French Republican calendar
Calendar proposed during the French Revolution, and adopted by the French government for several years, until finally abolished by Napoleon to appease the Catholic Church.
Designed by mathematician Gilbert Romme, although usually attributed to Philippe François Nazaire Fabre, aka Fabre d'Eglantine, who invented the names of the months and the days.
Adopted by the Jacobin-controlled Convention October 24, 1793. Years are written in Roman numerals, and counted from the beginning of the 'Republican Era', beginning September 1792, so the calendar began a year before it was actually adopted.
Abolished by Napoleon in 1804 (year XII), eleven years after its introduction.
The Revolutionary Calendar had 12 months of 30 days each, which were given new names based on nature:
- Vendémiaire ("vintage")
- Brumaire ("mist")
- Frimaire ("frost")
- Nivôse ("snow")
- Pluviôse ("rain")
- Ventôse ("wind")
- Germinal ("seed")
- Floréal ("flower")
- Prairial ("meadow")
- Messidor ("harvest")
- Thermidor ("heat")
- Fructidor ("fruits")
Note that the English names are approximate, as most of the month names were new words coined from similar French or Latin words. The endings of the names are grouped by season.
The month is divided into 3 weeks of ten days, named simply: primidi, duodi, tridi, quartidi, quintidi, sextidi, septidi, octidi, nonidi, décadi. Instead of each day having a Saint as in the Catholic church's calendar, each day has a plant or animal associated to it.
Five left over days (six in leap years) were used as national holidays at the end of every year, known as the "Sans-Culottides".
It was abolished because the Catholic church opposed it as an attempt to rid the calendar of all Christian influences and because having a ten-day work week gave workers less rest, one day off every ten instead of one day off every seven.
Perhaps the most famous date in this calendar was immortalized by Karl Marx in the title of his pamphlet, "The 18th Brumaire of Louis Napoleon" (1852), in which he made his famous observation: "History repeats itself - the first time as tragedy, the second as farce." He was comparing the regime of Napoleon Bonaparte with that of his unsuccessful nephew.
It's interesting to note that, in trying to remove religious influence from the calendar and make it "universal", it was in fact made particular to France, since the descriptive month names would range from slightly to completely inaccurate in other parts of the world.
Many conversion tables and programs exist, largely created by genealogists. Some enthusiasts in France still use the calendar, more out of historical re-enactment than practicality.