Jeanne-Louise-Françoise de Sainte-Amaranthe
Jeanne-Louise-Françoise de Sainte-Amaranthe | |
|---|---|
 Sainte-Amaranthe c. 1770[1] | |
| Born | 16 May 1751[2] |
| Died | 17 June 1794 (aged 43)[2] Paris, France |
| Cause of death | Guillotined |
Jeanne-Louise-Françoise de Sainte-Amaranthe, styled as Madame de Sainte-Amaranthe (16 May 1751 – 17 June 1794), was a French noblewoman and salonnière who ran gambling salons in Paris. During the Reign of Terror period of the French Revolution, she was denounced and arrested by the Committee of Public Safety with her son and daughter. The family was prosecuted alongside 51 other prisoners. After a 2 hour trial, they were all guillotined wearing red robes that were usually worn by executed assassins.
Background
Madame de Sainte-Amaranthe operated two gambling salons in Paris: one in the Galeries du Palais Royale and another in her apartment on rue Vivienne. She operated the salons alongside her daughter, Émilie de Sainte-Amaranthe, and the funds from gambling supported their lavish lifestyle.[3]
Her daughter Émilie began a romantic affair with the opera singer, Jean Elleviou, and would meet with him in secret.[4] Elleviou's clandestine visits at night "dressed as a peasant" but with the "bearing of a gentleman" aroused suspicion.[5] Witnesses believed the mysterious visitor was a royalist named Baron de Batz,[5] or even the revolutionary, Georges Danton.[6] Elleviou's former partner, Clotilde Mafleuroy, denounced the Sainte-Amaranthe family to the Committee of General Security.[7][8] Mafleuroy mentioned the visits of the disguised visitor in her denunciations.[7]
Trial and execution
The Committee of Public Safety issued an arrest warrant for Sainte-Amaranthe and her family.[9] Later, in his evidence against the Dantonists, Louis Antoine de Saint-Just would go on to accuse Georges Danton of having dinners with her.[10][11] Maximilien Robespierre is rumored to have argued with Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier against targeting Sainte-Amaranthe and her family, but he did not stop their prosecution.[12]
On 17 June 1794, Sainte-Amaranthe, her 19 year old daughter Émilie, and her 17 year old son Louis were prosecuted alongside 51 other defendants, including Cécile Renault and Charles François de Virot de Sombreuil.[13] Their trial before Fouquier-Tinville lasted 2 hours, and they were all executed on the same day while being made to wear red robes that were traditionally symbolic of assassins.[12] The executioner Charles-Henri Sanson wrote in his memoirs that he fell sick that day and had to leave the scaffold.[14]
References
- ↑ "Mme de Saint-Amarante". Musée Condé. Retrieved 7 July 2026.
- 1 2 "Collective Biographies of Women: Jeanne Louise Françoise de Sainte-Amaranthe". University of Virginia. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ Latour 1930, p. 200.
- ↑ Latour 1930, p. 201.
- 1 2 Latour 1930, p. 203.
- ↑ Duplay 1960, p. 95, Chapter IV: Les Cachots de la Terreur: "Le concierge de Sucy maintenait que le visiteur nocturne d’Emilie était Danton."
- 1 2 Latour 1930, p. 203–204.
- ↑ Duplay 1960, p. 95, Chapter IV: Les Cachots de la Terreur: "Aux deux rapports ci-dessus étaient venus s’agréger quantité de lettres anonymes, dont plusieurs certainement de la Malfleuroy, et maints commérages."
- ↑ Latour 1930, p. 204.
- ↑ Duplay 1960, p. 95, Chapter IV: Les Cachots de la Terreur: "Mais, plus redoutable encore, était celui de Saint-Just contre les Dantonistes, où il reprochait à leur chef, faussement d’ailleurs : « ses dîners avec l’infâme Sainte-Amaranthe. »"
- ↑ Charetie et al. 2024, p. 422.
- 1 2 Alison 1849, p. 278.
- ↑ Wallon 1881, p. 257.
- ↑ Sanson 1876, p. 174–175.
Bibliography
- Alison, Archibald (1849). History of Europe from the Commencement of the French Revolution to the Restoration of the Bourbons in MDCCCXV. William Blackwood and Sons. Retrieved 7 July 2026 – via Google Books.
- Charetie, Jules; Hoey, Frances Cashel; Desmoulins, Camille; Desmoulins, Lucille (2024). Passages from the History of the Dantonists Founded Upon New and Hitherto Unpublished Documents. Verlag. ISBN 978-3-38552-611-2. Retrieved 14 July 2026 – via Google Books.
- Duplay, Maurice (1960). Mesdames de Sainte-Amaranthe (in French). FeniXX réédition numérique – via Kindle.
- Latour, Thérèse-Louis (1930). Princesses, Ladies & Republicaines of the Terror. London: A. A. Knopf. Retrieved 7 June 2026 – via Google Books.
- Sanson, Henry, ed. (1876). Memoirs of the Sansons: From Private Notes and Documents (1688-1847). London: Chatto and Windus. Retrieved 7 July 2026 – via Google Books.
- Wallon, Henri-Alexandre (1881). Histoire du Tribunal révolutionnaire de Paris, avec le journal de ses actes. Paris: Librairie Hachette. Retrieved 5 July 2026 – via Google Books.
External links
Media related to Jeanne-Louise-Françoise de Sainte-Amaranthe at Wikimedia Commons
Further reading
- Rolland, Armandine (1869). La famille Sainte-Amaranthe (in French).