ma- a young man, Saint-Just was wild, handsome, [and]
jor leader of the government of the French First Repub- transgressive.[6] Well-connected and popular, he showed
lic. He spearheaded the movement to execute King Louis a special aection toward a young woman of Blrancourt,
XVI and later drafted the radical French Constitution of Thrse Gell. She was the daughter of another wealthy
1793.
notary, a powerful and autocratic gure in the town; he
He became a close friend of Maximilien Robespierre, was still an undistinguished adolescent. He is said to have
[7]
and served with him as one of the commissioners of the proposed marriage to her; she is said to have desired it.
powerful Committee of Public Safety. Dispatched as Though no hard evidence exists regarding their relationa commissar to the army during its rocky start in the ship, ocial records show that on 25 July 1786, Thrse
French Revolutionary Wars, Saint-Just imposed severe was married to Emmanuel Thorin, the scion of a promidiscipline, and he was credited by many for the armys nent local family. Saint-Just was out of town and unaware
subsequent revival at the front. Back in Paris, he super- of the event, and tradition portrays him as brokenhearted.
vised the consolidation of Robespierres power through a Whatever his true state, it is known that a few weeks after the marriage he abruptly left home for Paris without
ruthless and bloody program of intimidation. In his relaof
tively brief time on the historical stage, he became the en- an announcement, but not without gathering up a pair
pistols and a good quantity of his mothers silver.[8] His
during public face of the Reign of Terror and was dubbed
the Angel of Death by later writers. Saint-Just orga- venture turned short when his mother had him seized by
police and sent to a reformatory (maison de correction)
nized the arrests and prosecutions of many of the most
where he stayed from September 1786 to March 1787.
famous gures of the Revolution.
Chastened, Saint-Just attempted to begin anew: he enSaint-Just was arrested in the violent episode of 9 Ther- rolled as a student at the School of Law, Reims Univermidor and executed the next day with Robespierre and sity.[9] After a year, however, he drifted away from law
their allies. In many histories of the Revolution, their school and returned to his mothers home in Blrancourt
deaths at the guillotine mark the end of the Reign of Ter- penniless, without any occupational prospects.[10]
ror.

1.1

Early life

Organt

At a young age Saint-Just had shown a fascination with

literature,[11] and during his stay at the reformatory he
used his time to begin writing a lengthy poem. He published it anonymously more than two years later, in May
1789, at the very outbreak of the Revolution. The 21year-old Saint-Just thereby added his own touch to the
social tumult of the times with Organt, poem in twenty
cantos.b The poem, a medieval epic fantasy, relates the
quest of young Antoine Organt. It extols the virtues
of primitive man, praising his libertinism and independence while blaming all present-day troubles on modern
inequalities of wealth and power.[12] Written in a style
mimicking Ariosto,[1] it gave a juvenile foreshadowing
of his own political extremism. Spiked with brutal satire

Louis Antoine de Saint-Just was born at Decize in the former Nivernais province of central France.[1] He was the
eldest child of Louis Jean de Saint-Just de Richebourg
(17161777), a retired French cavalry ocer, knight of
the Order of Saint Louis,[2] and of the 20-years younger
Marie-Anne Robinot (17361811), the daughter of a
notary.[3] He had two younger sisters, born in 1768 and
1769. The family later moved north and in 1776 settled in the village of Blrancourt in the former Picardy
province, establishing themselves as a countryside noble
family living out of the rents from their land. A year after
the move, Louis Antoines father died leaving his mother
1

EARLY REVOLUTIONARY CAREER

and scandalous pornographic episodes, it also made un- anti-revolutionary pamphlet, swearing his devotion to the
mistakable attacks upon the monarchy, the nobility, and Republic.[19] He had powerful allies when he sought to
the Church.[13]
become a member of his districts electoral assembly,
leadContemporaries regarded Organt as something of a sala- and he initiated correspondence with well-known
[20]
ers
of
the
Revolution
like
Camille
Desmoulins.
In
late
cious novelty and it was quickly banned, but censors who
1790,
he
wrote
to
Robespierre
for
the
rst
time,
asking
tried to conscate it discovered that few copies were available anywhere. It did not sell well and resulted in a nan- him to consider a local petition. The letter was lled with
cial loss for its author.[14] The publics taste for literature the highest of praise, beginning: You, who uphold our
tottering country against the torrent of despotism and inhad changed in the prelude to the Revolution, and SaintI know, as I know God, only through his
Justs taste changed with it: aside from a few pages of an trigue; you whom
miracles....[21] Through their correspondence, the two
unnished novel found amidst his papers at the end of his
friendship that would
life, Saint-Just devoted his future writing entirely to un- developed a deep and mysterious
last until the day [they] died.[22]
decorated essays of social and political theory. With his
previous ambitions of literary and lawyerly fame unfullled, Saint-Just directed his focus on the single goal of
revolutionary command.[15]

