In the immediate aftermath of the events of Thermidor, both the actors and spectators of these events sought to give meaning to what had just happened ; à chaud, a new imaginary was taking shape, centred around the person of Robespierre: his légende noire, which would impose itself over the next decades, slowly began to emerge in numerous speeches, proclamations, pamphlets etc. This “black legend”, which drew on the tropes and motifs that had characterised earlier attacks on Robespierre, would later acquire some degree of coherence, but at the time of its birth, it was still widely heterogeneous and, at times, even contradictory.
In the course of this research project, I have compiled some of the most influential speeches, writings and images that were published during or immediately after the events of 9 / 10 Thermidor, and which, in some cases, came to shape Robespierre’s légende noire as we know it today.