September Massacres in the context of "National Guard (France)"

The Reign of Terror (French: La Terreur, lit. 'The Terror') was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to the Federalist revolts, revolutionary fervour, anticlerical sentiment, and accusations of treason by the Committee of Public Safety. While terror was never formally instituted as a legal policy by the Convention, it was more often employed as a concept.

Historians disagree when exactly the "Terror" began. Some consider it to have begun in 1793, often giving the date as 5 September or 10 March, when the Revolutionary Tribunal came into existence. Others cite the earlier September Massacres in 1792, or even July 1789 when the first killing of the revolution occurred. Will Durant stated that "strictly, it should be dated from the Law of Suspects, September 17, 1793, to the execution of Maximilien Robespierre, July 28, 1794."

Marie-Thérèse Louise of Savoy, Princesse de Lamballe (Italian: Maria Teresa Luisa; 8 September 1749 – 3 September 1792) was an Italian noblewoman and member of the Savoy-Carignano cadet branch of the House of Savoy. She was married at the age of 17 to Louis Alexandre de Bourbon-Penthièvre, Prince de Lamballe, the heir to the greatest fortune in France. After her marriage, which lasted a year, she went to the French royal court and became the confidante of Queen Marie Antoinette. She was killed in the massacres of September 1792 during the French Revolution.

Georges Jacques Danton (/ˈdæntən/; French: [ʒɔʁʒ dɑ̃tɔ̃]; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a French politician and leading figure of the French Revolution. A modest and unknown lawyer on the eve of the Revolution, Danton became a famous orator of the Cordeliers Club and was raised to governmental responsibilities as the French Minister of Justice following the fall of the monarchy on the tenth of August 1792, and was allegedly responsible for inciting the September Massacres. He was tasked by the National Convention to intervene in the military conquest of Belgium led by General Dumouriez, and in the spring of 1793 supported the foundation of a Revolutionary Tribunal, becoming the first president of the Committee of Public Safety.

During the Insurrection of 31 May – 2 June 1793, Danton changed his mind on the use of force and lost his seat in the committee afterwards, which solidified the rivalry between him and Maximilien Robespierre. In early October 1793, Danton left politics but was urged to return to Paris to plead, as a moderate, for an end to the Terror. His continual criticism of the Committee of Public Safety provoked further counter-attacks. Robespierre replied to Danton's plea for an end to the Terror on 25 December (5 Nivôse, year II). At the end of March 1794, Danton made another speech announcing the end of the Terror. Within a week, Danton faced accusations of purported royalist inclinations, leading to his trial and subsequent guillotine execution on charges of conspiracy and venality.

Saint-Joseph-des-Carmes (Saint-Joseph-des-Carmes) is a Catholic chapel located at 70 rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It was originally built as the chapel of a convent of the mendicant order of Discalced Carmelites. It is now the church of the Catholic Institute of Paris, a university-level seminary for training priests, and is also a parish church for the neighbourhood. It is dedicated to Saint Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary. Built between 1613 and 1620, it combines elements of Classical architecture on the exterior with a remarkable display of Baroque architecture and art in the interior. The chapel is open to the public at limited hours.

The site was a prison of the French Revolution, formed of a vast enclosure bounded by rue du Regard, rue du Cherche-Midi and rue Cassette – it was also bordered to the south by rue de Vaugirard. It was the site of one of the September Massacres in 1792 and features in the 1927 film Napoléon. It was also the home of the famed Carmelite mystic Brother Lawrence.