Accounts of Committee meeting on March 30, '94 (when Danton's arrest was ordered)??

[wolfshadow713.livejournal.com]

I know that there aren't any official minutes of the March 30 joint meeting of the Committees (or any meeting, really), but there are at least partial accounts of what transpired. Does anyone know of a relatively complete account, either from some primary source document (ie. someone's memoirs) or something pieced together by historians)?

Comments

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I don't know of a full account, but Barere wrote memoirs that were translated into English not long after they came out - if you have a good university library they may have them - and Fatimahcrossin posted a link to Billaud-Varenne's memoirs a few posts ago - I have no idea if either cover the Danton trial, though! The only accounts I've come across (e.g. Norman Hampson's Life and Opinions of Maximilien Robespierre, which has several pages on the backstage machinations, with sources listed) are pieced together from anecdotes. Robespierre's contribution to Saint-Just's speech is well documented in Mathiez and others, but I'm assuming that's one of the primary sources you already have. (The only biog of Danton I've read is Hilaire Belloc's, and that's so old the author himself admits his reasearch was outdated by the time the second edition came out!)

[livviebway.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I don't have any original sources for you, but I just wanted to say "Ooo, this turned into an interesting thread." Welcome to the community!

[missweirdness.livejournal.com]

me either..lmao

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

The book I have that goes into the trial in the most detail is Jules Claretie's book on the Desmoulins (which I have in an 1876 (?) translation) - he transcribed documents since lost in the Hotel de Ville fire. In it, he includes the detail that Robespierre's name is written twice, and crossed out twice, in the list of witnesses to be called. I was wondering if you had come across any more info on this? I don't think Claretie knows if this is a defence or prosecution witness call - it'd be interesting to know if Danton or Desmoulins were still hoping for some assistance from that direction, or a chance to attack him in court!