Editing French Republican calendar (section)

== Overview and origins ==

=== Precursor ===
The prominent atheist essayist and philosopher [[Sylvain Maréchal]] published the first edition of his ''Almanach des Honnêtes-gens'' (Almanac of Honest People) in 1788.<ref name="Marechal">{{cite book |title=Almanach des Honnêtes-gens |pages=14–15 |first=Maréchal |last=Sylvain |url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k48116c.swf.f3.langFR |via=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=Gallica |year=1836 |access-date=3 June 2014 |archive-date=3 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903224628/http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k48116c.swf.f3.langFR |url-status=live }}</ref> The first month in the almanac is "Mars, ou Princeps" (March, or First), the last month is "Février, ou Duodécembre" (February, or Twelfth). The lengths of the months are the same as those in the Gregorian calendar; however, the 10th, 20th, and 30th days are singled out of each month as the end of a ''décade'' (group of ten days). Individual days were assigned, instead of to the traditional saints, to people noteworthy for mostly secular achievements. Later editions of the almanac would switch to the Republican Calendar.<ref>{{cite web |title=Almanach des honnêtes gens pour l'an VIII |first=Maréchal |last=Sylvain |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k97396377.r=?rk=21459;2 |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=Gallica |year=1799 |access-date=19 November 2019 |archive-date=25 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200525231239/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k97396377.r=?rk=21459;2 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Development and usage ===
[[File:Musee-historique-lausanne-img 0143.jpg|thumb|A copy of the French Republican Calendar in the Historical Museum of Lausanne]]
The days of the [[French Revolution]] and First French Republic saw many efforts to sweep away various trappings of the [[Ancien régime|''ancien régime'']] (the old [[Feudalism|feudal]] monarchy); some of these were more successful than others. The new Republican government sought to institute, among other reforms, a new social and legal system, a new system of weights and measures (which became the [[metric system]]), and a new calendar. 

Amid nostalgia for the ancient [[Roman Republic]], the theories of the [[Age of Enlightenment]] were at their peak, and the devisers of the new systems looked to nature for their inspiration. Natural constants, multiples of ten, and [[Latin]] as well as [[Ancient Greek]] derivations formed the fundamental blocks from which the systems were built.

The calendar was created by a commission under the direction of the politician [[Gilbert Romme]] seconded by {{Interlanguage link|Claude Joseph Ferry|fr}} and [[Charles-François Dupuis]]. They associated with their work chemist [[Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau]], mathematician and astronomer [[Joseph-Louis Lagrange]], astronomer [[Jérôme Lalande]], mathematician [[Gaspard Monge]], astronomer and naval geographer [[Alexandre Guy Pingré]], and poet, actor and playwright [[Fabre d'Églantine]] (who invented the names of the months) with the help of [[André Thouin]] (gardener at the [[Jardin des plantes]] of the [[Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle]] in Paris). As the [[rapporteur]] of the commission, Romme presented the calendar to the [[Jacobin]]-controlled National Convention on 23 September 1793, which adopted it on 24 October 1793 and also extended it [[wikt:proleptic|proleptically]] to its [[epoch]] of 22 September 1792. It is because of his position as rapporteur of the commission that the creation of the republican calendar is attributed to Romme.<ref>[[James Guillaume]], ''Procès-verbaux du Comité d'instruction publique de la Convention nationale'', t. I, pp. 227–228 et t. II, pp. 440–448; Michel Froechlé, " Le calendrier républicain correspondait-il à une nécessité scientifique ? ", Congrès national des sociétés savantes : scientifiques et sociétés, Paris, 1989, pp. 453–465.</ref>

French coins of the period used the calendar. Many show the year ({{langx|fr|an}}) in [[Arabic numerals]], although [[Roman numerals]] were used on some issues. Year 11 coins typically have a "XI" date to avoid confusion with the Roman "II".