#P. Méry

[the-girl-who-didnt-smile]

HISTORICAL PRECURSORS TO THE RADA AND PETWO RITES

In the historical record, there appear to be two prominent sects of colonial Voodoo: (1) snake worshippers (2) followers of Don Pedro. The snake worship sect appears to be the precursor to the Rada rite, while the Don Pedro sect appears to be the precursor to the Petwo rite.

Key historical documents pertaining to the snake worshippers include:

Moreau de Saint-Méry, Médéric Louis Elie. Description topographique, physique, civile, politique et historique de la partie française de l'isle Saint Domingue (etc.). Vol. 1. Moreau de Saint-Méry, 1797. p. 45-51 https://archive.org/details/descriptiontopog00more/page/44/mode/2up 

Malenfant, Colonel (1814) Des Colonies et Particulierement de Celle de Saint-Domingue: Memoire Historique et Politique. Paris: Audibert., p. 217-220 https://archive.org/details/descoloniesetpar00male/page/215/mode/1up?q=vaudou 

Key historical documents pertaining to the Don Pedro sect include: 

Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer, Aix-en-Provence, E 182, Ferrand de Beaudière to the Naval and Colonial Minister, translated in “Prophet or Cook? The Real Don Pedro” in Geggus, David. The Haitian Revolution: a documentary history. Hackett Publishing, 2014. 

Moreau de Saint-Méry, Médéric Louis Elie. Description topographique, physique, civile, politique et historique de la partie française de l'isle Saint Domingue (etc.). Vol. 1. Moreau de Saint-Méry, 1797. p. 51 https://archive.org/details/descriptiontopog00more/page/44/mode/2up 

Descourtilz, Michel Etienne, and LECLERC, Charles Emmanuel. Voyages d'un naturaliste France, Dufart, pere, 1809. https://archive.org/details/voyagesdunnatura03desc/page/180/mode/2up https://www.google.com/books/edition/Voyages_d_un_naturaliste/wOzA6FsbqJAC?hl=en&gbpv=0 

Drouin de Bercy, Léon. De Saint-Domingue: de ses guerres, de ses révolutions, de ses resources, et de moyens a prendre pour y rétabilir la paix et l'industrie. France, Chez Hocquet, 1814. p. 176 https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=FxYWAAAAYAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=176#v=onepage&q&f=false 

These documents are described in:

Chapter 2 “The Evolution of Colonial Voodoo” in Laguerre, Michel S. Voodoo and politics in Haiti. Springer, 2016. pp. 22-38

Hebblethwaite, Benjamin. A Transatlantic History of Haitian Vodou: Rasin Figuier, Rasin Bwa Kayiman, and the Rada and Gede Rites. United States, University Press of Mississippi, 2021.

Excerpts from these documents are included below, with commentary:

[RADA1] MOREAU DE SAINT-MERY’S (1797) DESCRIPTION TOPOGRAPHIQUE, PP.45-51

In  Description topographique, (1797) Moreau de Saint-Méry described two variants of Vodou (“Vaudoux”), which seem to be the precursors of the Rada and Petwo rites respectively. 

The first variant of Vodou is described between pages 45 and 51, introduced like so:

“Selon les nègres Aradas, qui sont les véritables sectateurs du Vaudoux dans la Colonie, & qui en mantiennent les principes & les règles, Vaudoux signifie un être tout-puissant & surnaturel, dont dépendent tous les événemens qui se passent sur ce globe. Or, cet être, c'est le serpent non venimeux ou une espèce de couleuvre, et c'est sous ses auspices que se rassemblent tous ceux qui professent la même doctrine. Connaissance du passé, science du présent, prescience de l'avenir, tout appartient à cette couleuvre, qui ne consent néanmoins à communiquer son pouvoir, & à prescrire ses volontés, que par l'organe d'un grand-prêtre que les sectateurs choisissent, & plus encore par celui de la négresse que l'amour de ce dernier a élevée aurang de grande-prêtresse.”

TRANSLATION: 

“According to the Aradas, who are the true devotees of Voodoo in the colony, and who maintain the principles and the rules, Voodoo signifies an all-powerful & supernatural being, on whom depends all events that happen in the world. Now, this being is the non-venomous serpent or a kind of grass snake, and it is under its auspices that all those who profess the same doctrine gather. Knowledge of the past, science of the present, prescience of the future, all belong to this grass snake, which nevertheless does not consent to communicate its power, and to prescribe its wishes, except through the organ of a high priest whom the sectarians choose, and even more through that of the negress whom the love of the latter has raised to the rank of high priestess.”

SOURCE: Moreau de Saint-Méry, Médéric Louis Elie. Description topographique, physique, civile, politique et historique de la partie française de l'isle Saint Domingue (etc.). Vol. 1. Moreau de Saint-Méry, 1797. p. 45-51 https://archive.org/details/descriptiontopog00more/page/44/mode/2up 

The ceremony resembles snake worship of Ouidah, where it centers around a snake god (couleuvre). It was presided over by two ministers, who were called “King” (Roi) & “Queen” (Reine), “master” (maître) & “Mistress” (maîtresse), or “Papa” (papa) & “Mama” (maman). With the snake secured inside a box, the ceremony begins with an adoration of the snake and an oath of secrecy. The congregation was then allowed to make appeals to the snake. Many of those present were slaves: “La plûpart lui demandent le talent de diriger l'esprit de leurs maîtres;” (p. 47)

This is followed by spirit possession by the snake god: 

“A chacune de ses invocations, le roi Vaudoux se recueille; l'Esprit agit en lui. Tout-à-coup il  prend la boîte où est la couleuvre, la place à terre et fait monter sur elle la Reine Vaudoux. Dès que l'asile sacré est sous ses pieds, nouvelle pythonisse, elle est pénétrée du dieu, elle s'agite, tout son corps est dans un état convulsif, & l'oracle parle par sa bouche.”

TRANSLATION:

“At each of his invocations, the Voodoo king collects himself; the Spirit acts on him. Suddenly he takes the bok where the snake is, places it on the ground and makes the Voodoo Queen climb on it. As soon as the sacred asylum is under her feet, a new pythoness, she is is penetrated by the god, she becomes agitated, her whole body is in a convulsive state, & the oracle speaks through her mouth.”

SOURCE: Moreau de Saint-Méry, Médéric Louis Elie. Description topographique, physique, civile, politique et historique de la partie française de l'isle Saint Domingue (etc.). Vol. 1. Moreau de Saint-Méry, 1797. p. 48

https://archive.org/details/descriptiontopog00more/page/48/mode/2up

Offerings are then made to the snake god, and a second oath of secrecy is taken. This is followed by a sacred dance, where the song “Eh! eh! Bomba, hen! hen!” is sung, and the “mounting” of an initiate is described: “alors le récipiendaire se met à trembler et à danser; ce qui s'appelle monter Vaudoux” (p. 49)

This key historical document is worth reading in full. It pertains to the history of New Orleans Vooodo, as it was copied by the author of Souvenirs d’Amerique et de France par une créole (1883) in her description of Nouvelle-Orléans. 

