Introduction

Abstract

The book begins with discussion of two written pleas from the small town of Saint-Gaudens [Haute-Garonne]: one from the town’s active citizens and the other from its General Council. Composed in March of 1790, the documents defended local religious institutions threatened by impending legislation in the National Assembly. The two pleas do well to capture the book’s comprehensive argument, which is that the French Revolution’s religious politics from 1789 to 1793 frayed the social fabric of small towns to such an extent that it unravelled their democratic character. To explain why a town like Saint-Gaudens was so concerned about its small and fragile religious institutions, the Introduction points out the many ways in which these establishments empowered small towns and thus constituted their common good. Emphasis is given to how these institutions produced social capital, a concept central to the scholarly work of Robert Putnam. The democratic nature of the social capital produced by religious institutions was among the reasons that small towns were poised to play a pivotal revolutionary role; they were the quintessential nexus between an urban elite that led the Revolution and the majority of citizens living in rural areas who suddenly became sovereign in principle. A brief explanation of the historiography of the Revolution’s religious politics in small towns is given, followed by an indication of how the book’s evidence may revise current scholarly understanding of the subject. The introduction ends with a brief roadmap for the book’s six chapters and conclusion.