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1. Title
The Failureof a National Religion: AbbeGregoireandThe ConstitutionalChurchin France1795-1801.
2. Abstract
My projectis on the Catholic Churchin Franceduring the lateFrenchRevolution andin particular,the
ConstitutionalChurch,a schismaticproductof revolutionaryreform.The ConstitutionalChurchattempted
to mitigateconflict betweenhigh and low clergyandcreatea NationalReligion free from Papaldomination
and answerableto the State.The period afterStatesupportdisappeared
underthe Directory (1795-1799),
necessitated
extraordinaryefforts by men suchasthe Abbe Gregoireto keepRepublicanChristianityalive
beforethe Concordatof 1801with the Papacy.Gregoire'sstruggleand idealismprovidethe frameworkfor
understandingthis uniqueinstitution, its origins,andits demise.
3. Statementof the Problem
Wasthe aim of the ConstitutionalChurchto providea NationalReligion and how did this aim accord
with statepolicy?This project will attemptto demonstratethat on both an institutional andtheologicallevel,
the ConstitutionalChurchprovided
an ideal blueprint
for a revolutionaryreligion acceptableto the greater
.
. .- .
numberof Frenchcitizens.This aim remainedof paramountimportanceto the leadersof the Constitutional
Church.However,the waveringpolicies of the Stateandthe reactionarypolicies of the reffactoryclergy,
thosewho remainedloyal to Rome,forfeited the chanceof man-yingtheologicaland institutionalrefonn in
the Church.Of particularinterestto the studyis an examinationof the religious policies of theDirectoryand
how thesepoliciesaffectedthe Church.While answeringthe main questionsthrougha reviewof the history
of the ConstitutionalChurch,this project will also addressthe ideaof a revolutionaryreligion andattemptto
historicalemphasistendsto addressthe relationsbetweenthe Co~sulateand the Papacyor on the
rapprochement
with the refractoryclergy.The denouementof the ConstitutionalChurchis seenasan
inevitableeventwith little insight into the strugglesto maintainthe Church by its adherents
As a final testamentto the dearthof researchin this field. a surveyof theAnnalesde la Revolution
Fran£;aise,
the premierjournal of FrenchRevolutionstudies,revealsonly eight articlesspecificallyon the
CatholicChurchin the entirety of the Revolutionpublishedin the last twenty yearsandonly two on
specificallythe ConstitutionalChurchin the last fifty years.The subjectareais ripe for new interpretation.
5. Significance
The significanceof this project lies in its attemptto bridge the gap betweenthe ancienregimeandthe
nineteenth-century
Church.A studyof theConstitutionalChurchduring the Directory yearsof the
Revolutionis a studyof a watershedin Church/Staterelations.Two centuriesof debateon the role of the
Churchin society,the role of the lower clergyin the Church,and the infiltration of Enlightenmentor liberal
ideologyinto the liturgy of the Churchcanbe viewedin microcosmduring this brief six-yearspan.The time
periodis both dramaticenoughto be riveting yet calm enoughto allow one to view the clergyin the act of
rebuildingafter the excessesof the Terror.Oneis ableto seewithout the distractionof sensationalviolence
into the efforts of a few constitutionalbishopsto preservetheir church.In their strugglewith government
policy andpublic opinion a uniquelyRepublicanversionof State/Churchconflict emerges.
The pre-revolutionarymodel of the CatholicChurchwasbuilt alongclasslines.The higherclergy
(bishops,canons,and abbots)cameinvariablyfrom the nobility, while the lower clergy(parishpriests,
vicars,andmonks)camefrom the lower classes,primarily the educatedpeasantryor bourgeoisie.The aim
of the ConstitutionalChurchwas both a spiritualand an institutional refonn of the Churchmeantto mitigate
the economicand administrativeinjusticeof the old systemand align the clergy alongmoreegalitarian
lines. To differentiatebetweenthesetwo aimsis difficult especiallywhenone considersthe views of
their church during the Directory. Severalsecondaryworks will bolstermy research,what follows is an
examination of primary sources.