SEE: [Hélène d’Aquin Allain], Souvenirs d’Amérique et de France par une créole (Paris: Bourguet-Calas, 1883), 144. https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1314161/f158.item.r=vaudoux 

[RADA2] MALENFANT’S (1814) DES COLONIES ET PARTICULIEREMENT DE CELLE DE SAINT-DOMINGUE

Malenfant’s account is similar to Moreau de Saint-Méry’s (1797) Description topographique. Malenfant likened Vodou to Freemasonry, and there is no mention of “Don Pedro”.

Below is an excerpt:

Les voyageurs qui veulent parcourir l'Afrique devraient se faire initier à une secte connue sous le nom de Vaudou , secte très-sévèrement punie par les blancs, et aussi cruellement que les francs - maçons par les Espagnols et les Portugais.

Il y avait à Gouraud une grande prêtresse du Vaudou, et un noir, grand chef; je n'ai jamais voulu les dénoncer; ils eussent été pendus ou brûlés de suite. J'ai su ce fait par une négresse qui était initiée. Il y a un mot depasse, mais elle n'a jamais voulu me l'indiquer : elle disait que les femmes ne le connaissent pas. Elle m'a donné les signes pour la reconnaissance avec la main: c'est , à quelque chose près , celui des maçons. Très-peu de créoles sont initiés; il n'y a que les enfants des chefs du Vaudou. Elle me le dit sous le secret, en m’assurant que, malgré que les nègres m'aimassent beaucoup , je serais tué ou empoisonné si je cherchais à découvrir le grand mystère de la secte.

Il existe chez les prêtres du Vaudou, une grosse couleuvre privée, cachée sous terre, dans une grande caisse de bois, qu'on lève dans les cérémonies en forme d'autel. On fait des serments entre les mains de la grande prêtresse. Les danses conduisent à des convulsions, qui cessent lorsqu'on boit une espèce d'huile , qu'elle m'a dit être de serpent ; on en frotte aussi les tempes , les jarrets et les aisselles.

Le chef du Vaudou mourut lorsque j'étais à Gouraud. Il avait un grand ascendant sur tous les noirs ; ils lui ont fait des funérailles magnifiques ; on y a dansé le Vaudou. Je n'ai point voulu troubler leur fête : je lui ai donné au contraire vingt bouteilles de vin.

Cette secte me paraît tenir aux illuminés. Il n'y a que des fanatiques , des sots , ou des imbécilles, qui puissent s'inquiéter d'une secte, qui me paraît à peu près celle de la maçonnerie.

Il faut espérer que les philantropes qui ont établi sur la Sierra Léona une colonie libre , parviendront à trouver l'origine de cette institution, qui remonte peut-être aux temps les plus reculés. Les Arradas sont ceux qui m'ont paru y être le plus attachés…

MACHINE TRANSLATION:

Travelers who want to travel through Africa should be initiated into a sect known as Voodoo, a sect very severely punished by the whites, and as cruelly as the Freemasons by the Spaniards and the Portuguese. 

There was in Gouraud a high priestess of Voodoo, and a black, a great chief; I never wanted to denounce them; they would have been hanged or burned immediately. I learned this fact from a negress who was initiated. There is a password, but she never wanted to tell me: she said that women do not know it. She gave me the signs for recognition with the hand: it is, more or less, that of the Masons. Very few Creoles are initiated; there are only the children of the Voodoo chiefs. She told me this in secret, assuring me that, although the Negroes loved me very much, I would be killed or poisoned if I tried to discover the great mystery of the sect.

Among the Voodoo priests, there is a large private snake, hidden underground, in a large wooden box, which is raised in ceremonies in the form of an altar. Oaths are taken in the hands of the high priestess. The dances lead to convulsions, which stop when one drinks a kind of oil, which she told me was made of snake oil; one also rubs the temples, hamstrings and armpits with it.

The Voodoo chief died when I was in Gouraud. He had great influence over all the blacks; they gave him a magnificent funeral; they danced Voodoo there. I did not want to disturb their celebration: on the contrary, I gave him twenty bottles of wine.

This sect seems to me to be related to the enlightened. There are only fanatics, fools, or imbeciles, who can worry about a sect, which seems to me to be more or less that of Masonry.

It is to be hoped that the philanthropists who have established a free colony on Sierra Leone, will succeed in finding the origin of this institution, which perhaps goes back to the most remote times. The Arradas are those who seemed to me to be most attached to it…

SOURCE: MALENFANT, COLONEL (1814) Des Colonies et Particulierement de Cellede Saint-Domingue: Memoire Historique et Politique. Paris: Audibert., p. 217-220 https://archive.org/details/descoloniesetpar00male/page/215/mode/1up?q=vaudou 

[PETWO1] “PROPHET OR COOK? THE REAL DON PEDRO”

13) Prophet or Cook? The Real Don Pedro

These letters by the judge of Petit Goâve parish reveal that the original Don Pedro was not a freedman but probably a maroon slave, and that Moreau de Saint-Méry (doc. 11) was mistaken in thinking he was Spanish rather than African. Due to Portuguese influence in Africa, Pedro was quite a common name among Kongolese, both for African kings and Caribbean slaves. Significantly, the author uses the Portuguese “Dom” not the Spanish “Don.” Petit Goâve lies west of Port-au-Prince on Haiti’s southern peninsula.

(1 May 1769.) In June/July 1768 and on into 1769, [I] carried out the very extensive investigation for the criminal case against the infamous black slave Pierre, of the Congo nation, who called himself Dom Pedro, and his adherents and accomplices to the number of forty-two imprisoned Negroes, mulattoes, and Negresses. The Negro Dom Pedro was extremely dangerous. He went from plantation to plantation dominating the minds of the blacks by means of performing crude tricks. He informed them that they would soon be free, and he had the slave drivers of each plantation whipped, telling them that they could no longer flog the slaves in their charge and, moreover, that they would not be punished by their masters. He demanded tribute in either money or animals from initiated or compliant slaves, and he imposed it on those who did not remain loyal to him. This investigation involved some 300 documents, and it was brought to an end in February by order of the Council, because the Negro Dom Pedro had been killed in a hunt. 

(15 October 1773.) [The jails of Petit Goâve were full of] the accomplices of a black slave calling himself Dompèdre who stirred up the workforces of the north and south coasts [of the southern peninsula] inciting them to rebellion and to be independent of their masters. 

(Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer, Aix-en-Provence, E 182, Ferrand de Beaudière to the Naval and Colonial Minister)

SOURCE: Geggus, David. The Haitian Revolution: a documentary history. Hackett Publishing, 2014. 

[PETWO2] MOREAU DE SAINT-MERY’S (1797) DESCRIPTION TOPOGRAPHIQUE

In  Description topographique, (1797) Moreau de Saint-Méry described two variants of Vodou (“Vaudoux”), which seem to be the precursors of the Rada and Petwo rites respectively. 