Early revolutionary career

2.1

L'Esprit de la Revolution

While Saint-Just waited for the next election, he composed an extensive work, L'Esprit de la Revolution et de la
constitution de France, published in the spring of 1791.[23]
His writing style had shed all satire and now adopted
the stern and moralizing tone of classical Romans so
adored by French revolutionaries.[24] It revealed an unexpectedly moderate set of principles deeply inuenced by
Montesquieu, and remained fully conned to a paradigm
of constitutional monarchy.[23] He expressed abhorrence
at the violence in the Revolution thus far, and he disdained the character of those who partook in it as little more than riotous slaves.[25] Instead, he heaped his
praise upon the peoples representatives in the Legislative
Assembly, whose sober virtue would guide the Revolution best.[26] Spread out over ve books, L'Esprit de la
Revolution is inconsistent in many of its assertions but
Saint-Justs home in Blrancourt is now a museum and tourist
still
shows clearly that Saint-Just no longer saw governcenter.
ment as oppressive to mans nature but necessary to its
Blrancourts traditional power structure was reshaped success: its ultimate object was to edge society in the
by the events of 1789. The notary Gell, previously an direction of the distant ideal.[27]
undisputed town leader, was challenged by a group of re- The new work, like its predecessor, attracted minimal
formists who were led by several of Saint-Justs friends, readership. On 21 June 1791, just days after it was pubincluding the husband of his sister Louise.[16] Their at- lished, all attention became focused on King Louis XVI's
tempts were not successful until 1790 when Blrancourt ill-fated ight to Varennes, and Saint-Justs theories about
held its rst open municipal elections. Mandated by the constitutional monarchy were made suddenly irrelevant.
National Constituent Assembly, the new electoral struc- Yet the episode had another eect it fostered a public
ture allowed Saint-Justs friends to assume authority in anger toward the king which simmered all year until the village as mayor, secretary, and, in the case of his nally a Parisian mob attacked the Tuileries Palace on 10
brother-in-law, head of the local National Guard. The August, 1792. In response, the Assembly declared itself
jobless Saint-Just, despite not meeting the legal age and ready to step down ahead of schedule and called for a
tax qualications, was allowed to join the Guard.[17]
new election, this one under universal male surage. The
Saint-Just immediately exhibited the ruthless disciplinarianism for which he would be famous. Within a few
months he was the commanding ocer, at the rank of
lieutenant-colonel.[18] At local meetings he moved attendees with his patriotic zeal and air: in one muchrepeated story, Saint-Just brought the town council to
tears by thrusting his hand into the ame of a burning

timing was excellent for Saint-Just, who turned the legal

age of twenty-ve before the end of the month.[28][29] The
fear inspired by the invasion of the Tuileries made most
of his opponents retire from the scene,[30] and Saint-Just
was elected as one of the deputies for the dpartement of
Aisne.[31] He left for Paris to join the National Convention as its youngest member.[32]

2.2

Deputy to the Convention

to the powerful new Committee of Public Safety.[46]

Among the deputies, Saint-Just was watchful but interacted little at rst. He joined the Parisian Jacobin Club
but he remained aloof from Girondins and Montagnards
alike.[33] He waited until 13 November 1792 to give his
rst speech to the Convention, but when he did the eect
was spectacular. What brought him to the lectern was the
discussion over how to treat the king after Varennes.[34]
In dramatic contrast to the earlier speakers, Saint-Just
delivered a blazing condemnation of the king. He demanded that Louis Capet should be judged not as a king
or even a citizen, but as a traitor, an enemy who deserves
death.[35][36] As for me, he declared, I see no middle
ground: this man must reign or die! He oppressed a free
nation; he declared himself its enemy; he abused the laws:
he must die to assure the repose of the people, since it was
in his mind to crush the people to assure his own.[37]
The young deputys speech electried the
Convention.[38][39] Saint-Just was interrupted frequently by bursts of applause[40] and towards the end of
his speech he uttered his eerily universal observation,
No one can reign innocently.[41] Robespierre was
particularly impressed he spoke from the lectern the
next day in terms almost identical to those of SaintJust,[42] and their views became the ocial position of
the Jacobins.[35] By December, that position had become
law: the king was taken to a trial before the Convention,
sentenced to death, and executed by guillotine on 21
January 1793.[43]

Constitution of 1793

Because the rst French Constitution had included a role

for the king, it was long since invalid and needed to be
updated for the Republic. A large number of drafts had
been circulating within the Convention since the kings
execution, and Saint-Just submitted his own lengthy proposal on 24 April 1793.[44] His draft incorporated the
most common assertions of the others: the right to vote,
the right to petition, and equal eligibility for employment
were among the basic principles that made his draft tenable. Where he stood apart from the rest was on the issue
of elections. Saint-Just dismissed all complex systems
of voting and eligibility and supported only the classical style of a simple majority of citizens in a nationwide
vote.[45] Amid a urry of proposals by other deputies,
Saint-Just held inexibly to his "one man one vote" plan,
and this conspicuous homage to Greco-Roman traditions
(which were particularly prized and idealized in French
culture during the Revolution) enhanced his political cachet. When no plan gained enough votes to pass, a compromise was made which tasked a small body of deputies
as ocial constitutional draftsmen, and Saint-Just was
among the ve elected members. In recognition of the
importance of their mission, the draftsmen were all added

Saint-Just became a member of the Committee of Public Safety

on 30 May 1793.[46]

The Convention had given the Committee extraordinary

authority to provide for state security ever since the outbreak of the French Revolutionary War in early 1793.
Committee members were originally intended to serve
for periods of only thirty days before replacements were
elected, so they needed to work quickly. Saint-Just took
charge of the issue and led the development of the French
Constitution of 1793. Before the end of his rst term, the
new document was completed, submitted to the Convention, and ratied as law on 24 June 1793.[47]
The new constitution remained a showpiece for SaintJust but little more. However much he may have wanted
to see it implemented, emergency measures for wartime
were in eect. The war had called for (or provided
cover for) a moratorium on constitutional democracy. It
gave supreme power to the sitting Convention, with the
Committee of Public Safety at the top of its administrative pyramid. Robespierre, with Saint-Justs assistance,
fought vigorously to ensure that the government would remain under emergency measures revolutionary until
victory.[48]

4 Committee of Public Safety

4.1 Proscription of the Girondins
During the time that Saint-Just was working on the constitution, dramatic political warfare was taking place. The
sans-culottes deemed the people by many radicals,
and represented by the Paris Commune had grown antipathetic to the moderate Girondins and on 2 June 1793,
in a mass action supported by National Guardsmen, they
surrounded the Convention and exacted the arrest of the

