The Gregorian Calendar: How France Revolutionary Time Itself

In 1793, the French Revolution didn't just overthrow a monarchy — it tried to overthrow time itself. This episode traces the rise and fall of the French Republican Calendar, a decimal system that replaced weeks with décades, renamed months after seasons, and banned saints' days. We explore how the revolutionary government, driven by the dechristianization movement and scientific rationality, imposed a new temporal order on French life. Key figures include Charles-Gilbert Romme, the calendar's chief architect; Fabre d'Églantine, who poetically named the months (Vendémiaire, Brumaire, Frimaire, Nivôse, Pluviôse, Ventôse, Germinal, Floréal, Prairial, Messidor, Thermidor, Fructidor); and the painter Jacques-Louis David, who designed the festival days. The calendar faced practical resistance — workers disliked ten-day décades, farmers clung to the Gregorian cycle, and clocks had to be converted. It was officially abolished by Napoleon in 1806, but its legacy lingers in the names of the Thermidorian Reaction and Germinal. Join Lucas and Luna as they unravel how a nation's attempt to remake time reveals the tensions between ideology, daily life, and the stubborn rhythms of nature. #FrenchRevolution #RepublicanCalendar #TimeReform #Dechristianization #CharlesGilbertRomme #FabrédÉglantine #JacquesLouisDavid #DecadaryCult #Thermidor #Germinal #Napoleon #DecimalTime #HistoryOfTime #18thCenturyFrance #RevolutionaryCulture #CalendarReform #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo