Le Vachez Collection - Claude-Christophe Gourdan (1744-1804)

Charles Claude Christophe Gourdan (1 November 1744,

Champlitte Champlitte is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. The inhabitants of Champlitte are known in French as the Chanitois. History During the Roman Era, Champlitte was close to two maj ...

- 2 August 1804, Champlitte) was a politician during the time of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. He was one of the founders of the

Jacobin Club , logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg , logo_size = 180px , logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794) , motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir) , successor = Pa ...

. The son of a lawyer, Claude Christophe Gourdan, and his wife Claire Raillard, he attended the

University of Besançon A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

also became a lawyer, and deputy criminal assessor of the bailiwick of

Gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

. At the convocation of the Estates General, he was elected deputy of the

Third Estate The estates of the realm, or three estates, were the broad orders of social hierarchy used in Christendom (Christian Europe) from the Middle Ages to early modern Europe. Different systems for dividing society members into estates developed and ...

of the :fr:Bailliage d'Amont. He consistently voted for radical initiatives, including the abolition of privileges, the creation of

assignats An assignat () was a monetary instrument, an order to pay, used during the time of the French Revolution, and the French Revolutionary Wars. France Assignats were paper money (fiat currency) issued by the Constituent Assembly in France from 1 ...

, for the establishment of the new

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

s, for the sequestration of clerical property, the sale of national property, and the suppression of noble titles. Under the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

, he served as President of the Champlitte District Court. Elected president of the National Convention from February 21 to March 7, 1793, he voted the death of the king. He then entered the

Council of Five Hundred The Council of Five Hundred (''Conseil des Cinq-Cents''), or simply the Five Hundred, was the lower house of the legislature of France under the Constitution of the Year III. It existed during the period commonly known (from the name of the e ...

, and was a member of the

Committee of Public Safety The Committee of Public Safety (french: link=no, Comité de salut public) was a committee of the National Convention which formed the provisional government and war cabinet during the Reign of Terror, a violent phase of the French Revolution. S ...

from October 7 to November 4, 1795. He entered the

Council of Ancients The Council of Ancients or Council of Elders (french: Conseil des Anciens) was the upper house of the French legislature under the Constitution of the Year III, during the period commonly known as the Directory (French: ''Directoire''), from ...

of which he was also president. At the end of 1795, he was appointed judge of the

Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...

. He argued against proposed restrictions on the re-establishment of banned political clubs, maintaining that the right of assembly could not be abrogated. He was also a strong advocate of a free and uncensored press. Having opposed the

Coup of 18 Brumaire The Coup d'état of 18 Brumaire brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power as First Consul of France. In the view of most historians, it ended the French Revolution and led to the Coronation of Napoleon as Emperor. This bloodless ''coup d'état'' overt ...

he was ordered by Fouché to retired to the countryside. On 28 floréal year VIII (under the

Consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth coun ...

) he was appointed to the position of judge in the civil court of

Vesoul Vesoul () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté located in eastern France. It is the most populated municipality of the department with inhabitants in 2014. The same year, the Communauté d'agglo ...

, but declined to take up his post as he did not recognise a government established by force. He also resigned from his other judicial posts for the same reason. He is buried in the cemetery of

Rethel Rethel () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture and third-most important city and economic center in the department. It is situated on the river Aisne, near the northern border of Champagne and 37& ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gourdan, Charles Claude Christophe 1744 births 1804 deaths Regicides of Louis XVI People on the Committee of Public Safety Members of the Council of Ancients