4
Girondin deputies. The deputies even the Montagnards,
who had long enjoyed an informal alliance with the sansculottes resented the intimidation but they were compelled to make some obeisance. The Girondin leader
Jacques Pierre Brissot was indicted for treason and scheduled for trial, but the other Brissotins were imprisoned
(or pursued) without formal charges. The Convention
debated their fate and the political disorder lasted for
weeks. Saint-Just had previously remained silent about
the Girondins, but now clearly stood with Robespierre
who had been thoroughly opposed to most of them for
a long time. When the initial indictment by the Committee was served, it was Saint-Just who delivered the report
to the Convention.[49]
In its secret negotiations, the Committee of Public Safety
was initially unable to form a consensus concerning
the jailed deputies, but as some Girondins ed to the
provinces and attempted to incite an insurrection, its
opinion hardened.[50] By early July, Saint-Just was able
to address the Convention with a lengthy report in the
name of the Committee, and his damning attack left no
room for any further conciliation. The Girondins trials
must proceed, he said, and any verdicts must be severe.
The proceedings dragged on for months, but Brissot and
twenty of his allies were eventually condemned and sent
to the guillotine on 31 October 1793.[51] Saint-Just used
their situation to gain approval for intimidating new laws,
culminating in the Law of Suspects (17 September 1793)
which gave the Committee vast new powers of arrest and
punishment.[52]

PRESIDENT OF THE CONVENTION

opponents of the Revolution but he did not agree to the

mass executions ordered by some of the other deputies on
the mission.[53] He vetoed much of the deputies work and
had many of them recalled to Paris.[54] Local politicians
were even more vulnerable to him: even the powerful
Eulogius Schneider, the revolutionary leader of Alsaces
largest city and called the "Marat of Strasbourg, was arrested by Saint-Justs orders and rapidly dispatched to the
guillotine.[59] Saint-Just worked closely only with General
Charles Pichegru, a reliable Jacobin whom he respected.c
Under Saint-Justs unblinking surveillance, Pichegru and
General Lazare Hoche ably secured the frontier and began an invasion of the German Rhineland.[53]
With the army revitalized, Saint-Just returned briey to
Paris where his success was applauded. However, there
was little time to celebrate. He was quickly sent back to
the frontlines, this time in Belgium where the Army of the
North was experiencing the same problems of discipline
and organization. Again he delivered results ruthlessly
and eectively, but after less than a month the mission
was cut short. As Paris convulsed in political violence,
his assistance was required by Robespierre.[60]

6 President of the Convention

With the republican army advancing and the Girondins

destroyed, the left-wing Montagnards, led by the Jacobins
5 Military commissar
and Robespierre, controlled the Convention. In these circumstances, on the rst day of Ventse in Year II of the
Saint-Just made the proposal that deputies from the Con- Revolution (19 February 1794), Saint-Just was elected
vention should directly oversee all military eorts, which president of the National Convention.[59]
was approved on 10 October 1793.[53] Amid worsening With this new power he persuaded the chamber to pass
conditions at the front in the fall of that year, several
the radical Ventse Decrees, under which the rgime
deputies were sent to the critical area of Alsace to shore would conscate aristocratic migr property and disup the disintegrating Army of the Rhine. Results were
tribute it to needy sans-culottes.[61] But these acts of
not suciently forthcoming, so at the end of the month wealth redistribution, arguably the most revolutionary
Saint-Just himself was sent there along with an ally from
acts of the French Revolution,[62] never went into operthe Convention, Philippe-Franois-Joseph Le Bas. The ation. The Committee faltered in creating procedures for
two men were charged with extraordinary powers to their enforcement,[61] and the frantic pace of unfolding
impose discipline and reorganize the troops.[54]
political events left them behind.[63]
From the start, Saint-Just dominated the mission.[54][56]
He was relentless in demanding results from the commanders as well as sympathetic to the complaints of common soldiers.[53] On his rst day at the front, he issued a
proclamation promising examples of justice and severity as the Army has not yet witnessed.[55][57] Within a
short time, many ocers were dismissed and many more
were executed by ring squad, including at least one general. The entire army was placed immediately under the
harshest discipline.[58]

Opponents of the Jacobins saw the Ventse Decrees as

a cynical ploy to appeal to the militant extreme left.[64]
Sincere or not, Saint-Just made impassioned arguments
for them. One week after their adoption, Saint-Just urged
that the Decrees be exercised vigorously, and hailed them
for ushering in a new era: Eliminate the poverty that
dishonors a free state; the property of patriots is sacred
but the goods of conspirators are there for the wretched.
The wretched are the powerful of the earth; they have the
right to speak as masters to the governments who neglect
Among soldiers and civilians alike, Saint-Just repressed them.[64]

