Fraternal Meals in the Paris Sections on May 11, 12 and 13, 1793
Eating was also a way of waging revolution! During the French Revolution, many “civic banquets” were organized. Sitting down at the same table, among neighbors, was also the opportunity to get together among equals during the divisive Revolution. And finally, it was a way of revealing bad citizens who did not attend. However, the banquets were rarely spontaneous: in May 1793, the “fraternal suppers” organized on the rue de Tournon were used to count the number of supporters in the “Girondins” and “Montagnards” camps, which were in the midst of a heated political battle.
Very quickly, civic banquets were suspected of being sites where plots against the Republic were hatched. At the end of July 1794, the deputy Barère accused supporters of Robespierre, recently guillotined, of organizing “fraternal meals” throughout Paris in order to prepare their revenge. He also accused royalists of taking advantage of these banquets in order to gather together right under the authority’s nose.
