1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: The Day in History Class. It's a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,400 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi everyone, I'm Eves and welcome to this 3 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:10,200 Speaker 1: Day in History Class, a podcast that brings you a 4 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:14,880 Speaker 1: new slice of history every day. Today is May seven. 5 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:26,599 Speaker 1: The day was May seventh, sevent The Cult of the 6 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:30,000 Speaker 1: Supreme Being was authorized by a decree of the National Convention, 7 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:35,280 Speaker 1: which was the first government of the French Revolution. Maximilian Robespierre, 8 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: a Jacobin leader who played an important role in the Revolution, 9 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:41,600 Speaker 1: created the Cult of the Supreme Being in order to 10 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 1: establish a national religion based on Deism. In seventeen eighty nine, 11 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:49,879 Speaker 1: Robespierre was elected as a deputy to the Estates General. 12 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 1: The Estates General was a general assembly that represented the 13 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: French estates of the Realm. But in June, as the 14 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: French Revolution began, the Third Estate redefined itself as the 15 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: National Assembly, and Robospierre became a Deputy of the National Assembly. 16 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: He became increasingly popular as he spoke out against the 17 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 1: monarchy and supported democratic reforms. Robespierre supported the Declaration of 18 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:16,480 Speaker 1: the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and he 19 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: advocated for universal male suffrage. He opposed slavery in France 20 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 1: and French territories, and he went up against the Catholic Church, 21 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:27,480 Speaker 1: the official church of France, by opposing the requirement of 22 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:33,320 Speaker 1: celibacy for the clergy. Influenced by Enlightenment philosophies, Robespierre also 23 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 1: opposed the Cult of Reason, an atheistic cult that rejected 24 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 1: the Catholic Church and championed reason and liberty. During the 25 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: Enlightenment in France, the Catholic Church was criticized for many reasons. 26 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:50,640 Speaker 1: More French people were becoming frustrated with the Church's power, wealth, 27 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: mistreatment of religious minorities, links with the monarchy, and restrictions 28 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: of individual liberty. As the Revolution ramped up in the 29 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: French monarchy fail in sevento, anti clerical sentiment grew. Catholicism 30 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: became the target of a lot of revolutionaries resentment. A 31 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 1: movement of de Christianization grew out of this environment. Priests 32 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: who continued practicing faced arrest and deportation. Public worship was prohibited, 33 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 1: Relics and symbols of Christianity were seized and destroyed. Churches 34 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: were closed and converted for use as warehouses and stables. 35 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: In the case of the Cult of Reason, churches were 36 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: converted into so called Temples of Reason. The Cult of 37 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: Reason represented an attempt to find a religion to replace Catholicism. Meanwhile, 38 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:43,040 Speaker 1: Robespierre was orchestrating the Reign of Terror, a period when 39 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: the revolutionary government ordered harsh measures and death against supposed 40 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:50,920 Speaker 1: enemies of the Revolution. While the Cult of Reason had 41 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: many followers, it also had detractors, including Robespierre. He rejected 42 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 1: the Cult of Reason as running counter to his goal 43 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:02,799 Speaker 1: of creating a stable, virtuous republic. He wanted to form 44 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:06,240 Speaker 1: a religion that still recognized a higher power, so he 45 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: created the Cult of the Supreme Being. It recognized a 46 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: supreme deity and the immortality of the soul, which would 47 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:17,959 Speaker 1: appease people with religious beliefs and inspire moral behavior. On 48 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 1: May seven, Robospierre gave a speech to the National Convention, 49 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 1: partly on the relationship between religious ideas and Republican principles. 50 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 1: The convention passed a decree to officially establish the Cult 51 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: of the Supreme Being. The Festival of the Supreme Being 52 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 1: was held on June eighth, and it included speeches and ceremony, 53 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: but the cult did not gain any real momentum. Its 54 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: ideas weren't that convincing. And Robespierre, who cast himself as 55 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: its leader, wasn't fit for the role. Some believed the 56 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 1: cult marked the end of de Christianization or the reign 57 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: of terror, but revolutionary violence continued. Robespierre was executed just 58 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: week after the festival on July, and the cult soon 59 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: failed by the wayside. After Napoleon came to power in France, 60 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: in Catholicism was restored in the country. I'm Eve Jeff 61 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: Coote and hopefully you know a little more about history 62 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:20,000 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. And if you have any 63 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 1: comments are suggestions, you can send them to us at 64 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:26,480 Speaker 1: this day at i heeart media dot com. You can 65 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:29,359 Speaker 1: also follow us on social media. We're at t d 66 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:33,719 Speaker 1: i h C Podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Thanks 67 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 1: again for listening to the show and we'll see you tomorrow. 68 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:45,159 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart 69 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:47,680 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 70 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:48,360 Speaker 1: favorite shows.