Embodying Sovereignty

Abstract

From 1789 through 1793, the Dames reinvented their place in the nation through their activism, which they framed as civic work, and through their maternal initiatives, which they framed as gendered labor. The Dames reacted to local problems en masse and varied their response by situation. They bolstered their image as communal guardians by marching on Versailles during the October Days, by insisting that the municipal government assist citizens during food crises, and by sending a delegation to Italy to fetch the Comte d’Artois. As republican mothers, they reminded the National Assembly of its paternal responsibilities, spanked counterrevolutionary nuns who misled children, and sought to free imprisoned parents who defaulted on wet nurse payments. However, as Louis XVI proved an unwilling constitutional monarch, and bourgeoning clubs and assemblies grew into institutional venues for politics, the Dames’ sporadic interventions became less powerful.