Love Affair

How did it all begin? Why Robespierre? I can tell you exactly....

It started 2 months before my 12th birthday (just over 10 years ago) when I was taken to see the musical "Les Miserables" as part of my gift. I fell in love with the show and was particularly taken with Enjolras and the scenes on the barricade. After that I decided to read the original novel by Victor Hugo. I was blown away by it and it remains one of my all time favourite books. In the book I first learnt something of the French Revolution, through the discussions of Enjolras and his men as they planned their insurrections of 1832. It was then I first saw the name Robespierre.

This novel sparked my interest in the French Revolution and I read my first book on the subject. By now I was completely engrossed in this amazing era of French history and continued to thirst for more knowledge. I read other books and got a CD of the musical "La Revolution Francaise" (by the same people who wrote Les Miserables). I found all the people interesting:- Danton, Marat, Condorcet...but it was Maximilien de Robespierre who really intrigued me.

Here was a man who was, in some books, referred to as a tyrant but in others was honoured as 'l'incorruptible'. So my Robespierre research began. It was sporadic to begin with but gained momentum during my mid-late teens. I began to read biographies on him from different periods and slowly started to piece together the puzzle.

In my reading it became clear that Maxime had been unfairly treated in the years since his death. Thermidorean slander had won out and been enhanced by books like "The Scarlet Pimpernel". During the last 50 years or so though historians have begun to reconsider the evidence and Robespierre is finally loosing a little of the stigma that had been attached to his name for so long.

Why do I like him? That's harder to answer exactly. It was clear to me from the start that Enjolras, the character I so admired, was a mix of Robespierre, had he been a fighting man, and Saint Just - Maxime's 'disciple' and close friend. Maxime represents an ideal. Maxime was the disciple of Rousseau and really thought he could create an ideal world but at the end of the day he was only human and he made mistakes. Those mistakes cost him both his life and his dream.

For me Maxime is an inspirational figure and I can venerate him all the more for having been so long misunderstood and vilified. So I have created this site in homage. To Maximilien de Robespierre - L'Incorruptible.

Visit my Tribute page for things I've made in celebration of Maxime