Madame Roland Appealing to the Revolutionary Tribunal on November 9, 1793
She became famous under the name “Madame Roland.” And yet, she was much more than the wife of the famous Girondin Jean-Marie Roland de la Platière. When she lived in this building, she was still called Manon Phlipon. It was in her home, after her marriage, where Deputy Brissot’s friends would gather: the “Brissotins” or the “Girondins” were the main political group at the beginning of the Republic, from autumn 1792 to spring 1793. Madame Roland thus became a high-profile female politician.
Arrested for her connections with Girondin deputies, Manon Roland was sentenced to death and executed on November 8, 1793. During the trial, the president of the Revolutionary Tribunal stopped her from reading the letter that she had written to explain her political behavior. Turning towards the audience, she then said: “I ask you to conduct the same type of violence that was done towards me.” A week earlier, deputies had forbidden female political clubs. Although she was not a feminist at all, Madame Roland became a symbol of the exclusion of women during the Revolution.