5
Danton.[69] These powerful deputies were dicult prey,
but a nancial scandal involving the French East India Company provided a convenient pretext.[69] Robespierre again sent Saint-Just to the Convention to deliver a Committee report (31 March 1794) in which he
announced the arrest of Danton and the last partisans
of royalism.[69] After a tumultuous show-trial, Fabre,
Desmoulins, and other top supporters of Danton went to
the scaold with their leader on 16 Germinal (5 April
1794). In his report, Saint-Just had promised that this
would be a nal cleansing of the Republics enemies.[69]
The violent removal of the Hbertists and Dantonists provided only a mirage of stability for Saint-Just and Robespierre. The deaths caused deep resentment and their
absence only made it more dicult for the Jacobins to
inuence the dangerously unpredictable masses of sansculottes.[70] This lack of support in the street would prove
fatal during the events of Thermidor.[71]
As the deliverer of Committee reports, Saint-Just served
as the public face of the Terror, and he became known
widely as the Angel of Death.[72] After the events of
Germinal, Saint-Just intensied his control over the stateOrder of the Revolutionary Tribunal condemning the Hbertists security apparatus. He created a new bureau of general police for the Committee of Public Safety which
matched and usurped the powers that had been given
ocially to the Committee of General Security. Shortly
6.1 Germinal
after its establishment, however, administration of the
new bureau passed to Robespierre when Saint-Just left
As the spring of 1794 approached, the Committee of Paris once more for the front lines.[73][74]
Public Safety, led by Robespierre, Couthon, Lebas and
Saint-Just, exercised near complete control over the
government.[65] Despite the vast reach of their powers, 7 Last days
however, rivals and enemies remained. One of the thorniest problems, at least to Robespierre, came in the shape
of the populist agitator Jacques Hbert, who discharged 7.1 Battle of Fleurus
torrents of criticism against bourgeois Jacobinism in his
newspaper, Le Pre Duchesne. Ultra-radical Hbertists
in the Cordeliers Club undermined Jacobin eorts to
court and manage the sans-culottes, and the most extreme
Hbertists even called openly for insurrection.[66]
Saint-Just, in his role as president of the Convention, announced unequivocally that whoever vilied or attacked
the dignity of the revolutionary government should be
condemned to death, and the Convention agreed in a
vote on 13 Ventse. Hbert and his closest associates
were arrested the following day.[59] Saint-Just vowed, No
more pity, no weakness towards the guilty... Henceforth
the government will pardon no more crimes,[67] and on 4
Germinal (24 March 1794), the Revolutionary Tribunal
sent Hbert, Ronsin, Vincent and most other prominent
Hbertists to the guillotine.[68]
Battle of Fleurus (1794) (oil painting, Chteau de Versailles)

The ongoing political combat bloody enough since

at least the time of the arrest of the Girondins to be
known as the Reign of Terror spread more and more Main article: Battle of Fleurus (1794)
widely. When the Hbertists fell, Robespierre felt compelled to eliminate his other rivals in the Cordeliers, start- Sent back on mission to the army in Belgium, Saint-Just
ing with Fabre d'glantine and his close friend Georges again took supreme oversight of the Army of the North

6
and contributed to the victory at Fleurus.[53][75] This hotly
contested battle on 26 June 1794 sent the Austrian army
into retreat and marked the turning point in the War of
the First Coalition. France would remain on the oensive
until its eventual victory in 1797.[76] After his return from
the battle, Saint-Just was treated as a hero and cheered
from all sides.[77]
Back in Paris, Saint-Just discovered that Robespierres
political position had degraded signicantly. As the Terror reached its apogee the so-called Great Terror the
danger of a counterstrike by his enemies became almost
inevitable.[78][79] Saint-Just, however, remained unshakable in his alliance with Robespierre.[80] The French victory at Fleurus, and others which followed, reduced the
need for national security during the war which has been
predicated as a justication for the Terror. The excuse
for the Terror was at an end.[81] Opponents of the Terror
used Saint-Justs own words against him by demanding a
full implementation of the constitution of 1793.[82][83]

LEGACY

continue his discourse proudly... Motionless, unmoved,

he seemed to defy everyone with his calm.[89]
Saint-Just saved his dignity at the lectern but not his life.
Rising in his support, Robespierre sputtered and lost his
voice; his brother Augustin, Philippe Lebas, and other
key allies all tried to sway the deputies, but failed.[90] The
meeting ended with an order for their arrest. Saint-Just,
still on the platform, remained unmoved and looked on
contemptuously at the scene.[91] His condence seemed
validated when troops from the Paris Commune under
Hanriot arrived to liberate them, but within hours the entire group was conned to the Htel de Ville. When soldiers nally broke inside, a number of the defeated Jacobins tried to commit suicide; Saint-Just stood beside
Lebas who shot himself in the head. Any contemplation
of his own suicide is unclear, but he alone emerged unrufed from the wild, violent nal arrest among the captured, only St. Just, his hands bound but his head held
high, was able to walk.[92] Robespierre, Saint-Just and
twenty of their allies were guillotined the next day, and
Saint-Just reputedly accepted his death with coolness and
pride. At a last formality of identication, he gestured to
a copy of the Constitution of 1793 and said, I am the
one who made that.[93]

With political combat reaching a fever pitch, the Committee introduced a bill to establish a newer version of
the Law of Suspects the Law of 22 Prairial. With
it, a new category of enemies of the people was established in terms so vague that virtually anyone could
be accused. Defendants were not permitted legal counsel
and the Revolutionary Tribunal was instructed to impose
no sentence other than death. The bill was swiftly shep- 8 Legacy
herded into law by Robespierre, and although Saint-Just
was not directly involved in its composition, he was cer8.1 Other writings
tainly supportive.[84] The new statutes dened the Great
Terror: in their rst month, the average of executions in
Throughout his lifetime, Saint-Just continued to work
Paris rose from ve per day to seventeen, soaring in the
on books and essays about the meaning of the Revo[85]
following month to twenty-six.
lution, but he did not survive to see any of them pubThe Law of Prairial was the breaking point for oppo- lished. They have been collected and edited in varinents of Robespierre.[86] Resistance to the Terror spread ous uvres compltes. These include Organt, L'Esprit de
throughout the Convention, and Saint-Just was compelled la Revolution, published speeches and legislative proposto address the division. Barre and other Thermido- als, as well as military orders, notes, drafts, and private
rians have claimed that he proposed a dictatorship for correspondence.[94]
Robespierre,[87] but nonetheless some of them considered
Many of Saint-Justs legislative proposals were compiled
him to be redeemable, or at least useful until he delivafter his death to form an outline for a communal and
ered his uncompromising public defence of Robespierre
egalitarian society they were published as a single vol[88]
on 9 Thermidor (27 July 1794).
ume, Fragments sur les institutions rpublicaines. The
proposals were far more radical than the constitution of
1793, and identify closely with the legendarily fearsome
7.2 Thermidor
traditions of ancient Sparta. Many of them are interpreted as proto-socialist precepts:d the overarching theme
Main article: Thermidorian Reaction
is equality, which Saint-Just at one point summarizes as
Man must be independent... There should be neither rich
On the dais, Saint-Just declared the absolute necessity nor poor.[95]
of current law, and conspiring deputies buzzed angrily
as he spoke. Finally several of them physically shoved
him away from the lectern, and each started his own ad- 8.1.1 De la Nature
dress in which they called for the removal of Robespierre
and all his supporters. Amid the uproar, recalled Barras, Saint-Just also composed a lengthy draft of his own philoSaint-Just did not leave the platform, in spite of the in- sophical views, De la Nature, which remained hidden
terruptions which would have driven any one else away. in obscurity until its transcription by Albert Soboul in
He only came down a few steps, then mounted again, to 1951.[96] Soboul rst published this work in 1951 under

