Slaying's Guardian Angel: An In-depth Look at Charlotte Corday
In the tumultuous period of the French Revolution, Charlotte Corday, a young woman born on July 27th, 1768 in Saint-Saturnin Normandy, took a drastic step that would forever change the course of history.
A republican before the revolution, Corday initially supported the early stages of the upheaval. However, her allegiance lay with the moderate Girondin faction, and she grew increasingly opposed to the radical Jacobins, particularly their leader, Jean-Paul Marat. Corday believed that Marat, author of the radical French newspaper l'ami du peuple, was responsible for the violent repression and executions of the Girondins[1][2][3].
On July 13th, 1793, Corday assassinated Marat by stabbing him in his home. Montané and other members of the jury questioned her afterwards, to which she claimed that she had the idea herself and committed it individually[1]. Despite her hopes, the murder of Marat did not quell extremism in France, but instead increased the Girondins' unpopularity and contributed to their downfall[1][2].
Corday's family were fallen aristocrats, with her father being descended from the dramatist Pierre Corneille and her mother from a French noble family. After the passing of her mother and one of her sisters in April of 1782, Corday and her sister Eleonore were sent to live with their aunt in a convent called Abbaye-aux-Dames. Here, Corday received a superb education, exposed to works of enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau[1].
After leaving the convent, Corday lived with her cousin Madame de Bretteville and became increasingly involved with the Girondin faction. Despite the autopsy results showing that Corday was a virgin, proving that no male lover could be credited for the murder, French officials still didn't believe that she had the idea and carried out the murder of Marat herself. On July 17th, 1793, ten days before her twenty-fifth birthday, Charlotte Corday was executed[1][2].
The aftermath of Corday's actions was not limited to political repercussions. Women in France were horrified by her actions, which reflected badly on them, leading to the closing of women's clubs shortly after Marat was killed. Marat was turned into a martyr and idolized, with songs honoring him and statues of him throughout France. A portrait of Corday was made by Jean Paul Hauer, which is one of the most well-known images of her[1].
Corday's actions were driven by her political allegiance to the Girondins, her opposition to Marat’s extremist influence, and her desire to protect France from further bloodshed during a turbulent revolutionary period[1][2][3]. Despite her tragic end, her story continues to be a significant part of French history.
[1] History.com Editors. (2010, July 13). Charlotte Corday. History.com. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/charlotte-corday-assassinates-jean-paul-marat
[2] Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (2023, March 20). Charlotte Corday. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charlotte-Corday
[3] The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2023, March 20). Charlotte Corday. Britannica. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charlotte-Corday
- The spotlight in the events of the French Revolution was on Charlotte Corday, a young woman who, driven by her political allegiance, assassinated the radical Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat, a move that significantly impacted the course of history.
- Charlotte Corday's actions were influenced by her opposition to Marat's extreme views and her desire to protect France from further bloodshed during the tumultuous revolutionary period, events that were documented in newspapers like l'ami du peuple.
- Despite Corday's claims, the officials believed that she did not act alone in the murder of Marat, a claim that was questioned in general-news reports and historical accounts.
- Corday's story, marked by her education in literature and enlightenment thinking at Abbaye-aux-Dames, her involvement in the Girondin faction, and her tragic end, continues to be a significant part of French history, with her image even immortalized in a prominent piece of photography by Jean Paul Hauer.