Moreau de Saint-Méry describes the second variant of Vodou on page 51:

“...Qui croirait que le Vaudoux le cède encore à quelque chose, qu'on a aussi appelé du nom de danse ! En 1768 , un nègre du Petit-Goave , espagnol d'origine, abusant de la crédulité des nègres, par des pratiques superstitieuses , leur avait donné l'idée d'une danse analogue à celle du Vaudoux , mais où les mouvemens sont plus précipités. Pour lui faire produire encore plus d'effet, les nègres mettent dans le tafia qu'ils boivent en dansant , de la poudre à canon bien écrasée. On a vu cette danse appellée Danse à Dom Pèdre, ou simplement Don Pèdre, donner la mort à des nègres ; & les spectateurs euxmêmes, électrifés par le spectacle de cet exercice convulsis, partagent l'ivresse des acteurs, & accélèrent par leur chant & une mesure pressée , une crife qui leur est , en quelque sorte , commune. Il a sallu défendre de danser Don Pedre sous des peines graves , & quelquefois inefficaces.”

TRANSLATION (borrowed from Laguerre):

“Who will believe that Voodoo gives place to something further which also goes by the name of dance? In 1768, a slave of Petit-Goave, of Spanish origin, abusing the credulity of the blacks, by superstitious practices gave them an idea of a dance, analogous to that of the Voodoo, but where the movements are more hurried. To make it even more effective the slaves place in the rum, which they drink while dancing, weIl crushed gun-powder. One has seen this dance, called Dance to Don Pedro, or simply Don Pedro, induce death in the slaves; and the spectators themselves, electrified by the spectacle of this convulsive exercise, share the drunkenness of the actors, and hasten by their chant and a quickened measure, a crisis which is in some way common to them. It has been necessary to forbid them from dancing Don Pedro under grave penalty, but sometimes ineffectually.”

SOURCE: Moreau de Saint-Méry, Médéric Louis Elie. Description topographique, physique, civile, politique et historique de la partie française de l'isle Saint Domingue (etc.). Vol. 1. Moreau de Saint-Méry, 1797. p. 45-51 https://archive.org/details/descriptiontopog00more/page/44/mode/2up 

This second, more “fiery” variant of Vodou (“Don Pedro”) seems to be the precursor to the Petwo rite.

[PETWO3] DESCOURTILZ’ (1809) VOYAGES D’UN NATURALISTE ET SES OBSERVATIONS

Descourtilz mentions the precursor to the Petwo rite in Chapter 4, “Idée des Vaudoux”:

 « Les vaudoux , me dit la véridique Finette (1) , sont de nations différentes ; ils tombent en crise par suite d’une sympathie imconcevable. Réunis sur le terrain qui doit être le théâtre de leurs grimaces convulsives, ils sourient en se rencontrant, se heurtent avec rudesse, et les voilà tous deux en crise ; les pieds en l'air, hurlant comme des bêtes féroces , et écumant comme elles.

» Je passois un jour , poursuivit-elle, auprès de deux de ces espèces de convulsionnaires, et soit que leurs prosélytes aient eu l’intenuon d’accréditer leur système, soit que par ces preuves irrécusables , ils aient voulu profiter de mon jeune àge pour m'initier dans leurs mystères , on m’introduisit dans le cercle, et il fut ordonné à l’un d’eux, par le chef de la horde, de prendre dans ses mains du charbon allumé qui lui fut présenté, et sembla ne point le brûler; à l’autre de se laisser enlever des lanières de chair avec des ongles de fer, ce qui fut ponctuellement exécuté, sans que je remarquasse le moindre signe de sensibilité.

» Dompète ( c’est le nom du chef tout-puissant de la horde fanatique ) a, disent-ils, le pouvoir de découvrir de ses yeux , et malgré tout obstacle matériel, tout ce qui se passe , n’importe à quelle distance ; propriété ficuve bien faite pour en imposer aux crédules, et tyranniser les incertains dont le défaut de confiance est puni par le poison qui leur est familier , et, dans les mains du Dompète, d'un usage journalier et impuni.

» Les acolytes de cette secte ont aussi entre eux des moyens magiques d’exercer leur vengeance. Un homme a-t-il essuyé les rigueurs d’une amante, ou l’infidélité d’une maîtresse habituée ? un piquant de raie jeté dans l’urine de la coupable, le venge de son outrage, en frappant soudain l’infidelle d’unemaladie de langueur, que le vaudoux fait cesser à volonté par une préparauon différente.

MACHINE TRANSLATION:

"The voodooists," the truthful Finette (1) told me, "are of different nations; they fall into crisis as a result of an inconceivable sympathy. Gathered on the ground which must be the scene of their convulsive grimaces, they smile when they meet, collide roughly, and there they are both in crisis; feet in the air, howling like wild beasts, and foaming like them.

"I was passing one day," she continued, "with two of these kinds of convulsionaries, and whether their proselytes had the intention of accrediting their system, or whether by these irrefutable proofs they wanted to take advantage of my young age to initiate me into their mysteries, I was introduced into the circle, and one of them was ordered by the leader of the horde to take in his hands some lighted coal which was presented to him, and seemed not to burn it; the other to let strips of flesh be removed from him with iron nails, which was punctually carried out, without my noticing the slightest sign of sensitivity.

"Dompète (this is the name of the all-powerful leader of the fanatic horde) has, they say, the power to discover with his eyes, and despite all material obstacles, everything that happens, no matter how far away; a fictive property well made to impose itself on the credulous, and to tyrannize the uncertain whose lack of confidence is punished by the poison which is familiar to them, and, in the hands of the Dompète, of daily and unpunished use.

"The acolytes of this sect also have among themselves magical means of exercising their vengeance. Has a man endured the rigors of a lover, or the infidelity of a regular mistress? A stingray prickle thrown into the urine of the guilty one, avenges his outrage, by suddenly striking the unfaithful woman with a disease of languor, which voodoo can stop at will by a different preparation.

SOURCE: Descourtilz, Michel Etienne, and LECLERC, Charles Emmanuel. Voyages d'un naturaliste: et ses observations ; faites sur les trois regnes de la nature, dans plusieurs ports de mer francʹais, en Espagne, au continent de l'Amerique septentrionale, a Saint-Yago de Cuba, et a St.-Domingue, ou l'Auteur devenu le prisonnier de 40,000 Noirs revoltes, et par suite mis en liberte par une colonne de l'armee francʹaise, donne des details circonstancies sur l'expedition du general Leclerc. France, Dufart, pere, 1809. https://archive.org/details/voyagesdunnatura03desc/page/180/mode/2up 

[PETWO4] DROUIN DE BERCY’S (1814) DE SAINT-DOMINGUE

Drouin de Bercy describes the threat “Don Pedro” posed to the white colonists:

Le Don Pedro et le Vaudou sont une association d'autant plus terrible qu'elle a pour but la ruine et la destruction des blancs, et de persuader aux negres qu'ils ne seront jamais heureux, s'ils n'y sont pass associes. Pour etre Don Pedro, il faut etre bon filou, effronte, entet, endurci aux coups, et ne jamais reveler de ce qui s'est passe dans leurs rendez-vous.

