Term
| Robespierre had few friends, was in bad health, suffered from nosebleeds, and he was small and weak. But he was studious. |
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Definition
| Maximilien Robespierre was born in Arras, a small farmland in northern France, on the date May 6th 1758. |
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Term
| Maximilien went to Lycée Louis-le-Grand, France's most respected university, at the age of 11. He was chosen to give a speech to incumbent Louis XVI and his wife. |
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Definition
| His father was François de Robespierre, a country lawyer. His mother was Jacqueline Carrault who came from a poor beer brewing family. Jacqueline was pregnant before they were married. Also, she was never accepted by François' parents. She died of child birth problems when Maximilien was 6 which threw François into turmoil. |
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Term
| Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette showed up late so Robespierre had to wait in the pouring rain. The King treated Maximilien like a child. They didn't even talk to him after he finished his speech! |
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Definition
| There were three classes (titled estates) in France. First estate was clergy. Second estate were nobles. Third estate (98%) was everybody else. First and second estates had much more power over the third. King had more power then all the estates combined. |
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Term
| Monarchy returned back to France as empires in 1804. The first emperor was Napoleon. |
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Definition
| After Robespierre's mother died, the whole family experienced changes. François started drinking, borrowing money, and stopped law. Maximilien, realizing that he was now the head of the family, became serious and hardworking instead of wild like he was before. |
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