Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier (17 July 1736 – 14 December 1828) was a major French politician of the French Revolution. He is sometimes called the "Great Inquisitor", for his active participation in the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) 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 revolutionary fervour, ...

. During this time, he was in charge of the Comité de Sûreté Générale, which was tasked with the prosecution of the so-called enemies of the Revolution. He is probably one of the main actors in the

fall of Robespierre The Coup d'état of 9 Thermidor or the Fall of Maximilien Robespierre refers to the series of events beginning with Maximilien Robespierre's address to the National Convention on 8 Thermidor Year II (26 July 1794), his arrest the next day, and ...

, which was his political rival.

Early career

Son of a wealthy family in Pamiers, Ariège, he served in the army of the king Louis XV, taking part in the Seven Years' War and the Battle of Rossbach on 5 November 1757. Upon his return to France in 1758, Vadier acquired large tracts of land in Pamiers and in 1770 purchased the office of ''conseiller'' ( magistrate), which brought him into conflict with many of the local aristocracy and affluent bourgeoisie. Elected as deputy to the Third Estate in the Estates-General of France for the County of Foix (in 1789), Vadier took no prominent part in that assembly.Hanson, Paul R., ''Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution'' (Lanham Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2004), 320–21. He left his office as representative in the National Constituent Assembly of the Constitutional Monarchy (September 1791), returning to Ariège '' département'', becoming president of the district tribunal in Mirepoix, contributing to the creation of new revolutionary institutions throughout the region. With the overthrow of the monarchy one year later, (10 August 1792), he was elected to the National Convention (3 September), sat among the '' Montagnards'', joined the Jacobin Club, and voted in favor of Louis XVI' execution (''sans appel ni sursis'' – without

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

or delay) on 17 January 1793. An opponent of the Girondists, Vadier opposed the proscription of

Jean-Paul Marat Jean-Paul Marat (; born Mara; 24 May 1743 – 13 July 1793) was a French political theorist, physician, and scientist. A journalist and politician during the French Revolution, he was a vigorous defender of the ''sans-culottes'', a radical ...

, and following the fall of the Girondists travelled to Ariège to actively oppose the Federalist Revolt there. On 14 September 1793, he was named member of the Committee of General Security, soon becoming its President, where he made his deepest mark on the Revolution.

Role in Terror and conspiracies

In this capacity, he was one of the principal actors of the

, and played an important role in the denunciations and the guillotining of

Fabre d'Églantine Philippe François Nazaire Fabre d'Églantine (, 28 July 1750 – 5 April 1794), commonly known as Fabre d'Églantine, was a French actor, dramatist, poet, and politician of the French Revolution. He is best known for having invented the names o ...

, François Chabot,

Georges Danton Georges Jacques Danton (; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a French lawyer and a leading figure in the French Revolution. He became a deputy to the Paris Commune, presided in the Cordeliers district, and visited the Jacobin club. In Augus ...

, and finally Maximilien Robespierre (preparing the way for 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 ...

''). On 15 June 1794 he used false charges against

Catherine Théot Catherine Théot (born at Barenton (Normandy), France in 1716; died 1 September 1794) was a French visionary. Catherine believed she was destined to work for God. She gained notoriety when she was accused of being involved in a plot to overthrow th ...

to ridicule Robespierre's mysticism and the Cult of the Supreme Being, also hinting to the Convention that Théot's prophecies were being used in order to replace the collective body with Robespierre's own dictatorship. Vadier, nonetheless, was implicated with the Montagnard terrorists and ordered under house arrest by the Convention on 2 March 1795 and sent for trial on the 29th as opinion rapidly shifted against the Montagnards in the wake of 9 Thermidor.Andress, David, ''The Terror: The Merciless War for Freedom in Revolutionary France'' (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005), 357. After the Reaction, Vadier was transported together with Jacques Nicolas Billaud-Varenne and Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois to French Guiana, but was amnestied by the Directory, and later, in the April 1796, took part in the failed '' Conspiracy of the Equals''. Acquitted by the courts, he nonetheless remained in prison in

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

until 1799. Placed under house arrest in Paris, a deputy during

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

Hundred Days The Hundred Days (french: les Cent-Jours ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration ...

, he was compelled to go into exile in Brussels after the Second Restoration, and died in Brussels.

Early career

Role in Terror and conspiracies

References

Further reading