Role of the Religion in the French Revolution - Essay Example

The French revolution Role of the religion in the French revolution Mass protests and movements characterized the revolution, which created upheavals and unrests in the country between 1789 to 1799. This revolution was marked by the clamor for change in the social governance, the abolition of torturous and dictatorial monarchies and the development of social and democratic institutions in the country. The religion had a precious position in the French leadership prior to the revolution as they held various prestigious and influential positions in country’s leadership. Their influence on the governance and economic position of the country following a weak harvest precipitated the upheavals. During the French revolution, a number of institutions played a critical role while others paid the price for their involvement in the war at this particular time. Due to the position held by religion especially the Catholic Church before the revolution, the upheavals affected their role and this forced them to play an essential role during the revolution. The revolution also necessitated a number of reforms in the Catholic Church that never there before as the governance of the country was changing from the monarch system. When the French revolution began in 1789, catholic was the official religion in all French states and the roman considered catholic as its ‘eldest daughter’ with the monarch as the symbol of its authority. As a result, a majority of the 28 million French in the country were forced to be Catholics while Protestants and Jews denied full citizenship to the country. The Catholic Church had high annual revenue and owned over 6% of the total land in the country that were used in the construction of churches, monasteries and convents. The church was also given permission to take tithe for agricultural activities in the country and its earnings were exempted from any form of taxation. However, the economic crisis that occurred in the country resulted into sweeping reforms, which created a room for decreasing the authority enjoyed by the Catholics in the country. This left them vulnerable to other reforms and exposed them to the pangs of the revolution as their position and authority was under test. Despite the fact that the church openly supported the French revolution, the results showed that the church was one of the main targets as its position was under jeopardy. The nationalization of the church that occurred in October of 1789 resulted into the erosion of the solemn vows that would bring to an end the forceful recruitment of women into the Coventry. When the advances of the revolution openly showed its anti-religion progresses, a faction of the Catholic Church began to show their open protest and opposition to the process. This resulted into the support for refractory churches, which was viewed as a counter-revolution to the main revolution. As demonstrated, the impacts that the revolution had on the Catholics resulted into a number of drastic reforms on the church. These attacks resulted into a major change in the operations of the institution. Through a number of reforms occurred, most of these were either politically or legislatively instigated and this left the church in weaker position as they could not sufficiently oppose the changes that were initiated. As a way of eliminating the roman control of the French catholic, the civil constitution of the clergy was passed in July 1790 and this introduced a decree on the priesthood body. As a result, all bishops and priest were subjected to selection by the masses and payment by the state. The papal power on the affairs, salary and selection catholic priests was thus eliminated and the power transferred to the people. All the dissidents who opposed the law were forced to resign from their ministries as some were prosecuted. Those who observed the power of the power of the pope were considered as rebels and traitors and subjected to criminal charges. However, most bishops declined to take oath with only four out of the 135 bishops agreeing thus prompting the legislative assembly to order to additional sanction against the dissidents and the church. The entire priest that remained loyal the pope was guilty of fanaticism and subjected to ten years of imprisonment and expulsion from the Catholic Church. The consequences of the reforms were far reaching as they affected the overall catholic belief and subjected the priest, believers and pope loyalist to torture and detention. The symbols of catholic warship and crucifixes were prohibited from the streets, churches and other public areas that were previously controlled by the Catholics. The priest that agreed to work under the government was allowed to marry, divorce at will and this resulted into civil marriages within the Catholic Church. To sum up the impacts of the reforms, the French revolution attempted to de-Christianize French as a new religion known as patriotism was introduced and the Gregorian calendar replaced by names associated with nature. Crisis that precipitated the French revolution The beginning of the French revolution was created by a crisis that resulted into upheavals, dissidents and development of a strong negative feeling towards the privileges enjoyed by the Catholic Church. The emergence of royal absolutism created significant stress on the French economy as a large percentage of the population was subjected to suffering. The monarchy thus increased to become unpopular within the general population and this gave room for the emergence of the revolution. The public debt of the French government caused a major economic crisis that resulted into an increase in the overall cost of living in the country. The French debt raised from eight billion to 12 billion Livres by 1789 and this was associated with the luxurious way of the monarch under King Louis XVI. Most of the expenditures the previous wars that France engaged in escalated its budget especially the seven-year war that was fought against the British. To help increase the government revenues to cater for the high expenditures, the monarchy introduced a budget that had a major deficit and thus needed external funding. This resulted into an increase in taxation, which majorly affected the privileged class and the peasant farmers in other parts of the economy. The scarcity of food that hit France in the 1780s was considered as the mother of the crisis that affected the country and necessitated the emergence of the French revolution. Crop failures because of the famine and the dry spells in the country resulted into a massive grain shortage, which ultimately led to an increase in the price of bread. Bread by this time was the major staple food for the poor who were occupying the rural parts of the country. The famine thus created a major starvation in the country, as the poor could not manage to buy other available foods, mostly used by the rich and the privileged members of the society. However, politics took control of the famine, as a number of conspiracy theories were developed to grow dissent towards the French monarchs. One of the theories considered the famine and grain shortage a deliberate plan by the monarch to starve its people and make them an easy