The indoor
riding academy called the ''Salle du Manège'' () was the seat of the various national legislatures during most of the
French Revolution, from 1789 to 1798. It was demolished in 1804 to make way for the
rue de Rivoli.
History
Before the Revolution
Before the revolution, the Salle du Manège ("Riding Hall"), situated along the north end of the Tuileries Gardens to the west of the
Tuileries Palace in Paris, was home to the royal equestrian academy. Built during the minority of
Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...
, when it lay conveniently close to the Regent's
Palais Royal, it was allowed to pass afterwards from hand to hand as the site of privately conducted riding schools, though it was never formally sold.
French Revolution
On 9 November 1789 the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
, formerly the
Estates-General of 1789, moved its deliberations from Versailles to the Tuileries in pursuit of
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...
and installed itself in the ''Salle du Manège'' on the palace grounds. Having nationalised the goods of the Church, the ''Assemblée nationale'', requiring more space than the ''Manège'' alone could provide, extended its occupation to two adjacent convents, those of the
Capuchins, which soon housed the Revolutionary printing presses in its former
refectory, and of the
Feuillants, whose handsome library received the archives of the Assemblée.
The proportions of the ''Salle du Manège'', ten times as long as it was wide, offered poor acoustics for the debates that went on continually under its high vaults. Six tiers of banquettes permitted space for the deputies, ranged on either side of the central tribune, initially planned for the orators' podium. Seated together for solidarity, the deputies seated themselves according to their political opinions, to right and to left of the president's desk. During the National Assembly, the right benches were occupied by conservatives like the
Monarchiens and the left ones by
Jacobins
The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (), renamed the Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality () after 1792 and commonly known as the Jacobin Club () or simply the Jacobins (; ), was the most influential List of polit ...
and other radicals; this pattern continued into the period of the
Legislative Assembly, though with the conservatives being largely replaced with moderate liberals like the members of the
Feuillant Club. After the
National Convention
The National Convention () was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the ...
was called in 1792,
The Mountain quickly occupied the left benches, while
Girondins, after some hesitation, occupied the ones on the right vacated by the now-defunct Feuillants. The Plain sat in the lowest rank of banquettes, from which they were wont to cross to the opposite side, as their opinions dictated. The public found places to witness the spectacle at either end of the hall and in the loge seats above.
In 1795 under the
French Directory
The Directory (also called Directorate; ) was the system of government established by the Constitution of the Year III, French Constitution of 1795. It takes its name from the committee of 5 men vested with executive power. The Directory gov ...
, the
Council of 500 sat in the structure until the body moved to the
Palais-Bourbon in 1798. In 1799, the
Jacobin ''Club du Manège'' had its headquarters there.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salle Du Manege
Buildings and structures completed in the 18th century
Former buildings and structures in Paris
French Revolution
Former seats of national legislatures
Legislative buildings in Europe
18th-century architecture in France