September 11th, 2024 By: Lauren
Biography
Marquis de Sade was born as an aristocrat in Paris, France on June 2nd, 1740. He also studied in France for his younger yers until 1754 when the King chose him to be in the militia during the 7 Years War. Once the war ended in 1763 he resigned from his military career to get married and start a family (where everything went downhill). De Sade married a daughter of a high ranking bourgeois family and had two sons with her. Within the first three months of their marriage he had an affair with an actress, bought many prostitues of which he sexually abused. The King found out and had him improsoned after this, but unfortunately was released within weeks and proceeded with the same life, because of the constant need of prostitutes in his life, he went into debt. In 1768 the Rose Keller affair scandal was leaked, De Sade locked her up far away from town and abused her sexually prior, he went to jail for a second time. He was released in 1772 where he bought more prositutes (which he would ask his servants, who he would have intercourse with, to find for him) and purchased aphrodisiacs which he was arrested for in Sardinia. Orginally he was sentenced to death, but nearly escaped the prison. With the help of his wife, he abducted, raped, and tortured children but when officials discovered this he fled with his sister in law to Italy. He was arrested again, but this time put in a dungeon with harsh living conditions where he tried to make a revolt among the inmates. Once released, he retired to a convent, but they sent him to an insane asylum in 1784 because of his actions and stayed there until 1790. In 1801 he was arrested because of the explicit content in his writings and this was repeated over and over again until his death in 1814 in Charenton.
1789 + Ancien Regime
While the infamous French Revolution began in 1789, the revolution movement began in 1787. Pre revolution the ancien regime (French for “old order” meaning the political and social system of France pre revolution. Under the regime you were a sobject of the king, estate, and your province. France was divided into three classes the clergy (church) was considered the top at the time, the nobility was next, then the “3rd class” aka everyone else in Paris.
Reasons for the revolution are as follows… The bourgeoisie resented their exclusion from having control of political power, the third class wanted change in the government and was lless willing to support the other two classes, philosophy was more popular in France, due to the French participation in the revolution going on in America they were becoming bankrupt, rapid population increase from 1715-1800, and the people wanting to overthrow the French monarchy.
Church
In 1789 Catholicism was the most popular religion in France but over the next five years had a rapid decline throughout the revolution because the 3rd class was sick of the clergy and nobility deciding everything for them. By the time 1794 hit, Catholicism was supressed (if found practicing you would be arrested), public worship was banned, and Christianity was removed, even Preists and Nuns were arrested, some even being guillotined. The clergy helped the nobility stay in power during the revolution throwing aid to them in fear of what would happen if the lower class took over. Another reason the Church was not popular during this time period was because of the enlightenment, Voltaire specifically would speak against the church, but would praise the nuns for their selfless acts like taking care of the poor as well as the sick. Though Voltaire spoke highly of the Nuns the majority, if not all, of the enlightenment was spent criticizing the church in their writings and practices.