New answers tagged france
1
Pigeons are way faster:
Their average flying speed over moderate 965 km (600 miles) distances is around 97 km/h (60 miles per hour) and speeds of up to 160 km/h (100 miles per hour) have been observed in top racers for short distances.
Where the direct distance from Paris to London is 344 kilometers (214 miles).
Therefore: 344km / 97km/h = 3.546391753h, ...
35
The French Postal Service started operation in the fifteenth century and by 1632 - 150 years before your inquiry - there was already a network of over 623 coaching inns operated by it across the length and breadth of France - typically about seven miles apart. These coaching inns provided refreshment, accommodation and fresh teams for all travelers, not just ...
12
Post stages existed in France (and elsewhere in Europe) before the Revolution
where horses would be exchanged along the route
The Wikipedia article Stage station deals more about the 19th century than the 18th century, but otherwise gives a good overview on how the system worked.
It also explains the Origin of the name posting:
Medieval couriers were ...
10
No idea if the story occurred exactly as described, but FWIW it is plausible.
Louis XVI sought to flee his plight during the French Revolution a few years later. A number of things went wrong after he left with his family during the night: he opted for a slow, heavy coach instead of the two light ones that had been recommended to him so the family wouldn't ...
3
They may have had in mind the "right of the first night"
Droit du seigneur.
It does not really matter whether this "right" really existed or not and how frequently it was practiced. But it was used in pre-revolutionary propaganda against the old regime as the comedy by Beaumarchais " La Folle journée ou Le Mariage de Figaro" (1778) shows.
5
Q: “Sexual causes” for the French Revolution?
Ouh, oui!
Sexual mores, or simply biopolitics or biopower did play a role.
Morals, social norms and social problems related to sex and gender roles: like the overall relation between men and women, especially divorce, remarrying, polygamy, and how they were regulated. What that meant for population numbers, ...
16
That section seems to have been added without any supporting citation by an anonymous user on 1 November 2019. Given France was a Catholic country in which polygamy was illegal at that time, I'd say it looks like simple vandalism of the Wikipedia page.
The Council of Trent in 1563, expressly opposed polygamy and concubinage:
If any one saith, that it is ...
1
I tried to do what research that I could. I found there was actually a fairly active role for women in the French Revolution, many of them hoping (in vain) for improved political and social status. However, as mentioned by another user in the comments, France was (and despite the best efforts of the Jacobins, remained) a very Catholic country. Plural ...
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