Bastille

The Bastille was a fortress in Paris, which played an important role in the internal conflicts of France. For most of its history was used as a state prison by the French kings. 

It was built about 1370 as part of the fortifications on the east wall of Paris. Its purpose was to defend eastern Paris from an attack by the British during the Hundred Years War.

Below is a historical reconstruction showing the moat below the walls of Paris (left), the Bastille and the Porte Saint-Antoine (right) in 1420.

From 1417, it became a prison for holding opponents of the kings of France.

After Paris had been captured by the forces of Henry V in 1420, the English used the Bastille as a prison. It remained under the control of the English until 1436.

During the 17th century the Bastille was used primarily for housing political prisoners, and from the time of the French statesman Cardinal Richelieu it came to symbolize the injustice of arbitrary rule. Citizens of every class and profession, if for any reason deemed obnoxious to the royal court, were arrested by secret warrants known as lettres-de-cachet and imprisoned indefinitely in the Bastille without accusation or trial. 

In 1716 the Enlightenment writer Voltaire wrote a satirical poem about the Duke of Orleans that resulted in a nearly year-long imprisonment at the Bastille. 

The address of the Bastille in the late 18th century was No 232, rue Saint-Antoine, Paris.

By 1789, 5,279 prisoners had passed through the gates of The Bastille.

At the outbreak of the French Revolution, the Bastille was attacked and captured by a mob assisted by royal troops. The object of the storming was mainly to seize the large ammunition supplies held at the Bastille.

An eye witness painting of the siege of the Bastille by Claude Chola

The event was largely symbolic: Although the Bastille was big enough for 50 prisoners, it housed only seven elderly prisoners at the time. According to records, the prisoners when it was stormed were four convicted forgers, two “lunatics” and a "deviant” aristocrat.

One of the lunatics was an elderly white-bearded Anglo-Irish man named de Whyte de Malleville who variously believed that he was either St. Louis, Julius Caesar, or God. Despite being mentally ill, he was paraded through the streets, where he waved happily to the crowds.

The aristocrat was Comte Hubert de Solages, who had been imprisoned on the request of his family for committing incest with his sister.

One freed prisoner is said to have refused to go until he had finished his roast pheasant dinner.

Ninety-eight attackers and one defender died in the fighting. The Bastille’s governor, Bernard-René de Launay, was killed by the crowd and his head displayed around Paris on a spike.

When King Louis XVI was told of the storming of the Bastille, he is said to have asked: "Is it a revolt?" only to be told, "No Sire, it is a revolution".

Two days later the destruction of the stronghold was begun amid great public rejoicings. 

When the Bastille was demolished, a developer made a fortune selling off pieces as souvenirs.

After the storming of the Bastille, its main key was given to the Marquis de Lafayette who later gave it to George Washington. It can still be seen at Washington mansion at Mount Vernon.

The site is now an open square, called the Place de la Bastille. 

Bastille Day is a national holiday in France, celebrated annually on July 14. It has been celebrated since 1790 and became a French national holiday in 1880.

A massive solar flare on July 14, 2000, is known as the “Bastille Day event”.

The English pop rock band Bastille takes its name from the fact that July 14 is the birthday of lead singer/songwriter Dan Smith.

Sources Daily Express, Funk & Wagnalls © Copyright 1997-1998 Versaware Technologies Inc. All rights reserved.