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Report by the Jacobin Society of Besançon on Refractory Priests

A Jacobin club in Besançon in the Franche–Comté on the eastern borders of France sent this report to the Jacobin Club of Paris on 8 January 1792.

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Excerpt from Against Neaira

In this speech Against Neaira revolves around the activities of a non-Athenian courtesan and reveals information about “proper” Athenian women. Note that several of the accusations involve the woman in question, Neaira, simply eating and drinking with men in public.

Teaching

Short Teaching Module: Women in Classical Athens and Sparta

Primary texts about women in classical Athens and Sparta provide an excellent, if extreme, example of one of the main themes in the 100-level “World History to 1500.” This theme is the relationship between social structure and political institutions.

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Moralia

Part of Plutarch's Moralia, these sayings by Spartan women demonstrate not only the martial culture of Sparta that emphasized physical courage and honor, but also the role of women in reinforcing that culture.

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Life of Lycurgus

Part of Plutarch's Parallel Lives, Life of Lycurgus, is a collection of anecdotes on the Spartan law-giver, Lycurgus, that provides valuable information about the laws and customs of the Greek city-state.

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Monks Learning to Exercise.

This image ridicules monks for contributing nothing to society, either economically or demographically, by depicting a group of them being taken from the monastery and drafted into the army, where they hope "to become good citizens" as was expected under religious restructuring during the French

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The Third Estate Marrying Priests with Nuns

The National Assembly also eliminated monasteries during the French Revolution, since monks and nuns had increasingly become figures of ridicule. This image depicts the dissolution of the religious orders, rather than the confiscation of lands, as the crucial element in religious reorganization.

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Constitution of the Lacedaemonians

Very little extant information exists on the life of Spartan women, but one of the main sources is Xenophon, Constitution of the Lacedaemonians which catalogs Sparta's institutions and customs with the goal of explaining how Sparta came to be a powerful city-state despite its relatively small pop

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Attack on Seigneurial Dues

The petitions from rural communities focused in part on the abuse of seigneurial dues owed by peasants to lords for which, in principle, they received protection and supervision.

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Babeuf’s Trial

Long after sans–culotte influence on the government had waned, social conflicts continued to drive some revolutionary events.