8.2

Character

7
independence. Property must be protected by the state
but, in order to secure universal independence, all citizens (including women) must own property.[102]
8.1.2 Posthumous publications
Saint-Just, Fragments sur les institutions rpublicaines (French)
Saint-Just, Thorie politique, edited by Alain Linard, Seuil, Paris, 1976. (French)
8.1.3 Complete collections
uvres de Saint-Just, prcds d'une notice historique sur sa vie edited by Adolphe Havard, Paris,
1834. (French)
uvres compltes de Saint-Just in two volumes
edited by Charles Vellay, Paris, 1908. (French)
uvres choisies, with introduction by Jean Gratien,
Paris, 1946. (French)
uvres compltes, edited by Michle Duval, Paris,
1984. (French)
uvres compltes, edited by Anne Kupiec and
Miguel Abensour, Paris, 2004. (French)

8.2 Character
uvres compltes, edited by Charles Vellay. First edition, Paris,
1908

the title Un manuscrit oubli de Saint-Just in the Annales historiques de la rvolution franaise, No. 124.[96]
An expanded version is included in Alain Linards SaintJust, thorie politique and later versions of uvres compltes.[94] De la Nature outlines Saint-Justs ideas on the
nature of society; the actual date it was written is disputed, but the most agreed upon range is between 1791
and 1792.[97]
Based on the assumption that man is a social animal,
Saint-Just argues that in nature there is no need for contracts, legislation, or acts of force.[98] These constructs
only become necessary when a society is in need of moral
regeneration and serve merely as unsatisfactory substitutes for the natural bonds of free people.[99] Such constructs permit small groups to assume unwarranted powers which, according to Saint-Just, leads to corruption
within society.[100] Because a return to the natural state is
impossible, Saint-Just argues for a government composed
of the most educated members of society, who could be
expected to share an understanding of the larger social
good.[101] Outside the government itself, Saint-Just asserts there must be full equality between all men, includ- Saint-Just (terracotta bust, Muse Lambinet)
ing equal security in material possessions and personal

9 NOTES
In his public speaking, Saint-Just was even more daring
and outspoken than his mentor Robespierre. Regarding
Frances internal strife, he spared few: You have to punish not only the traitors, but even those who are indifferent; you have to punish whoever is passive in the republic, and who does nothing for it.[110] He thought the
only way to create a true republic was to rid it of enemies,
to enforce the complete destruction of its opposite.[111]
Regarding the war, he declared without regret to the Convention, The vessel of the Revolution can arrive in port
only on a sea reddened with torrents of blood.[72] He
urged the deputies to embrace the notion that a nation
generates itself only upon heaps of corpses.[112]
Despite his obvious aws, Saint-Just is often accorded respect for the strength of his convictions. However reprehensible his words and actions may be said to be, his commitment to them is rarely questioned: he was implacable
but sincere.[113] Like Robespierre, he was incorruptible
in the sense that he exhibited no attraction to material
benets but devoted himself entirely to the advancement
of a political agenda.[114][115]

8.2.1 Camus and Saint-Just

Bust of Louis Antoine de Saint-Just by David d'Angers (1848)

In Albert Camus's The Rebel (1951), Saint-Just is discussed extensively in the context of an analysis of rebellion and mans progression towards enlightenment and
freedom. Camus identies Saint-Justs successful argument for the execution of Louis XVI as the moment of
death for monarchical divine right, a Nietzschean Twilight
of the Idols.[116] Saint-Justs dedication to the sovereignty
of the people and the sacred power of laws is described as a source of absolutism and indeed the new
God.[117] His kind of deication of the political[117]
is examined as the source of the creeping totalitarianism
which grew so powerfully in Camus own lifetime.[118]

Ambitious and active-minded,[103] Saint-Just worked urgently and tirelessly towards his goals: For Revolutionists there is no rest but in the tomb.[104] He was repeatedly described by contemporaries as arrogant, believing himself to be a skilled leader and orator as well
as having proper revolutionary character.[105] This selfassurance manifested itself in a superiority complex, and
he always made it clear that he considered himself
to be in charge and that his will was law.[106] Camille
Desmoulins once wrote of Saint-Just, He carries his head 8.2.2 In popular culture
like a sacred host.[41] e
Saint-Justs rise to power wrought a remarkable change
in his personality.[107] Freewheeling and passionate in
his youth, Saint-Just quickly became focused, tyrannical
and pitilessly thorough.[53] He became the ice-cold ideologist of republican purity,[108] as inaccessible as stone
to all the warm passions.[72] A measure of his change can
be inferred from the experience of Thrse Gell, who is
known to have left her husband and taken up residence
in a Parisian neighborhood near Saint-Just in late 1793.
Saint-Just who had already developed something of a
relationship, tepid but potentially expedient, with the sister of his colleague Lebas refused to see her. Gelle
stayed there for over a year, returning to Blrancourt only
after Saint-Just was dead. No record exists of any exchanges they might have had, but Saint-Just is known to
have written to a friend complaining impatiently about the
rumors connecting him to citizen Thorin.[109]