target for oppression. This increased the hatred towards the nobility as more people started to believe that it was not capable to provide for the people and protect them from the ravaging famine and food shortage. The French revolution produced massive impacts that historians have debated about for over a century as they attempt to argue on whether it entrenched democratic ideals or killed the democratic institutions that were present before it actually began. The French revolution had massive impacts especially on the Catholics whose position in the society was affected due to the legislations that were made concerning their behaviors. Before this revolt, a good percentage of land in the country was owned by the church as Coventry or even missionary schools. However, this changed as a large portion of the land initially controlled by the Catholics was confiscated and left under the control of the government. The privileged middle class that had for long controlled the country lost ground as the middle class gained and became influential in the political landscape of the country. For example, a large portion of the land that was confiscated from the Catholics was sold to the middle class as opposed to being given to the privileged class. This indicated an introduction of a new world order into the country that was quite different from the French monarchial system that had been blamed for the woes of the country. Feudalism and communal ownership of land that was enjoyed by the privileged in the society was also abolished as the economic system changed to capitalism as opposed to the former socialist system. Social equality and the introduction of equal political rights were also introduced and this affected the reigns of the Catholic Church in the country as citizens were allowed to belong to any of the religious groupings in the country. From the results above, it is evident that the French revolution significantly affected the French society, ranging from the social system, political arrangement to the religious positions of the churches. The Catholics were the most affected by the new order as a number of legislations were introduced that affected their initial position, control and the overall role of the papacy in the country’s religion. The role of King Louis XVI in the French revolution After the death of his father, he assumed leadership of France in 1774 while still 19 years old following the death of the grandfather who was then the French leader. Louis inherited a system that was riddled by debts, facing dissenting masses and faced with massive food shortage challenges. To try to forestall the problems that his country was facing, King Louis introduced a number of changes in line with his enlightenment ideals. The enlightenment ideals sought to eliminate a number of practices that were considered selfish and divisionary in the country. These include the removal of the serfdom, the elimination of the Taille and the reduction in the non-tolerance that was directed towards non-Catholics in the country. However, these reforms evoked bitter reactions from the French nobility and opposed their adoption with success and this created massive discontent in the country. Due to the age factor, lack of experience and some of the policies that he adopted under the advice of his wife, King Louis played a major role in the French revolution. When the revolution began, Louis was viewed as being irresolute and unable to make decisions that could help forestall the revolution and restore peace and order. His contribution to the revolution may therefore be categorized as the voluntary through the policies adopted and involuntary due to the lack of action and incapacity. When he assumed the throne, he introduced constitution reforms that were seen to aim at limiting the power of the monarchy. However, the nobility opposed the idea and persuaded him to retain the status quo in which the rules that were being opposed by the revolution would be retained. As a result, when he was presented with the opportunity to communicate with the Versailles and persuade them to abandon their cause, he avoided it and this escalated the spirit of the revolt. This exposed his inner weak character, high temperament and the lack of proper political strategy and insight for the people of France. Instead of focusing on policies that could forestall the revolution and create peace between the nobility and the peasants, he resorted to hunting and working as a mason. In 1789, the king dismissed Necker and this provided ground for the rebels to attack the bastille and force him to accept the establishment of the national assembly. This led to the destruction of the feudal regime and the enactment equality laws in the country, a process that he personally opposed. A number of analysts argue that inactivity of the king was based on his belief that the revolution will burn itself out and the monarchy will assume its traditional position thereafter. When it was apparent that the royal family could not resolve the problems facing the French, the monarchy was transferred from Versailles to Tuileries Palace in Paris. However, King Louis failed to act according to the advices of his council and attempted to escape from the capital in 1971. However, he was caught in Varennes and taken back to Paris, an event that significantly affected his legitimacy and credibility. Louis was subjected to trial for his secret dealings with the Mirabeau and his attempts to oppose the revolution that was geared towards making the French society equal. He was therefore charged for treason and attempts to cut private dealings with foreign forces, which would undercut the French people and affect their global position. The national convention found him guilty and made a death verdict on the 18th day of January in 1793. He were therefore guillotined in the revolutionary palace in Paris on the 21st of the same month with his wife following the same route nine months later. The death of King Louis XVI was unavoidable because he failed to provide direction on the French revolution and therefore allowed it to follow its own course, a process that affected his strength and powers in the country. The strength of the revolution had also resulted into an increase in the number of middle class into the national convention and the political process of the country. The middle class hated the monarchial governance system and participated in the revolution in order to create a free society irrespective of religious affiliation and social class. The French revolution was a self-propelling movement that was necessitated by the desire to make the country equal economically, socially, politically and religiously. However, the failure of the monarch and the nobility to address the issues raised by the peasants and the middle class propelled it and this resulted into the ultimate abolition of the monarch with the execution of the king. King Louis may be viewed by some analysts are directly responsible for the direction that revolution took but this cannot be factual as he inherited a weak kingdom from his grandfather. His inactions however increased the urge for the changes and this resulted into his inevitable death and the final fall of the monarchy in the France. Read More