Primary Source

Burning the Guardhouse on the Pont Neuf

Burning the Guardhouse on the Pont Neuf

Annotation

This retrospective shows that early in the French Revolution targets were often economic. This should be no surprise as the populace had a long tradition of taking the law into its own hands to rectify what they saw as injustices. Here a guardhouse is destroyed during a riot focused on a network of facilities regulating the market. Most dangerously, the crowd burned an effigy of Brienne, the leading minister in the government. Economic complaints were spilling into the political arena.

This source is a part of the Legacies of the Revolution source collection.

Translation

Title (French)
Incendie du corps de garde sur le Pont Neuf, le 29 aout 1788

Credits

Michel Hennin. Estampes relatives à l'Histoire de France. Tome 116, Pièces 10092-10183, période: 1786-1788.
de Vinck. Un siècle d'histoire de France par l'estampe, 1770-1870. Vol. 9 (pièces 1423-1570), Ancien Régime et Révolution.
Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Estampes et photographie, RESERVE QB-370 (9)-FT 4.

How to Cite This Source

"Burning the Guardhouse on the Pont Neuf," in World History Commons, https://worldhistorycommons.org/burning-guardhouse-pont-neuf [accessed March 28, 2024]