• milkisklim@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    2 days ago

    When they stormed the castle, the only ones there were the four common counterfeiters, two mentally ill men, and a count who had been imprisoned at the request of his family.

    It wasn’t really the infamous prison any more but a local jail/asylum.

    • hallettj@leminal.space
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 day ago

      Yes, but it’s the thought that counts. The Bastille had a history of being the place the government disappeared people to. Some of those were nobles who were treated very well. Others were regular people who were… not given the noble treatment.

      From what I understand Parisians didn’t know how much the prison population had dwindled. Either way, the Bastille was a symbol of oppression.

      Now tbf the people doing the storming were motivated to get in to grab the gunpowder that had been hoarded inside. But the unjust detentions were a part of it too.

      • milkisklim@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 day ago

        I am not disagreeing, just that it was more symbolic than liberating. I just finished reading Mike Duncan’s biography on Lafayette and he goes into the causes and perceptions of the Revolution. Lafayette was eventually given a key to the Bastille that he passed on to Washington

        • hallettj@leminal.space
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 day ago

          Oh neat! Most of what I know is my recollections from the Revolutions podcast. I haven’t read Citizen Lafayette yet

          • milkisklim@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            1 day ago

            It’s pretty good! Duncan gets to be very narrow since he doesn’t have to skip between all the factions, but you get the highlights since Lafayette was almost always there whenever Destiny occurs.

            It’s about 18 hour IIRC in audiobook format for that classic podcast feel.