A ( ,
; pl. ''causes célèbres'', pronounced like the singular) is an issue or incident arousing widespread
controversy
Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin '' controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an op ...
, outside
campaigning, and heated
public debate. The term is sometimes used positively for celebrated legal cases for their
precedent
Precedent is a judicial decision that serves as an authority for courts when deciding subsequent identical or similar cases. Fundamental to common law legal systems, precedent operates under the principle of ''stare decisis'' ("to stand by thin ...
value (each ''
locus classicus'' or "case-in-point") and more often negatively for infamous ones, whether for scale, outrage,
scandal
A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...
, or
conspiracy theories. The term is a
French phrase in common usage in English. Since it has been fully adopted into English and is included unitalicized in English dictionaries,
[''Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary''. S.v. "cause célèbre." Retrieved November 30, 2018 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cause+c%c3%a9l%c3%a8bre] it is not normally italicized despite its French origin.
It has been noted that the public attention given to a particular case or event can obscure the facts rather than clarify them. As
John Humffreys Parry states, "The true story of many a cause célèbre is never made manifest in the evidence given or in the advocates' orations, but might be recovered from these old papers when the dust of ages has rendered them immune from scandal".
Etymology
In French, one of the meanings of is a
legal case, and means "famous". The phrase originated with the 37-volume , published in 1763, which was a collection of reports of well-known French court decisions from the 17th and 18th centuries.
While English speakers had used the phrase for many years, it came into much more common usage after the
1894 conviction of
Alfred Dreyfus for
espionage
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...
during the cementing of a period of deep cultural ties with a political tie between England and France, the
Entente Cordiale. Both attracted worldwide interest and the period of closeness or
rapprochement officially broadened the English language.
Examples
* The murder of
Edward the Martyr, England, 978
* The
Becket controversy
The Becket controversy or Becket dispute was the quarrel between Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket and King Henry II of England from 1163 to 1170.Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' pp. 401–402 The controversy culminated ...
, England, 1163–1170
* The
Tour de Nesle affair
The Tour de Nesle affair was a scandal amongst the French royal family in 1314, during which Margaret of Burgundy, Queen of France, Margaret, Blanche of Burgundy, Blanche, and Joan II, Countess of Burgundy, Joan, the daughters-in-law of Philip IV ...
, France, 1314
* King
Edward IV of England's marriage to
Elizabeth Woodville, England, 1460s and 1470s
* The
Princes in the Tower, England, 1483
* The
murder of Lord Darnley, Scotland, 1567
* The
execution of Mary Stuart, England, 1587
* The
Gunpowder Plot, England, 1605
* The execution of
Robert-François Damiens, France, 1757
* The
Douglas Cause, Great Britain, 1760s
*
Ireland Shakespeare forgeries, Great Britain, 1790s
* The
Burr Conspiracy and ensuing
show trial, United States, 1805–1807
* The
Marie Lafarge case, France, 1840
* The
Parkman–Webster murder case, United States, 1849–1850
* The
Mortara case, Papal States, 1850s and 1860s
* The
Tichborne case, United Kingdom, 1860s and 1870s
* The
Vera Zasulich trial, Russia, 1878
* The ''
R v Dudley and Stephens'' cannibalism case, United Kingdom, 1884
* The
Dreyfus affair, France, 1890s and 1900s
* The murder trial of
Lizzie Borden, United States, 1893
* The libel trial of
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...
, United Kingdom, 1895
* The murder trial of
Maria Barbella, United States, 1895
* The murder trial of
Adolph Luetgert, 1897
* The
Brown Dog affair
The Brown Dog affair was a political controversy about vivisection that raged in Britain from 1903 until 1910. It involved the infiltration of University of London medical lectures by Swedish feminists, battles between medical students and the ...
, United Kingdom, 1900s
* The
''Los Angeles Times'' bombing, 1910
* The
Beilis case, Russian Empire, 1913
* The
Sacco and Vanzetti appeals, United States, 1920s
* The
Ponzi Scheme
A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays Profit (accounting), profits to earlier investors with Funding, funds from more recent investors. Named after Italians, Italian confidence artist Charles Ponzi, this type of s ...
, United States, 1923
* The
Scopes Monkey Trial, United States, 1925
* The
St. Valentine's Day Massacre, United States, 1929
* The
Scottsboro Boys case, United States, 1931
* The
Lindbergh kidnapping, United States, 1932
* The
Port Chicago disaster, United States, 1944
* The
bombing of Dresden,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
1945
* The
Bhawal case, India, 1946
* The
Derek Bentley case, United Kingdom, 1953
* The
Petrov Affair, Australia, 1954
* The shooting of
William Woodward Jr. by his wife
Ann Woodward, United States, 1955
* The
killing of Johnny Stompanato, United States, 1958
* The
assassination of John F. Kennedy, United States, 1963
* The
Tate-LaBianca murders, United States, 1969
* The
Soledad Brothers case, United States, 1970
* The
Thorpe affair, United Kingdom, 1970s
* The
Watergate scandal, United States, 1972–1974
* The
disappearance of Lord Lucan, United Kingdom, 1974
*
Ted Bundy's impending trial in Aspen, 1977
* The
Jonestown Cult Suicide, Guyana, 1978
* The trials of
Claus von Bülow, United States, 1982–1985
* The
Đorđe Martinović incident, Yugoslavia, 1985
* The
murder of the Goldmark family, United States, 1985
* The
Rodney King beating, United States, 1991
* The
murder of Shanda Sharer, United States, 1992
* The
Peter Ellis trial, New Zealand, 1993
* The
murder of Stephen Lawrence, London, 1993–2015
*
O. J. Simpson murder case, United States, 1994–1995
* The
Terri Schiavo case, United States, 1998-2005
*
David Camm, United States, 2000
* The
Bain family murders, New Zealand, 2004
* The
Amanda Knox trials, Italy, 2009–2015
*
Sergei Magnitsky's death, Russia, 2009
*
Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation, Tunisia, 2010
* The
Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to international attention in 2010 after WikiLeaks published a series of News leak, leaks from Chels ...
extradition, United Kingdom, 2011
* The
Pussy Riot trial, Russia, 2012
* The
Delhi gang rape, India, 2012
* The
Causeway Bay Books disappearances, China, 2015
* The
assassination of Marielle Franco, Brazil, 2018
* The
assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, Turkey, 2018
* The
Sea of Japan radar targeting incident, Japan and South Korea, 2018
* The
murder of George Floyd, United States, 2020
* The
murder of Sarah Everard, United Kingdom, 2021
* The trial of
Kyle Rittenhouse after the
Kenosha unrest shooting, United States, 2021
* ''
Depp v. Heard'', United States, 2022
* The
murder of Moïse Mugenyi Kabagambe, Brazil, 2022
* The
death of Mahsa Amini, Iran, 2022
* The
murder of Brianna Ghey, United Kingdom, 2023
* The
killing of Brian Thompson, United States, 2024
* The
killing of Austin Metcalf, United States, 2025
Fictional examples
* The death of
General Lamarque in ''
Les Misérables'' (1832)
* The
prison riot in ''
Natural Born Killers'' (1994)
See also
*
Trial of the century
*
Lists of landmark court decisions
*
List of French expressions in English
*
Media circus
*
Missing white woman syndrome
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cause celebre
1760s neologisms
Legal terminology
Public opinion
Social influence