Representations of Saint-Just include those found in the

novel Stello (1832) by Alfred de Vigny,[119] and in the
plays Dantons Death (1835, by Georg Buchner)[120] and
Poor Bitos (Pauvre Bitos, ou Le dner de ttes, 1956, by
Jean Anouilh).[121] In lm, Saint-Just has been portrayed
by Abel Gance in Napolon (1927); Jess Barker in Reign
of Terror (1949); Bogusaw Linda in Danton (1983);
and Christopher Thompson in La Rvolution franaise
(1989). Jean-Pierre Laud plays a surreal caricature of
Saint-Just in Jean-Luc Godard's Week End (1967).[122]

9 Notes
^ a: Traditional usage is by the nom de terre ("name
of land") without using the nobiliary particle.

9
^ b: On its title page, the book is mischievously [26] Hampson, pp. 4043.
dedicated to the Vatican,[123] and thus sometimes
[27] Hampson, p. 56.
referred to as Organt au Vatican.
[28] Jordan, p. 46.

^ c: Pichegru ultimately turned his back on SaintJust and Jacobinism, becoming a Royalist supporter [29] Hampson, pp.3435.
after Thermidor. He died while imprisoned during
[30] Hampson, p. 35.
the Coup of 18 Fructidor (1797).[124]
^ d: In the twentieth century, Saint-Just was used
as a pseudonym by some socialist writers, such as in
the political pamphlet Full speed ahead: towards a
socialist society (London, 1950).

[31] Bruun, p. 24.

^ e: Legendarily, Saint-Just responded: I'll make

him carry his like Saint Denis. This line is found in
Buchners play, Dantons Death.[125]

[34] Hampson, p. 82.

10

References

[32] Hazani, p. 113.

[33] Hampson, pp. 7879.

[35] Walzer, pp. 121-130.

[36] Hampson, p. 84.
[37] Curtis, p. 38.
[38] Hampson, p. 85.

[1] Ten Brink, p. 105.

[39] Schama, p. 651.

[2] Vinot (edition Fayard), p. 16.

[40] Hampson, p. 86.

[3] Vinot (edition Fayard), p. 17.

[41] Scurr, p. 221.

[4] Vinot (edition Fayard), p. 41.

[42] Scurr, pp. 221222.

[5] Hampson, p. 4.

[43] Hampson, p. 87.

[6] Scurr, p. 132.

[44] Hampson, pp. 100101.

[7] Hampson, p. 5.

[45] Hampson, p. 102.

[8] Hampson, pp. 56.

[46] Hampson, p. 111.

[9] Vinot (edition Fayard), pp. 5758.

[47] Hampson, p. 113.

[10] Hampson, pp.69.

[48] Soboul (1975), p. 327.

[11] Vinot (edition Fayard), p. 59.

[49] Schama, p. 803.

[12] Hampson, pp. 1617.

[50] Hampson, p. 117.

[13] Palmer, p. 10.

[51] Doyle, p. 253.

[14] Vinot, p. 61.

[52] Schama, p. 766.

[15] Hampson, p. 18.

[53] Encyclopdia Britannica (1911), pp. 2021.

[16] Hampson, pp. 2223.

[54] Palmer, pp. 180181.

[17] Hampson, pp. 2124.

[55] Bruun, p. 75.

[18] Hampson, p. 24.

[56] Braud, pp. 102103.

[19] Hampson, p. 26.

[57] Palmer, pp. 182183.

[20] Hampson, p. 27.

[58] Palmer, pp. 183184.

[21] Thompson, p. 109.

[59] Stephens, p. 470.

[22] Scurr, p. 121.

[60] Loomis, p. 285.

[23] Hampson, pp. 3031.

[61] Soboul, p. 396.

[24] Hampson, p. 37.

[62] Rud, pp. 99100.

[25] Hampson, p. 39.

[63] Schama, p. 840.

10

11 BIBLIOGRAPHY

[64] Mason, Rizzo, pp. 258262.

[102] Hampson, p. 65.

[65] Bax, p. 84.

[103] Braud, pp. 92; 96.

[66] Hampson, p. 182.

[104] Carlyle, p. 357.

[67] Hampson, p. 185.

[105] Hampson, p. 34.

[68] Doyle, p. 270.

[106] Hampson, p. 147.

[69] Doyle, pp. 272274.

[70] Soboul (1980), p. 256.
[71] Doyle, p. 281.
[72] Loomis, p. 284.

[107] Andress, p. 137.

[108] Andress, p. 222.
[109] Hampson, p. 129.
[110] Baker, p. 355.

[73] Aulard, p. 253.

[111] Higonnet, p. 229.
[74] Andress, p. 292.
[75] Hampson, p. 205.
[76] Doyle, pp. 206207.
[77] Ten-Brink, p. 107.
[78] Ten-Brink, pp. 308309.
[79] Hampson, p. 207.
[80] Ten-Brink, p. 309.

[112] Hazani, p. 114.

[113] Literary Notices. Harpers (New York: Harper &
Brothers) III: 858. 1851. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
[114] Monar, p. 585.
[115] Braud, p. 92.
[116] Camus, pp. 118121; 130131.
[117] Knee, pp. 107108.

[81] Bruun, p. 119.

[118] Camus, pp. 131132.
[82] Scurr, p. 340.
[83] Hampson, pp. 207209.
[84] Hampson, pp. 214215.
[85] Schama, p. 837.
[86] Doyle, pp. 277278.
[87] Vinot, p. 311.
[88] Doyle, pp. 279280.
[89] Braud, pp. 111112.
[90] Ten-Brink, pp. 372374.

[119] Poems and romances of Alfred de Vigny. London and

Westminster Review (H. Hooper) 31 (1): 3739. April
August 1838. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
[120] The Theater: Dantons Death". Time. 14 November
1938. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
[121] Theater: The Guillotine Complex. Time. 27 November
1964. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
[122] Louis-Antoine de Saint-Just (Character)". Internet
Movie Database. 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
[123] Scurr, p. 120.