TRANSLATION

Don Pedro and Voodoo are an association all the more terrible because their aim is the ruin and destruction of the whites, and to persuade the Negroes that they will never be happy if they are not associated with it. To be Don Pedro, one must be a good rogue, brazen, stubborn, hardened to blows, and never reveal what happened in their meetings.

SOURCE: Drouin de Bercy, Léon. De Saint-Domingue: de ses guerres, de ses révolutions, de ses resources, et de moyens a prendre pour y rétabilir la paix et l'industrie. France, Chez Hocquet, 1814. p. 176 https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=FxYWAAAAYAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=176#v=onepage&q&f=false 

[impetuous-impulse]

Thank you so much, Josefa and @northernmariette! I've wanted to know about this for a while.

I'm glad to see that, despite his "lack of individuality", Hippolyte Larrey did not fade from posterity. Off the top of my head, he had relationships with Sarah Bernhardt's mother (if that aspect of her memoirs are to be trusted), as well as the (disputed) heroine of the Franco-Prussian War, Juliette Dodu. He was also in significant positions of power. Wellcome Collection, a museum in London, which owns some archival material on the Larreys, has this to say about Hippolyte:

Félix Hippolyte Larrey (1808-1895) was the son of Dominique Larrey, and inherited the title of Baron Larrey on his fathers death in 1842. He was chief medical officer of the army and physician to Napoléon III, and was elected president of the Académie de Médecine in 1863. As well as his medical work, Félix Larrey was the political representative for the town of Bagnères-de-Bigorre in south west France for a number of years.

The Wellcome Collection also has a photograph of him, previously misidentified as his father.

For those who can read French, the Assemblée-Nationale has compiled a few short biographies of his accolades.

As for Isaure, here is a portrait of her by the Larreys' close friend Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson, now kept in the Louvre. She has a definite resemblance to her father.

I wondered if she ever managed to get married, so I did a bit of digging. In the book Les ministres des Finances de la Révolution française au Second Empire (I), a record of her maternal grandfather, René Leroulx-Delaville, states that she got married to a certain N... Perrier. As the Larreys had a property in Bièvres, an official website of one of its Bièvres' domains, Monteclin, has an article of Hippolyte that mentions Isaure was married without descendants. As the article's source is the book Bièvres et ses célébrités au 19e siècle (1988), published by the amateur society Amis de la Bibliothèque Nationale, it isn't academically rigorous, but I'm inclined to believe it unless proven otherwise. One hopes that the marriage was happy, at the very least.

Still, who is this N... Perrier? There are very few first common names that start with N in French. If he's not Nicolas, then he's probably Napoleon. Lo and behold, here's who we find in p. 302 of the Gazette médicale de Paris, Volume 30 (1859):

--Here is the composition of the health service of the Army of Italy [mobilised for the Second Italian War of Independence by Napoleon III]: M. Baron H. Larrey is named chief surgeon of the army; [...]. MM. Legouest, Bertrand, and Cazalas are attached to the general headquarters; MM. Méry and Napoléon Perrier to the ambulances of the Guard.

Is this Isaure's husband? The other figures are only mentioned by their surname, which makes this entry strange, but given that DJ and Hippolyte Larrey were military surgeons, it would make sense that Isaure also married one. A (unsourced) Genenet family tree also lists the mysterious Perrier as a "military surgeon, professor at the Val-de-Grâce Hospital" [for the instruction of the army], so there seems to be tentative corroboration.

Upsettingly, as mentioned by the official Bièvres website that also references Bièvres et ses célébrités, Isaure had already been interred in her father's tomb in 1853, in the section where the Marshals are buried. Seeing that her mother was only buried in the cemetery of Bièvres, Isaure may have had a closer relationship with her "tyrannical" father than one might expect. However, the remains of her father was transferred to Les Invalides in 1992. In the report on the transferral process, Isaure's remains are not mentioned at all. Further throwing Isaure's place of burial into suspicion is the report's mention of Hippolyte's coffin, which was also interred in DJ Larrey's tomb after Hippolyte's death in 1895. Was Isaure removed beforehand or simply not buried there? Conclusions are yet to be found.

Hope someone found these leaps-of-faith speculations entertaining, if not useful! For information on DJ Larrey's daily life instead his children's, reference Place à monsieur Larrey, chirurgien de la garde impériale by Jean Marchioni. Translations of its excerpts, which can be found under the tag place à monsieur larrey, are available on the wonderful @histoireettralala blog.

Larrey and his family

A while ago I came across a discussion about Dominique Larrey’s family life, in particular, about him treating his two children (daughter Isaure and son Hippolyte) rather badly. I hope people are still interested in the topic, as now we’ve rediscovered the book this bit of information came from. It’s a 1902 biography by one Paul Triaire, "Dominique Larrey et les campagnes de la Révolution et de l’Empire (1768-1842)". Just as a disclaimer, while I will cite some not so nice passages about Larrey, the overall tone of the book is very positive, if not outright adoring. As a matter of fact, I’ve come across a book review from 1902 that vehemently reproached the author of being too uncritical of his hero and of not – as we would say today – fact-checking his sources (often letters and texts by Larrey himself that the author took at face-value).

All credit for this goes to @northernmariette who found the book on Gallica first, I’m merely the translator (or rather, DeepL is, and I’m typing it down).

I had the impression on browsing the pages that Larrey was, as far as family matters are concerned, an extremely conservative man, and had probably always been. For example, he seems to have been very disappointed in Cairo on learning (from the one and only letter from his wife that made it to Egypt) that Madame Larrey had given birth to "only" a girl:

[…] This single letter filled him with a joy that was not unmixed. It informed him of the birth of a girl, instead of the boy, already named Hippolyte in advance, that he had been expecting. […] We shall see later that this daughter, whose arrival Larrey greeted so coldly, was, on the contrary - as is often the case - the delight and consolation of his life.

Unfortunately, we cannot ask daughter Isaure if this was also true the other way around.

And just to show the other extreme: When in 1809 he learned in Spain that Madame Larrey finally had given birth to the long awaited little Hippolyte, Larrey claims to have been so beside himself with joy that he ran from door to door and even tried to disturb King Joseph during his siesta in order to share the news.

At this time, in 1809, young Isaure (who must have been around ten) had already become her father’s preferred correspondent - apparently regardless of whether the topic was suitable or comprehensible for a child. Among other things, Larrey instructed his daughter about how to treat her mother during and after the pregnancy.

