Let Them Eat Brioche
Thinking about how good brioche is? Wait until you see what it sparked in the late 1700s!
How Bread, or Lack of It, Led to the Start of the French Revolution
Think about the famous phrase attributed to one of France's most infamous queens, Marie Antoinette of France, “Let them eat cake!” She reportedly said it on hearing that her people were suffering so much under high taxes and poor harvests that they could no longer afford bread.
Historians cannot accurately confirm whether this was her attitude towards the impoverished populace of her country, but that seemingly heartless admonition is widely acknowledged to have inflamed the masses in ways contributing to their uprising to start the French Revolution in 1789.
What is “Brioche”?
The actual French phrase that Marie Antoinette reportedly uttered— “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche”—means “Let them eat brioche.” Brioche is more of a French delicacy, like cake, in other cultures. Its light, flaky texture and buttery taste is definitely delectable—and worthy of a queen.
But a staple for the people? Not so much. And how could the queen's cavalier attitude lead to a revolution?
Credit: The Brioche, by Edouard Manet, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Creative Commons
Factors leading to the French Revolution can be attributed to three main obstacles that impacted the peasant class (and everyone, back in the day, who was not of the nobility or the clergy, was considered a peasant!: war debt, famines caused by weathering droughts, and horrific taxes. France’s involvement with the American Revolution, and excessive spending on more local wars by King Louis XVI, led the country into a pit of debt. Along with the war debt, two decades of poor harvests, drought, cattle disease meant the king needed to keep raising taxes to keep his reign solvent.
But bread is a staple of everyday life, especially in France. And no grain, no bread. In what little survived the poor harvests, rye and wheat showed traces of fungi like ergot, suspected to be a cause of diseases that spread throughout the French countryside.
According to historian Mary Kilburne Mattossian, in 1789, a scare known as the “Great Fear,” hallucinogens from a fungus on rye wheat gave way to peoples' mass hysteria and unleashed the revolutionary fervor. Other historians speculate that the Great Fear was a result of farmers storming the Bastille, and fear that aristocrats were going to wage a counter-revolution by setting loose brigands into the countryside.
Whatever the cause, it’s kind of crazy to think about bread at the heart of a revolution.
Bread Uprisings from the late 17th Century
It wasn't the first time that bread was scarce. Periodic harvest failures over two-and-a-half centuries made the people of France angry and caused multiple bread uprisings dating back to 1529, in Lyon, France. It seems that the problem only got compounded over time. In a Paris newspaper story from 1789, this time of bread uprisings was described as a time where, “Fears were redoubled by the complaints of people who had spent the whole day waiting at the baker’s door without receiving anything.” People were out for bread—and blood, too.
A contemporary illustration of the Women's March on Versailles, 5 October 1789
Children were starving. The Women’s March on Versailles in 1789 turned out to be a significant turning point for concerns regarding bread shortages. Imagine a mass gathering of women in a Paris marketplace revolting because they could not feed their families! Thousands of marchers at this event stormed bakeries within the marketplace to loot for bread and other necessities. They vowed to end the food shortage for good.
After Marching Towards Versailles
Marchers heading towards Versailles were determined to confront King Louis XVI and bringing him back to Paris to see justice after the king's years of overspending, and the queen's follies. This was a turning moment for the people of France; they reached a new level of power in that mob confrontation.
Once marchers reached Versailles, they were convinced that efforts made by the king to “support'' the newly published Declaration of the Rights of Man and advocate for the people were false. Protesters knew Queen Marie Antoinette's history were aware of her opposition towards proposed reforms, and assumed she would not support their cause or persuade the king to give the people of France their rights. The confrontation resulted in a storm of protesters running through the palace in search of the queen. Two guards were killed along the way, and their heads were raised on pikes outside the building, a warning that the people would have justice.
Jean-François Janinet, Taking of the Bastille, 1789-1791, Bibliothèque Nationale de France..
When King Louis XVI finally appeared before the crowd, he was greeted by the traditional phrase “Vive le Roi!” ("Long Live the King!"). The crowd had summoned Marie Aintoinette and was moved by her courage to face the apparent truth, that their privilege had led to the ruin of their people.
It was a turning point in the French Revolution that would ultimately lead to the defeat of the French monarchy. Over 60,000 people gathered to march the royal family back to Paris in the name of reform, all because a group of women were inflamed over the bread shortage. These women became known as “Mothers of the Nation.”
Taxes on Bread
So, let's say that you were an 18th-century farmer or artisan in France. Since grain was a scarce and valuable commodity, the King levied high taxes on it to make up for shortfalls in revenue. If you were to spend half your wages on bread, and then there was a drought, leading to shortages, you might see the price of bread shoot up 88 percent, or twice your family budget—forget about housing, medicine, clothing or other food costs!