[91] Ten-Brink, p. 374.

[124] Rud, p. 32; Hibbert, p. 315.

[92] Loomis, p. 399.

[125] Bchner, Price, p. 25.

[93] Hampson, p. 227.

[94] Hampson, pp. 237238.
[95] Soboul (1980), p. 61.
[96] Hampson, p. 57.
[97] Hampson, p.58.
[98] Hampson, p. 71.
[99] Hampson, p.71-72.
[100] Fehr, p. 136.
[101] Fehr, p. 137-138.

11 Bibliography
Abensour, Miguel (1990). Saint-Just and the Problem of Heroism in the French Revolution. In The
French Revolution and the Birth of Modernity edited
by Feher Ferenc. Berkeley: University of California
Press. ISBN 978-0-520-07120-9.
Andress, David (2006). The Terror: The Merciless
War for Freedom in Revolutionary France. New
York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0-37453073-4.

11
Aulard, Franois (1910). The French Revolution: A
Political History, 1789-1804 II. New York: Charles
Scribners Sons. OCLC 25917606.

Loomis, Stanley (1986). Paris in the Terror.

Richardson & Steirman. ISBN 978-0-931933-189.

Baker, Keith Michael (1987). The Old regime and

the French Revolution. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-06950-0.

Mason, L.; Rizzo, T., eds. (1999). The French Revolution: A Document Collection. Boston: Houghton
Miin. ISBN 0-669-41780-7.

Bax, Ernest Belfort (1890). The Story of the French

Revolution. London: Swan Sonnenschein. OCLC
6024337.
Braud, Henri (1968) [1928]. Twelve portraits of
the French Revolution. Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press. OCLC 427303.
Bchner, Georg; Price, Victor (1971). The Plays
of Georg Bchner. Oxford University Press. ISBN
978-0-19-281120-2.
Bruun, Georey (1966). Saint-Just: Apostle of
the Terror. Hamden, CT: Archon Books. OCLC
1142850.
Camus, Albert (1991) [1951]. The Rebel: an essay
on man in revolt. New York: Vintage International.
ISBN 0-679-73384-1.
Carlyle, Thomas (1860) [1837]. The French Revolution: A History II. New York: Harper & Bros.
OCLC 14208955.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopdia Britannica XXIV. London: Cambridge University Press.
Curtis, Eugene Newton (1973). Saint-Just, colleague of Robespierre. New York: Octagon Books.
ISBN 0-374-92010-9.
Doyle, William (1990). The Oxford History of the
French Revolution (2 ed.). Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-925298-5.
Hampson, Norman (1991). Saint-Just. Oxford:
Basil Blackwell, Ltd. ISBN 0-631-16233-X.
Hazani, Moshe (1989).
The Duel That
Never Was. Political Psychology 10 (1): 111.
doi:10.2307/3791590. OCLC 482537177.
Higonnet, Patrice (1998). Goodness Beyond Virtue:
Jacobins During the French Revolution. Cambridge:
Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-47061-3.
Jordan, David P. (1979). The Kings Trial: Louis
XVI vs. the French Revolution. Berkeley: University
of California Press. ISBN 0-520-03684-0.
Knee, Philip (2006). An Ethics of Measure: Camus and Rousseau. In Daigle, Christine. Existentialist Thinkers and Ethics. Montreal: McGillQueens University Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-31383.

Monar, Jrg (1993). Saint-Just: Sohn, Denker und

Protagonist der Revolution (in German). Bonn: Bouvier. ISBN 3-416-02466-4.
Palmer, R.R. (1969) [1941]. Twelve Who Ruled.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691-05119-4.
Rud, George (1988). The French Revolution. New
York: Grove Weidenfeld. ISBN 0-8021-3272-3.
Schama, Simon (1989). Citizens: A Chronicle of the
French Revolution. New York: Vintage. ISBN 0679-72610-1.
Scurr, Ruth (1989). Fatal Purity: Robespierre and
the French Revolution. Vintage. ISBN 978-0-09945898-2.
Soboul, Albert (1975). The French Revolution
17871799. New York: Vintage. ISBN 0-39471220-X.
Soboul, Albert (1980). The Sans-culottes. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-69100782-9.
Stephens, Henry Morse (1892). The Principal
Speeches of the Statesmen and Orators of the French
Revolution, 1789-1795. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
OCLC 759870.
Ten Brink, Jan (1899). Robespierre and the Red Terror. London: Hutchinson & Co. OCLC 2988851.
Thompson, James Matthew (1968) [1935]. Robespierre 1. New York: Howard Fertig. OCLC
401482.
Walzer, Michael, ed. (1974). Regicide and Revolution: Speeches at the Trial of Louis XVI. London:
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-20370-8.
Vinot, Bernard (2002) [1985]. Saint-Just (in
French). Paris: Grand livre du mois. ISBN 2-70288040-1.
Vinot, Bernard (1985). Saint-Just (in French).
Paris: Fayard. ISBN 978-2-213-01386-2.

