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He was born at Vého near Lunéville, the son of a peasant. Educated at the Jesuit college at Nancy, he became curé of Emberménil and a teacher at the Jesuit school at Pont-à-Mousson. In 1783 he was crowned by the academy of Nancy for his Eloge de la poisie, and in 1788 by that of Metz for an Essai sur la rëgindration physique et morale des Juifs. He was elected in 1789 by the clergy of the bailliage of Nancy to the Estates-General, where he soon made his name as one of the group of clerical and lay deputies of Jansenist or GallicanGallicanism is the belief that monarchs' authority over the Roman Catholic Church is comparable to that of the Pope's. Gallicanism is intermediate between Ultramontanism and Anglicanism, in that it downplays the authority of the Pope without denying it en sympathies who supported the Revolution. He was one of the first of the clergy to join the third estate, and contributed notably to the union of the three orders; he presided at the session which lasted sixty-two hours while the Bastille was being attackedThe storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 was an important development in, and later a symbol of, the French Revolution. Though at the time the Bastille contained only seven prisoners, its taking marked the beginning of open rebellion against the king by the people, and spoke vehemently against the enemies of the nation. He later took a leading role in the abolition of the privilegesThe French Revolution was a period in the history of France covering the years 1789 to 1799, in which republicans overthrew the Bourbon monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church perforce underwent radical restructuring. This article covers the year following of the nobles and the Church.
Under the new Civil Constitution of the Clergy, to which he was the first priestA priest or priestess is a holy man or woman who takes an officiating role in worship of any religion, with the distinguishing characteristic of offering sacrifices. Priests have been known since the earliest times and in the simplest societies (see shama to take the oath ( December 27December 27 is the 361st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. 362nd in a leap year). There are 4 days remaining. Events 1703 Portugal and England sign the Methuen Treaty which gives preference to Portuguese imported wines into England. 1831 Charles, 1790Events January 8 George Washington gives the first State of the Union Address. January 30 The first boat specialized as a lifeboat is tested on the River Tyne. February 1 In New York City the Supreme Court of the United States convenes for the first time.), he was elected bishop by two départments. He selected that of Loire-et-Cher, taking the old title of bishop of Blois, and for ten years ( 1791- 1801) ruled his diocese with exemplary zeal. An ardent republican, it was he who in the first session of the National Convention ( September 21, 1792) proposed the motion for the abolition of the kingship, in a speech in which occurred the memorable phrase that "kings are in the moral order what monsters are in the natural." On November 15 he delivered a speech in which he demanded that the king should be brought to trial, and immediately afterwards was elected president of the Convention, over which he presided in his episcopal dress. During the trial of King Louis XVI, being absent with other three colleagues on a mission for the union of Savoy to France, he along with them wrote a letter urging the condemnation of the king, but attempted to save the life of the king by proposing that the death penalty should be suspended.
When, on November 7, 1793, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gobel, bishop of Paris, was intimidated into resigning his episcopal office at the bar of the Convention, Grégoire, who was temporarily absent, hearing what had happened, hurried to the hall, and in the face of a howling mob of deputies refused to give up either his religion or his office. He was prepared to face death; but his display of courage won the day. Throughout the Reign of Terror, in spite of attacks in the Convention, in the press, and on placards posted at the street corners, he appeared in the streets in his episcopal dress and daily read mass in his house. After Robespierre's fall he was the first to advocate the reopening of the churches (speech of December 21, 1794). He also tried to get measures put in place for restraining the vandalistic attacks on works of art, extended his protection to artists and writers, and devoted attention to the reorganization of the public libraries, the establishment of botanic gardens, and the improvement of technical education. He had taken during the Constituent Assembly a great interest in Negro emancipation, and it was on his motion that men of colour in the French colonies were admitted to the same rights as whites.
On the establishment of the new constitution, Grégoire was elected to the Council of 500, and after 18 Brumaire he became a member of the Corps Législatif , then of the Senate (1801). He took the lead in the national church councils of 1797 and 1801; but he was strenuously opposed to Napoleon's policy of reconciliation with the Holy See, and after the signature of the concordat he resigned his bishopric ( October 8, 1801). He was one of the minority of five in the Senate who voted against the proclamation of the empire, and he opposed the creation of a new nobility and Napoleon's divorce from Josephine; notwithstanding this, he was created a count of the empire and officer of the Legion of Honour. During the later years of Napoleon's reign he travelled in England and Germany, but in 1814 he returned to France and opposed the empire.