Germinal () was the seventh
month in the
French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
word ''germen'', "germination". Germinal was the first month of the spring quarter (''mois de printemps''). It started March 21 or March 22, and ended April 19 or April 20. It follows
Ventôse
Ventôse (; also ''Ventose'') was the sixth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin word ''ventosus'', which means ''windy''.
Ventôse was the third month of the winter quarter (''mois d'hiver''). It start ...
and precedes
Floréal
Floréal () was the eighth month in the French Republican calendar. The month was named after the Latin word ''flos'', which means ''flower''.
Floréal was the second month of the spring quarter (''mois de printemps''). It started 20 April ...
.
In the context of the French Revolution, ''Germinal'' sometimes refers to the downfall and execution of the Indulgents,
Georges Danton and
Camille Desmoulins
Lucie-Simplice-Camille-Benoît Desmoulins (; 2 March 17605 April 1794) was a French journalist and politician who played an important role in the French Revolution. Desmoulins was tried and executed alongside Georges Danton when the Committee ...
, which took place during Germinal of 1794, four months before the
Thermidorian Reaction
The Thermidorian Reaction (french: Réaction thermidorienne or ''Convention thermidorienne'', "Thermidorian Convention") is the common term, in the historiography of the French Revolution, for the period between the ousting of Maximilien Robespie ...
in which
Robespierre himself was executed. The events of Germinal 1794 signaled the beginning of the end of the
Reign of Terror.
Day name table
Like all FRC months, Germinal lasted 30 days and was divided into three 10-day weeks called ''décades'' (decades). Every day had the name of an agricultural plant, except the 5th (Quintidi) and 10th day (Decadi) of every decade, which had the name of a domestic animal (Quintidi) or an agricultural tool (Decadi). The 26th and 27th changed their role in later years.
Conversion table
See also
*''
Germinal'', a novel by
Émile Zola
Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...
titled after the month
External links
Spring Quarter of Year II (facsimile)
{{Revolutionary calendar months
French Republican calendar
March
April
sv:Franska revolutionskalendern#Månaderna