Chapter 1.4.II: The Election
Background
With elections now underway, the nation is buzzing in anticipation of the Estates-General. Crowds loiter in Paris, surrounding halls where business is done. In the provinces, skirmishes of various degrees of severity break out as residual parlements and nobles attempt in vain to control the waxing power of the Third Estate.
The financial situation continues to deteriorate, and food scarcity threatens the lower classes, which grow ever more restless.
Notes
Seneschalsies A seneschal is similar to a bailiff, i.e., a royal officer in charge of justice in a given region which is known therefore as a seneschalsy
“au prône des messes paroissales;” “In the sermon of a parish mass”
glebe A piece of land belonging to a clergyman via appointment that provides income
who pay no money-taxes and have no right to vote In general, male taxpayers over the age of 25 could vote. In the countryside, they voted directly in parish assemblies. In the towns and cities, guilds and corporations sent representatives to a town assembly that in turn elected representatives.
Alas, the next anniversary of it will be a worse. The crowds that storm the Bastille on July 14, 1789 had gathered and caused havoc the previous day
Behemoth-Briareus Briareus is one of three 100-armed, 50-headed giants in Greek mythology.
whither indeed Gabriel Honoré Riquetti Comte de Mirabeau has rushed down from Paris Mirabeau rushed to Aix-en-Provence, where he was known as a popular hero, to quell unrest. He attempted to join the Second Estate, but was rejected, leading him to seek and win election from the Third Estate in both Provence and Marseilles, ultimately choosing to represent Provence.
It was thus that the last of the Gracchi perished, by the hands of the Patricians. But he, being struck with the mortal stab, flung dust towards heaven, and called on the Avenging Deities; and from this dust there was born Marius,—Marius not so illustrious for exterminating the Cimbri, as for overturning in Rome the tyranny of the Nobles. The Gracchi brothers Gaius and Tiberius attempted to shift power from the aristocracy to the people, and were assassinated by the conservative faction of the Roman Senate called the Optimates. Around 20 years later, Gaius Marius rose to power. He is noted for his conflict with the Roman upper class and the creation of an army that was loyal not to the Republic, but a specific commander.
ell-wand A rod whose length is one “ell”, an old device used for measurement in tailoring
Fils Adoptif “Adopted son”, referring to Mirabeau’s heir Jean-Marie-Nicolas Lucas de Montigny, nominally the son of a de Montigny, but most likely the biological son of the amorous Mirabeau
(νυκτὶ ἐοικώς.) A Homeric phrase, “like the night”