12

12

13

Further reading

Franois Aulard: Les Orateurs de la Lgislative et de

la Convention (1883) (French)
douard Fleury: Saint-Just et la terreur (1852)
(French)
Ernest Hamel:
(French)

Histoire de Saint-Just (1859)

Albert Soboul: Robespierre and the Popular Movement of 1793-4, Past and Present (May 1954) (English)

13

External links

Association Saint-Just (French)

EXTERNAL LINKS

13

14
14.1

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Louis Antoine de Saint-Just Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis%20Antoine%20de%20Saint-Just?oldid=655500247 Contributors: XJaM, Deb, William Avery, Olivier, Paul Barlow, Cyde, RodC, AnonMoos, Jhobson1, Jmabel, DocWatson42, Stern, Hendon, Quadell,
Antandrus, DragonySixtyseven, Ukexpat, D6, David Sneek, Ma'ame Michu, Discospinster, Rama, Freestylefrappe, Wefa, Mwng, Bender235, El C, Kwamikagami, Mullet, Mark K. Jensen, Stefanomione, Ashmoo, Rjwilmsi, Alberia torkenkluvin, FlaBot, Pruneau, Volunteer Marek, Bgwhite, YurikBot, Gyre, RussBot, Imladros, NawlinWiki, MulgaBill, Veledan, Welsh, Thiseye, Nlu, Togemon, SuperJumbo,
Attilios, SmackBot, David Kernow, Hmains, Hugo-cs, Chris the speller, Dahn, Roscelese, Sadads, Colonies Chris, Writtenright, CWesling, Wizardman, Rigadoun, Tazmaniacs, WilliamJE, Adam sk, WeggeBot, Cydebot, Slush Pile, Phlpstewart, Kingstowngalway, JamesAM, Thijs!bot, JustAGal, Escarbot, JAnDbot, DuncanHill, Skomorokh, Igodard, Mauricio Malu, Magioladitis, Kim976, KConWiki,
Alekjds, Pontmercy, Bogey97, Maproom, Lady of Versailles, Nwbeeson, DorganBot, Nattfodd, VolkovBot, DSRH, Kevinkor2, Law Lord,
TXiKiBoT, Ask123, SteveStrummer, SBlanc, PeterHuntington, Angryscientist, Frania Wisniewska, Humboldt, Zurairi, SieBot, Gerakibot, Benbor, Keilana, Monegasque, Darth Kalwejt, Joe513, Thecheeryfascist, Saddhiyama, Dr. I Don't Know, Estirabot, HIS33407Clio,
Cosette Pontmercy, SchreiberBike, DumZiBoT, David (davd), Rehsok, HIS30308ari, Good Olfactory, Mr. IP, Addbot, Favonian,
Tassedethe, Lightbot, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Wikifrdric, Wikipedian2, AnomieBOT, Rubinbot, Bsimmons666, Enjolras9430, OpenSeven, Citation bot, Eskandarany, Xqbot, Estlandia, GrouchoBot, Abce2, One-O Contributor, RibotBOT, Kherson, Sverez, FrescoBot,
Patchy1, Moonraker, Jandalhandler, RjwilmsiBot, Autumnalmonk, EmausBot, WikitanvirBot, HIS30310emc, K6ka, Prsident, ClueBot
NG, Zhuravlei, Thomasjbruce, Kuno Klamm, Asalrifai, Helpful Pixie Bot, VTheSystemV, John Hancock, Space Pirate, DeMaistre90,
AngBent, Bonechamber, CitationCleanerBot, Selbymay, Jageterix, HIS30312beckster, HIS30312CaitlinI, Makecat-bot, VIAFbot, Lekoren, , Ginsuloft, Absolute98 and Anonymous: 95

14.2

Images

File:Bataille_de_Fleurus_1794.JPG Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Bataille_de_Fleurus_1794.JPG License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.fontainebleau-photo.com/2012/10/le-bas-breau.html Original artist: Jean-Baptiste
Mauzaisse
File:Blrancourt2.JPG Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Bl%C3%A9rancourt2.JPG License: CC BY-SA
3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Szeder Lszl
File:CommitteePublicSafetyEntrance.jpg
Source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/
CommitteePublicSafetyEntrance.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: G. Lenotre, Paris rvolutionnaire, Paris, Firmin-Didot,
1895. Original artist: Illegible
File:Commons-logo.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Original
artist: ?
File:David_d'Angers_-_Saint-Just.jpg Source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/David_d%27Angers_-_
Saint-Just.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Selbymay Original artist: David d'Angers
File:Flag_of_France.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c3/Flag_of_France.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Prussia_1892-1918.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Flag_of_Prussia_1892-1918.svg
License: ? Contributors: Own Work, Custom Creation according to the ag description Original artist: Drawing created by David Liuzzo
File:Flag_of_Russia.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f3/Flag_of_Russia.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Spain_(1785-1873_and_1875-1931).svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Flag_of_Spain_
%281785-1873_and_1875-1931%29.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: self-made, based in Image:Bandera naval desde 1785.png
; [1] Original artist: previous version User:Ignaciogavira ; current version HansenBCN, designs from SanchoPanzaXXI
File:Flag_of_the_Habsburg_Monarchy.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Flag_of_the_Habsburg_
Monarchy.svg License: Public domain Contributors: This vector image was created with Inkscape. Original artist: Sir Iain, earlier version by ThrashedParanoid and Peregrine981.ThrashedParanoid
File:HebertistsOrderExecution.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/HebertistsOrderExecution.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Hector Fleischmann, La guillotine en 1793, Paris : Librairie des Publications Modernes, 1908. Original
artist: Unknown
File:Saint-Just_-_uvres_compltes,_d._Vellay,_I,_1908.djvu Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/
Saint-Just_-_%C5%92uvres_compl%C3%A8tes%2C_%C3%A9d._Vellay%2C_I%2C_1908.djvu License: Public domain Contributors:
http://www.archive.org/details/oeuvrescomplt01sainuoft Original artist: s:fr:Auteur:Louis Antoine Lon de Saint-Just
File:Saint-Just_muse_Lambinet.jpg Source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Saint-Just_mus%C3%A9e_
Lambinet.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Siren-Com
File:Statenvlag.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Statenvlag.svg License: Public domain Contributors:
Prinsenvlag.svg Original artist: Prinsenvlag.svg:
File:Union_flag_1606_(Kings_Colors).svg Source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Union_flag_1606_
%28Kings_Colors%29.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Made by Hoshie Original artist: Hoshie
File:Wikiquote-logo.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

14

14

14.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES