The Cult of the Supreme Being

By 1793, King Louis XVI had been overthrown and executed, and Maximilien Robspierre had emerged as a leading figure in the French revolutionary government. He set out to destroy his rivals and, between 1793 and 1794, ordered the execution of thousands of suspected enemies of the state, at the guillotine. This particularly violent and bloody phase of the French Revolution became known as the ‘Reign of Terror’.

The revolution had already stripped the Church of its authority and tried to replace Catholicism with the Cult of Reason (an atheist belief system introduced by Robespierre’s rival, Jacques Hébert). But, while Robspierre supported and end to Catholicism, he also believed in the existence of a god. He created a new cult which believed the creation of the universe was an act of a ‘supreme being’ and that human souls are immortal, but that humans are responsible for their own actions and destinies – these are not acts of god. He called this ‘The Cult of the Supreme Being’ and decreed it the new state religion.

This painting shows the Festival of the Supreme Being, a national celebration ordered by and presided over by Robspierre. This lavish event took place on the 8^th June 1794 and featured music composed specially for the occasion, a manufactured mountain covered in flowers and a huge papier mâché statue of atheism, specially made by Jacques-Louis David, which was duly set alight.

Many saw this event as the pinnacle of Robspierre’s powers, but by now Robspierre had made many enemies, including among his own followers. Just over a month later, on 28^th July, Maximilien Robspierre was overthrown and executed at the guillotine. This not only brought an end to the Reign of Terror but also the Cult of the Supreme Being, which was finally banned along with the Cult of Reason by Napoleon, in 1802.

Did you know..?

As many as 40,000 people were executed at the guillotine during the 11 month Reign of Terror.

Use our Classroom resources to investigate this object and the themes of Revolutionary ideas, and the French Revolution further.

Highlights:

• Using objects, artworks and other sources to find out about the past
• Was the French revolution true to its principles of ‘liberté, égalité, fraternité’?
• Green Screening: use a simple GreenScreen app to travel back to a revolutionary event from the past
• Image of the day – stimulate students’ curiosity and hone their skills of deduction
• Revolutionary Top Trumps

And much more…