[...] One has to look at the letters he wrote, not to his wife, whom he did not want to worry, but to his nine-year-old daughter Isaure, who became his confidante. It was an extraordinary peculiarity of Larrey's character that he had such a way with this child. He obviously lacked the faculty of discerning the ages, and his recommendations were of the kind that are usually addressed only to a grown-up. By the same mental transposition, he was later to send his son, a young schoolboy of six or seven, his "Mémoires et campagnes" (Memoirs and Campaigns), instead of the short stories we are accustomed to having children read. However, these strange methods of early education did not prevent his daughter from becoming an accomplished woman, and his son from one day becoming one of the most distinguished men of his time. He sent Isaure detailed instructions on her mother's hygiene, bed rest, diet and finally the baptism. The child, who was to be a boy - Larrey did not even intend to consider the possibility to the contrary - was to be called Félix-Hippolyte. [...]

This sounds all a little weird, but surely not extraordinary for the time. Apparently, the real problems only started after the Empire, with Larrey now staying home, with his family. Over whom he dominated rather severely. Severly enough, in fact, for the author to use the word "tyrannique", tyrannical.

It seems at first sight, from what we know of his character and the tenderness he showed towards his wife and children, that he must have been completely happy to live among them. He had always hated the extended separations that had kept him away from his family for so long and so often, and he had long wished for peace. In all his letters to his wife from the farthest corners of the world, from the banks of the Sprée, the Danube, the Elbe and the Niemen, he expressed his ardent desire to be reunited with her and to live peacefully as a family. [...] However, it does not appear that he enjoyed this longed-for reunion with his wife and children, as one might think. [...] He had difficulty adjusting to the demands of family life, which was so new to him, where a woman's wishes and desires had to be taken into account, as well as the many delicate conditions of raising children, and, without realising it, he brought the authoritarian aspects of camp life into his home. With his wife, the sweet and charming Laville, whom he had adored and whom he still loved, - but in his own way, - with Isaure, a charming child who had been his correspondent during the last campaign and who had become a beautiful and charming young girl, he was imperious and domineering. He was no less tyrannical and authoritarian with his son, this Hippolyte whose birth he had so ardently wished for, who was to become the joy and pride of his old age and who bore so proudly the heavy heritage of his father's name. [...] His daughter Isaure suffered the most from this despotic yoke. In 1815, she was at the peak of her youth and beauty. [...] Many suitors sought her hand in marriage. This went on for a long time, because Larrey, jealous of his daughter's affection, could find no suitor worthy of her and eliminated them all one by one.

Followed by a longer story about one of her suitors, Antoine Clot aka Clot-Bey, a French physician who would become important for the modernisation and the development of a medical service in Egypt during to 1830s and 1840s. Larrey seems to have originally estimated this man greatly, but immediately dismissed him on realizing that he and Isaure had taken a liking to each other. This story must have caused a bit of a stir as it is also eluded to in an eloge after Hippolyte Larrey’s death.

If Larrey's hand was too forceful for his daughter, it fell no less heavily on his son. But this was a man's education, and its rigour had fewer drawbacks. It is even probable that Hippolyte Larrey owed to this inflexible and authoritarian education, but imbued with the lofty ideas which had governed the entire life of the surgeon of the Grande Armée, a large part of his solid qualities and, in particular, the uprightness and elevation of character, the delicacy of conscience, the spirit of justice, the unalterable feelings of honour and loyalty, which like his father he possessed to a high degree and which made him one of the most remarkable men of his generation. However, this restrictive upbringing had its drawbacks, and it must have robbed him of some of his individuality. It is remarkable that it was by abusing the prodigious originality of his temperament that Larrey attenuated that of his son. This was perhaps not a misfortune; the times were indeed very different, and the dominating energy, the absolute will, the tenacity and the almost superhuman fortitude that Larrey had first shown during the wars of the Revolution and the Empire, could not have been used under the peaceful regimes of the Restoration and the July government.

This lack of individuality in Hippolyte Larrey also is hinted at in the same eloge.

So, that’s the story. I am still of the opinion that of all those men whose entire lives were spent in war, not a single one returned without harm.

But hey, Larrey for once seems to have been the opposite of a henpecked husband, quite contrary to all the marshals 😁.

[bnhmm]

Une autre forme… . . . #stilllifephotos #interiordesign #minimalmood #silk #setdesign #productphotography #collectible #foulard #scarfaddict #scarfoftheday #carteancienne #vintagemap (à Méry-Corbon, Basse-Normandie, France) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd5WnpSLEqQ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[imimdelice]

Juste après le confimement 😃😃😃 Gardez le courage et reste chez vous (à Méry-sur-Oise) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-xV-r4qYS7/?igshid=1wjuu325slvjt

[highcrazyteenager]

Joyeux Noël de la part de ma famille à la vôtre !!! 😘😘😘😘😍😍😍😍🎄🎄🎄🎄🎉🎉🎉🎊🎊🎊🎅🎅🎅🎅 Méry Christmas from my family to yours !!! 🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅😘😘😘😘😍😍😍😍😍🎉🎉🎉🎉🎊🎊🎊🎊🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 Frohe Weihnachten von meiner Famille zu ihren !!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎄🎄🎄🎄🎊🎊🎊🎊💘💘💘😘😘😘😍😍😍😍😍😍 #insta #instagram #instalike #instagood #follow #likes #liker #followme #love #christmas #merrychristmas #christmastree #family #noel #joyeuxnoel #froheweihnachten #weihnachten #girl #beautiful #party #mother #father #happy #boyfriend #daughter #winter #hiver #santaclaus #sergegainsbourg #cute https://www.instagram.com/p/B6gUYnqiRW2/?igshid=1pe4xqqulfx6r

[zapata-painter]

De retour de notre petite virée à Montbrison et Bailly-Romainvilliers avec @lejulesbox . Public de folie ! On en remet une couche samedi à Méry-sur-Oise. #variete #mashup #livepainting #speedpainting #portrait #jacquesdutronc #live #Julesbox #Zapata #renaldzapata #concert #baillyromainvilliers #montbrison #polysons #festival https://www.instagram.com/p/Bttp744lJsm/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=12lxeg0vu7sxn

[aflashbak]

These lovely images are from The Stars, The Last Fairies by the French artist JJ Grandville (1803-1847). Les étoiles : dernière féerie / par J.-J. Grandville; texte par Méry; Astronomie des dames par le Cte. Foelix. Grandville told his wife on the day he began these 12 designs: "For too long I have kept my eyes lowered to the earth; now I want to lift them to the heavens." Nearly every plate depicts celestial stars personified as women in mid-19. Most are signed by Grandville, who designed them, and Charles Geoffroy, who engraved them. Each available as a print in the shop - link in bio - https://flashbakshop.com/collections/jj-grandvilles-stars-astronomie-des-dames #print #prints #art #jjgrandville #illustration #artist #astronomy #stars #angels #sky https://www.instagram.com/p/CXQKIBqsoa1/?utm_medium=tumblr

[m4a-tv]

Street Art Butte aux cailles Paris 13 (session 2) #2 #pixelflower #pixelflowers🎨 #flowerpixelart #flowerpixels #pixelartparis #pixelartwork #parismosaic #mosaicartwork #artparis13 #artparis13 #arteurbana #arteurparis #panameart #arturbain #streetartbynight #panamestreetart #butteauxcaillesbynight #butteauxcailles🐣 #arturbainparis13 #75013paris #75013ème #paris13streetart🎨 #butteauxcaillesparis #ruepaulinmery #ruepaulinméry (à Rue Paulin-Méry) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVI1RnBA23r/?utm_medium=tumblr

[the-girl-who-didnt-smile]

Sir Duke / Grandmother Serpent [1][2][3]

Notes

Ellis, Alfred Burdon. The Eʻwe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa: Their Religion, Manners, Customs, Laws, Languages, &c. United Kingdom, Chapman and Hall, limited, 1890. p. 48. Retrieved from:  https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_E%CA%BBwe_speaking_Peoples_of_the_Slave/Ak9M8SXJlekC?hl=en&gbpv=0 

Encyclopedia of African Religion. United Kingdom, SAGE Publications, 2009. p. 693. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofafricanreligionpdfdrive.com/page/n723/mode/1up? 