To develop the concept of a National Religion as it pertains to this study, it will be necessaryto clarify
what this tenn means.The focus of this paper is primarily the Catholic ideal of a virtuous society in-line
with the teachings of Jesus,which is able to invigorate the State as well as the individual. To develop this
concept researchwill be conducted into several areas.These include the writings of Edmond Richer (15601631), for whom 'Richerism' was named. He provided the Gallican Church with a rallying doctrine against
Papal supremacy, and the lower clergy with a interest in Church administration. One of his major works,
Vindicia! doctrina!majorumscholleParisiensis,is availablein Bailey-HoweSpecialCollections,although
Inter-Library Loanshasaccessto Englishtranslationsof his completeworks.To studythe Enlightenment's
.
contribution to the conceptof civil virtue especiallyas it pertainsto the Church,I will consult Vo!taire's
Lettres PhilosophiquesandRousseau'sDu Contrat Social. Readingof RobespielTe's
speechesto the
conventionon the Cult of the SupremeBeing, a syntheticattemptat a NationalReligion, and his letters,all
availablein Microform format at Bailey/Howe,will help developthe conceptof Republicanvirtue and
contrastthe revolutionarycult's understandingof a National Religion with the conceptasthe Constitutional
Christiansunderstoodit. The broadsocietalgoalsof the constitutionalistclergymenthemselvesarebest
studiedin the speeches
of Abbe Gregoireavailablein edited fofn1i.nthe book.L 'AbbeGregoireEvequedes
Lumieres, andin the speechof Abbe Coupebeforethe convention.Thesesourcestogethermaydemonstrate
that there was an inherited patriotic and egalitarian ideal of virtue that had the power to reinvigorate the
nation.This ideal wasa prime motivatorfor Christians,Deists,andAtheistsalike and that the preservation
of this ideal wasof paramountimportanceto the ConstitutionalChurch.
The studyof institutional refonn of the Churchconsistsof tracingthe changesin the economicand
political structure of the church from the ancien regime to the Concordat. Analyzing source materia] such as
allow the readerto seedistinct goalsand accomplishmentsaswell asthe failures of the main playersas they
tackled specificprojectssuchasthe reinitiating of Episcopalmeetingsof the Constitutionalclergy.Their
lives will be setin the rich melangeof RevolutionaryFranceto generatepersonalempathyfor their efforts
and their ideals. A parallel overview of ttlC events of the Directory reveal a timeline with dramatic
punctuationsnicelyplacedto facilitate the discussionof the topicsaboveand createa compellingstory.
Throughout the project several primary source documents in French (and English where available) will
be used in conjunction with secondary sources in both English and French. Recourse to Inter-Library Loan
servicesis necessary
for the completecopiesof the ConstitutionalChurchJournalsand sometexts of the
Abbe Gregoire, all of which are housed at the Center for ResearchLibraries at the University of Chicago.
The end result of this researchis to create a readable story of the Constitutional Church that touches on
broad themes in both religious and revolutionary history while bringing the reader closer to fascinating
figures in historyandtheir beliefs.
7. References
The following is a partial bibliographyof works consultedin thepreliminaryresearch
Primary Sources
Barras,Paul Vicomtede,Memoirsof Barras, Memberof the Directorate,(transby GeorgesDuruy), (New
York: Harper& bros.,1895-96)4 vols.
Coupe,Jacques-Michel,
"Le Discoursde I' Abbe Jacques-MichelCoupea }'assembleed'61ectiondescures
du District deNoyon 15Mai 1791", in Annalesde la RevolutionFranfaise (AHRF), 1998,00.2.327330.
Gregoire, Henri, L 'Abbe Gregoire, Eveque des Lumieres (Frank Paul Bowman ed.), (paris: Editions FranceEmpire, 1988).
Gregoire,Henri, Oeuvresde l'Abbe Gregoire, (Imprint-Nendeln,Liechtenstien:KTOPress,1977).
Napoleon, L 'Empereur de La Fran~ais, Co"espondence de Napoleon 1er, (paris: H. Pion, J. Dumaine.
1858-70) 32vols.
Robespierre, Maximilien, [works], collected in Microform at Bailey Howe, several texts printed in America
before 1801, and compiled together.
Tackett, Timothy, Priest and Parish in Eighteenth Century France, (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1977).
Tackett,Timothy,Religion, Revolutionand RegionalCulture in EighteenthCenturyFrance.The
EcclesiasticalOath of 1791, (Princeton:PrincetonUP, 1986).
Van Kley, Dale K., TheReligious Origins a/the FrenchRevolution(New Haven: Yale UP, 1996).
Vovelle,Michel, La RevolutionContreL 'Eglise,de La Raisona L'ttre Supreme,(paris:Editions
Complexe,1988).
Woronoff,Denis,TheThennidoreanRegimeand theDirectory 1794-1799,(JulianJackson,trans.)
(Cambridge:CambridgeUP, 1984).
8. Project Advisor's Initials