Bastille

The Bastille was a French fortress that stood from the mid-1300s until 1789. For most of its existence, it was used as a state prison. On July 14, 1789, French revolutionaries stormed the fortress and released the prisoners held there. The storming of the Bastille became a prominent symbol of freedom and revolution. July 14 is now a French national holiday known as Bastille Day. The Bastille itself was destroyed shortly after its takeover.

The Bastille was initially built to help fortify the defenses of Paris, which had expanded in the 1300s. Its design was unconventional, with its walls and towers measuring roughly the same height.

The site where the Bastille once stood is currently known as the Place de la Bastille. It is a town square featuring an opera house and a column commemorating the July Revolution of 1830. Because of the symbolism of the Bastille and its destruction, the square has often hosted political protests and demonstrations.

Brief History

In the 1300s, the city of Paris experienced significant growth. This expansion left it vulnerable on its east side. The weakness was exposed by battles during the Hundred Years' War, a series of conflicts with England that ran from 1337 until 1453. In 1357, the French built a pair of stone towers to protect the Porte Saint-Antoine, a major entryway into the eastern side of the city. In the 1370s, French king Charles V ordered improvements to these defenses. Over the course of the next decade, the Bastille was completed. In its finished form, it consisted of eight towers with stone walls connecting them. The height of its towers and walls allowed its defenders greater mobility. It was considered one of the most impenetrable fortresses of its time. The Bastille's influence was seen in the design of similar French and English defenses.

The Bastille continued to serve as a fortress into the 1400s. In 1417, it took on the additional role of state prison. Although the Bastille helped repel numerous attacks over the years, enemy forces captured it on multiple occasions.

In the 1600s, an expanding Paris led to renovations in the Bastille. While the fortress itself did not see significant change, it was supplemented by a weapons storage facility known as the Arsenal.

In 1648, the Fronde rebellion broke out. France had been strained by war, and government officials were levying very high taxes, which caused a great deal of discontent among the people and led to civil war. Control of the Bastille shifted over the course of the conflict, and a key battle—the Battle of the Faubourg St. Antoine—was fought on the fortress's grounds. In the end, the rebellion was put down, and the monarchy resumed control of the fortress.

Under King Louis XIV in the latter half of the 1600s and early 1700s, the Bastille held thousands of prisoners. During this period, the Bastille earned a reputation as a symbol of the monarchy's abuse of power. This was mainly due to the fact that the circumstances surrounding imprisonment and the length of prisoners' stays at the Bastille were kept secret and seemed arbitrary to many people.

Impact

With the eighteenth century came the Age of Enlightenment, an intellectual movement that swept across Europe. It introduced new ideas to the general population and strongly challenged the concept of absolute monarchy. Meanwhile, the United States had declared independence and fought a revolution to obtain it, an effort that France directly assisted in. With that successful example and the spread of ideas regarding liberty and equal rights for ordinary people, French citizens began the French Revolution in 1789 in an effort to overthrow an unjust monarchy.

One of the earliest and most iconic acts of the revolution was the storming of the Bastille. In the face of the growing unrest, Louis XVI surrounded Paris with his forces. However, the military presence only increased the tension among the populace. On July 14, 1789, a group of citizens began a march, arming themselves with stolen weapons. The people stormed the Bastille, intending to liberate the prisoners unjustly kept there and obtain gunpowder for their weapons. The crowd engaged the Bastille's governor and his officers in a conflict that killed almost one hundred citizens and eight of the prison staff. Despite the heavy casualties, the citizens captured the fortress. They then executed the captive governor and several officers and soldiers.

The crowd found seven prisoners in the Bastille and promptly released them. They also found detailed archives, which were scattered throughout the streets. Revolutionary leaders quickly realized that the archive had more value as a reminder of the oppressive monarchy, and they regained most of the records.

Immediately following the storming of the Bastille, embellished and romanticized versions of the event began to circulate. After some deliberation, Parisians decided to demolish the Bastille, a task they accomplished by November. By July 14 of the following year, the event was celebrated as a victory over tyranny and oppression. In 1833, following another revolution, the new French king, Louis-Philippe, ordered the construction of the July Column, which would serve as a memorial to both conflicts. In July 1989, two hundred years after the storming of the Bastille, the Opera de la Bastille was built.

The storming of the Bastille was a historic event, but it has also had an impact on literature and culture. The Man in the Iron Mask was an anonymous inmate of the Bastille—as well as other prisons. His situation inspired a great deal of speculation and fiction, including novels and films. He also became a symbol of the perceived injustice of the prison. Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities and Victor Hugo's Les Misérables both reference the Bastille's destruction.

Most important, however, is what the Bastille itself and its destruction have come to symbolize. The Bastille is an iconic image of tyrannical authority and the oppression that comes with it. Its siege and destruction have been an enduring symbol of revolution and freedom for centuries.

Bibliography

Anderson, William. Castles of Europe: From Charlemagne to the Renaissance. Ferndale, 1980.

Hazan, Eric. The Invention of Paris: A History in Footsteps. Verso Books, 2011.

Keen, Maurice. "The Hundred Years War." BBC, 17 Feb. 2011, www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle‗ages/hundred‗years‗war‗01.shtml. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.

Lansdale, Maria. Paris: Its Sites, Monuments and History. Henry T. Coates and Co., 1899.

Linguet, Simon-Nicolas-Henri. Memoirs of the Bastille. Chez Jim Books, 2005.

Ockerman, Emma. "What Actually Happened on the Original Bastille Day." Time, 13 July 2016, time.com/4402553/bastille-day-history-july-14. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.

Platon, Mircea. "Storming the Bastille (July 14, 1789)." Origins, July 2014, origins.osu.edu/milestones/july-2014-storming-bastille. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.

Sortiraparis, Caroline. “Why is July 14th a National Holiday in France? History and Origins of the National Holiday.” Sortiraparis, 3 July 2024, www.sortiraparis.com/en/news/bastille-day/articles/226206-why-is-july-14th-a-national-holiday-in-france-history-and-origins-of-the-national-holiday. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.