Herskovits, Melville Jean. Dahomey, an Ancient West African Kingdom, Vol. II. United States, Northwestern University Press, 1967. p. 248-249. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/dahomeyancientwe0000hers/page/248/mode/2up 

Ellis, Alfred Burdon. The Eʻwe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa: Their Religion, Manners, Customs, Laws, Languages, &c. United Kingdom, Chapman and Hall, limited, 1890. pp. 47-49. Retrieved from:  https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_E%CA%BBwe_speaking_Peoples_of_the_Slave/Ak9M8SXJlekC?hl=en&gbpv=0  

Ellis, Alfred Burdon. The Eʻwe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa: Their Religion, Manners, Customs, Laws, Languages, &c. United Kingdom, Chapman and Hall, limited, 1890. pp. 55-56. Retrieved from:  https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_E%CA%BBwe_speaking_Peoples_of_the_Slave/Ak9M8SXJlekC?hl=en&gbpv=0

Ellis, Alfred Burdon. The Eʻwe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa: Their Religion, Manners, Customs, Laws, Languages, &c. United Kingdom, Chapman and Hall, limited, 1890. pp. 54-63. Retrieved from:  https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_E%CA%BBwe_speaking_Peoples_of_the_Slave/Ak9M8SXJlekC?hl=en&gbpv=0

For more information about the Haitian lwa Dambala Wèdo and Ezili Freda, see: Hebblethwaite, Benjamin. A Transatlantic History of Haitian Vodou: Rasin Figuier, Rasin Bwa Kayiman, and the Rada and Gede Rites. United States, University Press of Mississippi, 2021.

Herskovits, Melville Jean. Dahomey, an Ancient West African Kingdom, Vol. II. United States, Northwestern University Press, 1967. p. 248. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/dahomeyancientwe0000hers/page/248/mode/2up 

Anderson, Jeffrey E.. Voodoo: An African American Religion. United States, LSU Press, 2024. 

FWP interview with Mary Washington (“Mary Ellis”), described in: Tallant, Robert. Voodoo in New Orleans. 1946. Reprint, Gretna, La.: United Kingdom, Pelican Publishing Company, 1983; Age and date of birth described in: Long, Carolyn Morrow. A New Orleans voudou priestess: The legend and reality of Marie Laveau. University Press of Florida, 2007.

See: Long, Carolyn Morrow. A New Orleans voudou priestess: The legend and reality of Marie Laveau. University Press of Florida, 2007, p. 162 & 164; Long provides little information about Josephine Jones, beyond her address being ‘1716 St. Philip’. This interview is also described by Robert Tallant, where he describes Jones as “A white woman living in what is called “downtown” New Orleans”. See: Tallant, Robert. Voodoo in New Orleans. 1946. Reprint, Gretna, La.: United Kingdom, Pelican Publishing Company, 1983; Zora Neale Hurston also described Marie Laveau as owning a snake: “[Laveau] is supposed to have been attended by a huge rattlesnake. The morning after her death he was seen crawling away to the woods about Lake Pontchartrain and was never seen again.” See: Hurston, Zora. “Hoodoo in America.” The Journal of American Folklore, vol. 44, no. 174, 1931, pp. 317–417. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/535394. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.

Teish, Luisah. Jambalaya: The Natural Woman's Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals. United States, HarperCollins, 2021. Originally published in 1985.

Teish’s description is similar to Moreau de Saint-Méry’s historic description of colonial Haitian Vodou. Rather than Dan Aidowèdo or Dambada wèdo, he identified this style of serpent worship with Dangbé, the patron deity of the Xwéda people (“les habitans de Juida”): “Il est très-naturel de croire que le Vaudoux doit son origine au culte du serpent, auquel font particulièrement livrés les habitans de Juida, qui le disent originaire du royaume d'Ardra, de la même Côte des Esclaves; & quand on a lu jusqu'à quel point ces Africains poussent la superstition pour cet animal, il est aisé de la reconnaître dans ce que je viens de rapporter (*).” “(*) Les Indiens Malabares adorent aussi la couleuvre qu'ils appelent Nalle Pambon; c'est-à-dire Bonne Couleuvre.” Granted, it is possible that Moreau de Saint-Méry confused Dangbé with Dan Aidowèdo or Vodu Da, a common mistake made by colonists. See: Moreau de Saint-Méry, Mederic Louis Elie. Description topographique, physique, civile, politique et historique de la partie francaise de l'isle Saint Domingue (etc.), Tome I. Philadelphie, 1797. p. 50. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/descriptiontopog00more/page/50/mode/2up:

Owen, Mary Alicia. Voodoo Tales: As Told Among the Negroes of the Southwest. United States, Putnam's Sons, 1893. Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Voodoo_Tales/H_kLAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 

Hurston visited Mother Catherine Seal’s Temple of Innocent Blood in 1928, providing the following historic description: "...A place of barbaric splendor, of banners, of embroideries, of images bought and images created by Mother Catherine herself; of an altar glittering with polished brass and kerosene lamps. There are 365 lamps in this building, but not all are upon the main altar. The walls and ceilings are decorated throughout in red, white and blue. The ceiling and floor in the room of the Sacred Heart are striped in three colors and the walls are panelled. The panels contain a snake design. The African loves to depict the grace of reptiles." See: Hurston, Zora Neale. The sanctified church. United States, Turtle Island, 1981. p. 23. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/sanctifiedchurch00hurs/page/22/mode/2up? 