The Constitution of 1791
The people had other problems with their monarch, as well. Taking popular control to limit the tyranny of the king became critical, giving rise to calls for "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity." The Constitution of 1791 was the revolutionary government’s first attempt of maintaining the monarchy during the French Revolution. In detail, the constitution presided that sovereignty would reside in the Legislative Assembly, which was elected by a system of indirect voting. This new constitution allowed France to be a constitutional monarchy where all legislative powers went to a single Legislative Assembly that had the power to declare war and raise taxes.
Constitution de 1791. Page 1 - Archives Nationales - AE-I-10-1
Unfortunately, this lasted less than a year after intimidation from King Louis towards elected leaders. In June 1791, the king and his family attempted to run away from their palace to flee Paris but were detained at Varennes the following morning.
The king’s attempt to escape after the revolution brought anti-royalist and republican sentiment to an all-time high. The newly empowered legislature ruled that first constitution to be unworkable due to the king’s refusal to work with The Third Estate in their efforts to reform the government.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Rising violence, disagreements, and unpreparedness for war between two new factions created within the National Assembly, the Jacobins, a group of radical liberals, and the Girondins, a group of those who deemed a constitutional monarchy essential for society, also contributed to the downfall of the new government.
Since they couldn't compromise, the divisions led to successive failed French republics before a stable form of government could be created. The French First Republic of 1792 declared the National Convention of France to be made up of the Girondins, who support the bourgeoisie, the Montagnards, who favored a central regime, and the Marais who were placed between the two groups.
After years of inflation, class struggles, and abuse of power, Napoleon Bonaparte returned in 1799 to the country that had exiled him and took control, ultimately crowning himself emperor. Most gains made in popular governance, and the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity were lost.
Let Them Eat!
As for bread, impacts of the bread risings of 1789 led to new laws to be put into place that govern the roughly 1,200 bakeries, which supply Parisians with their daily dose of baguettes and croissants. One law in particular, passed in 1956, granted all workers, including bakers, a minimum of three weeks off every year.
One shop that has been open since 1730, Stohler, is the oldest patisserie in Paris that was founded by King Loui XV’s pastry chef, Nicolas Stohrer. This establishment along with others have been there for centuries dating back to the French Revolution. The shop today has become a landmark where people come to remember a turning point in French history.
Today, French bakeries, and bakery workers, are more important than ever. During the pandemic, boulangeries (bread bakeries) were designated essential. For the French, it is both a physical and spiritual necessity.
Want to spur a revolution? Take away our daily bread, and see what chaos ensues.
Want to Learn More?
Bramen, Lisa. “When Food Changed History: The French Revolution.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 14 July 2010, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/when-food-changed-history-the-french-revolution-93598442/
Brooks, David. “Will Gen-Z Save the World?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 July 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/07/04/opinion/gen-z-boomers.html.
“The Constitution of 1791.” French Revolution, 24 June 2019, https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/constitution-of-1791/
“Did Marie-Antoinette Really Say ‘Let Them Eat Cake’?” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/story/did-marie-antoinette-really-say-let-them-eat-cake.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Constitution of 1791.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 13 May 2016, www.britannica.com/topic/Constitution-of-1791-French-history.
Feinberg, Lawrence. “Did Infected Rye Bread Aid the French Revolution?” The Washington Post, WP Company, 1 Jan. 1983, www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1983/01/01/did-infected-rye-bread-aid-the-french-revolution/14e2dbd2-413d-481a-8cdf-e8cc6db7360c/.
“The Flight to Varennes.” French Revolution, 24 Oct. 2019, https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/flight-to-varennes/
“French Revolution.” Ducksters Educational Site, https://www.ducksters.com/history/french_revolution/womens_march_on_versailles.php
History.com Editors. “French Revolution.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/topics/france/french-revolution.
History.com Staff. “Did Marie-Antoinette Really Say ‘Let Them Eat Cake’?” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 24 Oct. 2012, www.history.com/news/did-marie-antoinette-really-say-let-them-eat-cake.
Lewis, Jone Johnson. “Women's March on Versailles: Turning Point in the French Revolution.” ThoughtCo, www.thoughtco.com/womens-march-on-versailles-3529107.
Nelson, W. Dale. “France's 'Great Fear' of 1789 Was Caused by Hallucinogen, Historian Says.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 21 Nov. 1989, https://apnews.com/article/b023159303c4db7fa95c025ed9a4d8a0
“Paris : The Capital of the 19th Century.” Paris: Capital of the 19th Century, library.brown.edu/cds/paris/chronology1.html.
“A Paris Newspaper on Bread Shortages (1789).” French Revolution, 18 Jan. 2018, https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/paris-newspaper-bread-shortages-1789/
“Sieyès and What Is the Third Estate?” French Revolution, 8 June 2019, https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/sieyes-what-is-the-third-estate/
SparkNotes, SparkNotes, www.sparknotes.com/history/european/frenchrev/section4/page/2/.
“STOHRER.” Stohrer, stohrer.fr/en/.
Todd, Tony. “French Revolutionary Rule Keeps Paris Bakers Baking.” France 24, France 24, 16 Aug. 2013, www.france24.com/en/20130815-french-revolutionary-rule-keeps-bakers-paris.