2026/03/30 by Damien Tricoire · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · #French Literature and Poetry #Literature and Culture Studies #Renaissance Literature and Culture
paper · doi:10.1093/fh/crag014
openalex publication_date 2026/03/30 · openalex created_date 2026/04/18 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/14
Abstract Historiography has placed great emphasis on the improvised nature of the French Revolution, but a small minority of people worked purposefully to bring about a revolution. Exploring the case of Jacques-Pierre Brissot, this article sheds light on the context in which the project to establish a parliamentary monarchy crystallized and re-assesses the role of patronage and aristocratic networks in the creation of a political opposition movement and political pamphleteering. By focusing on the divisions between elites, it enables us to better understand the conditions of emergence of the French Revolution. For Brissot’s case, this approach means reconsidering the place in his biography of his links with the duke of Orléans’ Palais-Royal court, and especially with the Du Crest-Genlis faction, without denying his agency.