French Revolution, End Of The 18th Century, 2 Documents Dated March 1794, Year II Of The Republic - Rare Certificate Of Citizenship From The Municipality Of Sedan And A Handwritten Note From The Revolutionary Surveillance Committee

Document 1:

Certificate of citizenship of the Municipality of Sedan granted to Citizen Robert

Dated March 9, 1794, Year II of the Republic

In the left margin: "Note. The bearer of this will be required to have it stamped at his own expense before being able to serve".

We, the undersigned, Mayor, Municipal Officers & Members of the General Council of the Municipality of Sedan, certify that the citizen "Nicolas Felix Robert employed in the subsistence of the Army of the Ardennes" has behaved up to this day as a good citizen & that he always showed an unsuspected patriotism; in witness whereof we have granted him these presents to serve as a certificate of good citizenship wherever the need arises.

Delivered in the Common House; in Sedan "the nineteen ventose", the 2nd year of the French Republic, one & indivisible. (Sunday, March 9, 1794)

Red wax seal of the Municipality of Sedan: The Republic standing, holding in its right hand a pike surmounted by a Phrygian cap, the right hand resting on a lictor's fasces.

About the Army of the Ardennes (in French): Link wikipedia



Document 2:

Handwritten note of the Revolutionary Surveillance Committee of the Municipality of Sedan

Dated March 10, 1794, Year II of the Republic

"Revolutionary Surveillance Committee of the Commune of Sedan, 20 Ventose 2nd Republican year". (Monday March 10, 1794)

"The Permanent Council of the District of Sedan on 20 Ventose 2nd Republican Year."


Red wax stamp of the Municipality of Sedan


The Law of Suspects decreed by the Convention on September 17, 1793 in the midst of the Terror, allows the immediate arrest, without reason or without proof, of all those who "have not constantly shown their attachment to the Revolution" or of those who " having done nothing against Liberty, have done nothing for it”. First directed against the nobles, the priests, the emigrants, the possessors, it ends up including in the category of suspects all those who, by their manners, their words, their ways of thinking or of dressing, do not give the daily example of a militant enthusiasm for the revolutionary ideal. Suspected are not only the rich or the former notables, but the lukewarm, the selfish, the fearful, the indifferent, the careless, and, finally, the revolutionaries themselves, who end up falling in their turn under the blow of this law. double-edged sword they made to get rid of their enemies.


Framed under glass
Good general condition, marks of use
27 x 31 cm frame included
Former collection of André BERNHEIM (1877-1961)

About:
The revolutionary surveillance committees (in French): Link wikipedia
Law of Suspects: Link Wikipedia