Rigaud, Milo. La tradition voudoo et le voudoo haïtien: son temple, ses mystères, sa magie . FeniXX, 1953. p. 279. Retrieved from: https://original-ufdc.uflib.ufl.edu/AA00002240/00001/295j  

Herskovits, Melville Jean. Dahomey, an Ancient West African Kingdom, Vol. II. United States, Northwestern University Press, 1967. pp. 248 & 250. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/dahomeyancientwe0000hers/page/248/mode/2up 

Ellis, Alfred Burdon. The Eʻwe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa: Their Religion, Manners, Customs, Laws, Languages, &c . Chapman and Hall, limited, 1890. pp. 56-57. Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_E%CA%BBwe_speaking_Peoples_of_the_Slave/Ak9M8SXJlekC?hl=en&gbpv=0

Owen, Mary Alicia. Voodoo Tales: As Told Among the Negroes of the Southwest. United States, Putnam's Sons, 1893. pp.257-258. Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Voodoo_Tales/H_kLAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0  

Schertz, Helen Pitkin. An Angel by Brevet: A Story of Modern New Orleans. United Kingdom, J.B. Lippincott, 1904. p. 196. Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/books/edition/An_Angel_by_Brevet/35PUAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Hearn, Lafcadio. Gombo Zhèbes: Little Dictionary of Creole Proverbs, Selected from Six Creole Dialects. New York, Will H. Coleman, 1885. p. 39. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/gombozhbeslittl00heargoog/page/n44/mode/2up 

Herskovits, Melville Jean. Dahomey, an Ancient West African Kingdom, Vol. II. United States, Northwestern University Press, 1967. P. 254. Retrieved from:  https://archive.org/details/dahomeyancientwe0000hers/page/254/mode/2up 

Cable, George W. The Grandissimes: A Story of Creole Life . United States, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1887. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Grandissimes_A_Story_of_Creole_Life/xuYhgJXZIkUC?hl=en&gbpv=0

Rigaud, Milo. La tradition voudoo et le voudoo haïtien: son temple, ses mystères, sa magie. FeniXX, 1953. p. 422. Retrieved from: https://dloc.com/AA00002240/00001/images/425  

Cable, George W. The Grandissimes: A Story of Creole Life . United States, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1887. p. 165 https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Grandissimes_A_Story_of_Creole_Life/xuYhgJXZIkUC?hl=en&gbpv=0

Schertz, Helen Pitkin. An Angel by Brevet: A Story of Modern New Orleans. United Kingdom, J.B. Lippincott, 1904. Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/books/edition/An_Angel_by_Brevet/35PUAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Herskovits, Melville Jean. Dahomey, an Ancient West African Kingdom, Vol. II. United States, Northwestern University Press, 1967. p. 153. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/dahomeyancientwe0000hers/page/152/mode/2up 

Herskovits, Melville Jean, and Herskovits, Frances Shapiro. Dahomean Narrative: A Cross-cultural Analysis. United States, Northwestern University Press, 1970. Originally printed in 1958. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/dahomeannarrativ0000hers/page/n7/mode/2up 

Several of the lwa listed in the back of the book have names that begin with “Chal” “Jan” or “Dambala”. Beauvoir classifies the lwa whose names begin with “Dambala” under the famille (fanmi) Dangbesi: Beauvoir, Max G. 2008. Lapriyè Ginen. Port-au-Prince: Edisyon Près Nasyonal d’Ayiti.

FROM:Marcelin, Milo. Mythologie vodou (rite arada). Vol. 1. Éditions haïtiennes, 1949. p. 57 “Damballah Oueddo est figuré aussi sous les traits d'un blanc à longue barbe blanche. Beaucoup de fidèles l'identifient à St. Patrick (ou St. Patrice) représenté dans les chromos catholiques avec deux serpents sous ses pieds et deux autres à còté. Pour d'autres il n'est pas St. Patrick qui, selon eux, serait son fils, Odan Damballah Oueddo. Ils l’identifient à Saint Moïse, sauvé des eaux, car disent-ils, Damballah bégaie comme lui. Un houngan (prètre du Vodou), consulté à ce sujet, m'a affirmé que Damballah Oueddo, loa Rada, est Saint Moïse et Damballah La-flambeau, appelé aussi Saint-blanc, loa Pétro, St. Patrick.”

FROM: Daniels, Kyrah Malika. "An Assembly of Twenty-One Spirit Nations: The Pan-African Pantheon of Haitian Vodou's African Lwa". In Adeleke, T., & Sonderegger, A. (Eds.). (2023). Africa and its historical and contemporary diasporas. Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, p. 82. “I assert that the clue to uncovering Èzili’s African origins lies in her association with fresh waters. More recently, some scholars have linked the refined Haitian lwa Èzili with the Dahomean river vodún Aziri (Thompson 1983, 167; Rush 2010, 66). Even earlier sources indicate veneration of an aquatic vodún named for the Benin Lake Azili (Paul 1962, 273; Montilus 1981, 77) or Àzlì (Hebblethwaite 2015, 72). Curiously, the vodún Azili was masculine (Montilus 1981, 77) but became feminized as the queenly Èzili in Haiti, perhaps due to female spirits’ connection to fresh waters. Indeed, the feminine aquatic spirit Azili is still revered in Candomblé Jéjé houses today. Further, I suggest that Azili/Èzili’s connection to Benin’s Lake Azili may have been recalled in Haiti’s Lake Azuéi, a saltwater and freshwater lake on the Dominican border. (Other scholars suggest that Èzili Freda comes from Frieda/Frida, another possible name for Benin’s city of Ouidah/Whydah [Paul 1962, 273; Hebblethwaite 2012, 234]). Finally, the Haitian lwa’s manifestation as Èzili Freda Dahomey removes any doubt as to her Dahomean origins. These Hispaniolan spirits of Agwe, LaSirènn, and Èzili all possess deep roots as Dahomean/Rada spirits, and it is through aquatic passageways that their legacies are remembered in Haiti.”

FROM: Sogbossi, Hippolyte Brice. "The sacred in Cuba, Haiti, Brazil and Benin Republic: aspects of a linguistic and cultural dialogue." Studia Religiologica. Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego 51.3 (2018): 179-193. “...Ezili (Azili) ‘the deity of sensuality, a kind of Ochun;...”

FROM: Marcelin, Milo. Mythologie vodou (rite arada). Vol. 1. Éditions haïtiennes, 1949. p. 78: “Nombreux sont ses amants. Ses favoris sont: Damballah Oueddo, dieu-couleuvre, Agoué T'Arroyo, dieu des mers, Ogou Badagris et Ogou Ferraille, dieux de la guerre. On dit ordinairement que Maitresse Ezili est la matelote (femme ayant le mème mari) de Ayida Oueddo, déesse de l'arc-en-ciel, et que, parfois, elles se disputent.”

