A Republican Tradition: Calf’s Head on 21 JanuaryThis day marks the anniversary of th
A Republican Tradition: Calf’s Head on 21 January
This day marks the anniversary of the death of Louis Capet (formerly called Louis XVI), who was executed on 21 January 1793. Traditionally, this event is commemorated in republican circles by holding a calf’s head dinner.
The tradition traces back to a pamphlet titled La tête ou l'oreille de cochon, which was published by a certain Romeau in 1794: therein, he proposes, among other things, to celebrate the death of the tyrant by eating the ear or head of a pig every year on 21 January. The equation of Louis Capet with a pig was a common trope in the revolutionary press, and the image of the roi-cochon can be found in numerous contemporary caricatures.
It is not entirely clear when the pig’s head was replaced by the one of a calf in the tradition. According to Flaubert’s L'Éducation sentimentale (1869), the calf’s head dinner is based on a tradition invented by English republicans, who thereby commemorated the execution of Charles I (30 January 1649).
In France, this ritual gained popularity on the eve of the Revolution of 1848 ; as the July Monarchy became increasingly reactionary and repressive under Guizot’s cabinet, the opposition organised a campaign of calf’s head dinners. This mobilised the republican circles and, ultimately, contributed to the outbreak of the February Revolution and the end of the July Monarchy.
While this tradition has lost much of its popularity over time – there is even an anecdote about Michelle Vovelle’s vain attempt to organise a dîner de la tête de veau at the Sorbonne in 1986 –, it is still celebrated today in certain republican circles, particularly in France.