[phedre-a-la-phtisie-galopante]

◾ (à Méry-sur-Oise) https://www.instagram.com/p/CUSxRUUsc34XLbmbx_KRCq44tkKCIZkqSEfFJI0/?utm_medium=tumblr

[bnhmm]

Voilà comment Bonhomme expédie vos commandes: pas de cartons ou d'enveloppes, nous recyclons de vieilles cartes, ici ce sont des cartes d'aviation OACI. Les frais de port sont GRATUITS en FRANCE à partir de 90 € d'achat et gratuits en Europe à partir de 150 € d'achat. #foulardbonhomme #FSC #emballagepersonnalise #ecopackaging #ecodesign #ecommerce #carte #cartegeographique #recyclablepackaging #responsable #giec #écologie #evasion ! #mapsoftheworld (à Méry-Corbon, Basse-Normandie, France) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc2xh22KdxF/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[imimdelice]

à Méry-sur-Oise https://www.instagram.com/p/CLCmJJRBBRh/?igshid=15mne4hoc9665

[sauvesparlekong]

Auch à la pointe de l’épée 🤺, pousse rapière et D’Artagnan : le Gers en long en large ☀️@tourismegers Alexandre Dumas découvre la vie de d’Artagnan à travers ses mémoires. En juin 1843, de passage à Marseille chez son ami Joseph Méry, Dumas fouinant les rayons de sa riche bibliothèque, emprunte le livre. Il ne le rendra jamais[54]. Il s’enthousiasme pour le personnage et fait de l’ouvrage son livre de chevet. Il s'en inspire pour la rédaction de sa célèbre trilogie des Mousquetaires : 1. Les Trois Mousquetaires 2. Vingt ans après 3. Le Vicomte de Bragelonne Dans le roman, d'Artagnan est fait Béarnais. Quand le Cardinal de Richelieu lui demande : « Êtes-vous un d'Artagnan du Béarn ? » l'impétueux Gascon répond par l'affirmative : « Oui, Monseigneur […] je suis le fils de celui qui a fait les guerres de religion avec le grand roi Henri IV ». La réalité historique n’est pas la préoccupation majeure de Dumas, puisque dans Les Trois Mousquetaires, il avance l’action de 15 ans (d’Artagnan participe ainsi au siège de la Rochelle), il oppose Louis XIII à Richelieu et invente le personnage de Milady de Winter[55], ainsi que la liaison d’Anne d'Autriche avec le duc de Buckingham[56]. Par contre, les personnages d'Athos, Porthos et Aramis ont bien existé : si Courtilz de Sandras les présente comme des frères, ce sont des Béarnais que d'Artagnan a pu rencontrer, puisqu'ils étaient dans les mousquetaires en même temps que lui. Dans Vingt Ans après, d'Artagnan assiste à la Fronde, et tente avec ses trois amis de sauver Charles I d'Angleterre. Au début du Vicomte de Bragelonne, peu convaincu de la valeur en tant que roi du jeune Louis XIV, amer de ne pas être devenu riche et s'estimant peu récompensé pour ses services, il démissionne de sa charge de capitaine de la garde. Il est le responsable de la restauration sur le trône d'Angleterre de Charles II. Louis XIV l'ayant rappelé auprès de lui, d'Artagnan reprend ses fonctions ; au terme du roman, il est convaincu que Louis XIV est devenu un grand roi, malgré les scrupules moraux qu'il éprouve à obéir à certains ordres. Source Wikipedia #sauvesparlekong #sauvesparlapoesie #sauvespourlebac #alchimieduverbe #longlivethebook (à Cathédrale Sainte-Marie d'Auch) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDifMVJDPsc/?igshid=1cqimuen42iwr

[zapata-painter]

La tournée avec le #Julesbox continue ! Prochaines dates : JEUDI 17/01/2019 à Fontaine (38) – La Source Jules Box – La Source https://lasource-fontaine.fr/event/jules-box Jules Box @La Source - Facebook VENDREDI 18 janvier 2019 à 20 h 00 - Florange (57) – La Passerelle La Passerelle - JULES BOX "La fête en chansons" passerelle-florange.fr/programmation/spectacles/397-jules-box VENDREDI 8 février Montbrison (42) – Festival les poly’sons Jules Box - Poly'Sons 2019 - Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/1935788179807755/ SAMEDI 9 février 2019 à 20 h 00 - Bailly-Romainvilliers (77) – Centre Culturel Julesbox "Quand la variet est bonne"‎‏ - فېسبوک https://ps-af.facebook.com/events/1913283565376338/ SAMEDI 16 février 2019 à 20 h 00 - Méry-sur-Oise (95 JULES BOX - Luciole, Méry-Sur-Oise, 95540 - Sortir à Paris - Le ... www.parisetudiant.com › Sortir Paris › Concerts › Français #livepainting #speedpainting #live #art #show #peintreperformer #zapata #renaldzapata #spectacle #entertainment https://www.instagram.com/p/BsoLag4l-De/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=wrhb70euldq3

[vapaus-ystavyys-tasaarvo]

I'm working on an intensive project on Charles Jeanne and the June Rebellion as a proposal for this Masters program I'm trying to get accepted into. Any ideas for sources I should look into? I own A Cinq Heures Nous Serons Morts, and have access to the trial transcript. I've also read "Barricades: War on the Streets in Revolutionary France."

Oooh! That sounds awesome :D Hope you get accepted! And definitely keep me updated on this project!

Okay so, I don’t actually have that many sources either? I mean you already have the most important ones. But I’ll list what I can think of here.

CONTEMPORARY SOURCES:

Louis Blanc’s The History of Ten Years 1830-1840 (1841)- Louis Blanc wasn’t an eye witness to the events but he was a contemporary- available online in French and in EnglishAntoine Rey-Dussueil’s Le Cloître de Saint-Méry (1832)- this is a work of fiction but it was published only months after the uprising and the appendices include actual eye witness testimonies, including an anonymous letter from Charles Jeanne, written while he was still on the run. (Jeanne’s letter starts on this page)- available online in French

@barricadeur also posted these police reports about the uprising and @ellie-valsin shared these newspaper sources. And of course Chanvrerie.net has a whole bunch of resources about the uprising. (I recommend Alexandre Dumas’s memoirs even if they don’t really talk about Jeanne directly.)

LATER SOURCES:

Thomas Bouchet’s other June Uprising book Le Roi et les barricades (2002) - criminally expensive but I managed to find it in my university library so it might not be that hard to track down?

Mark Traugott’s The Insurgent Barricade has some good stuff I think? Le Maitron Dictionnaire biographique du mouvement ouvrier français also has an article on Charles Jeanne and some of his comrades but I haven’t figured out how to access that yet so idk if how good it is….

Okay, I realise that these are all mostly about the uprising.For the prison resources… oh boy, I can’t even remember all the stuff I used in my posts. Much of it was just whatever I found online so I don’t know whether to really recommend those. I kind of hesitate to even link those posts here tbh because they’re really not reliable at all (or particularly well written). But well, you can fact check them yourself I guess, so here they are.

There’s also those letters I found on Ebay but I’d like to stress that I HAVE NO IDEA IF THEY’RE REAL. I’ve never seen any references to them anywhere.

Also if you need any map resources… well I have a whole another list of those :p

[allocakesfr]

Et on continue sur le thème circoncision 'Cake avec ce superbe gâteau sur Allocakes . . Follow➡️➡️➡️@allocakes . . #gateau #cake #allocakes #cakedesign #white #clothing #outerwear #sleeve #circoncision (à Méry-sur-Oise) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2B4HjmoqRc/?igshid=2z3o2m9ryqbi