Making an Example: Political Trials in Revolutionary Paris

Image: Plaidoyé de Louis XVI accompagné de De Sèze, Valazé à l'assemblée de la Convention, salle du Manège, palais des Tuileries, 26 décembre 1792.

William Miller. Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris.

Booking will close on Friday 9th January 2026 at 12 noon.

Due to limited resources we are UNABLE TO ACCEPT LATE BOOKINGS after this date.

This course will take place ONLINE on ZOOM.

Wednesday evenings 6.30 - 8.30pm for seven weeks, 14th January to 25th February 2026.

Between 1793 and 1794, the revolutionary tribunal in Paris carried out many political trials. The aim of these show trials was to make a public example of the accused, rather than provide the accused with a fair trial. Those enrolled in this course will learn about the trials of Louis XVI, Charlotte Corday, Madame Roland, Marie-Antoinette, Georges Danton and Maximilien Robespierre. They will do so by having the opportunity to read and interpret translated extracts from the trials of these individuals and, in the final week, will recreate the trial of one of these individuals. Will history repeat itself?

Tutor: Sam Dobbie

Sam Dobbie graduated with a PhD history from the University of Glasgow. Her specialism is women’s political agency in eighteenth-century revolutionary Paris. However, she also has interests in France in the long nineteenth-century more broadly. She has worked as a PhD student tutor at the University of Glasgow, teaching on courses such as History 2A: The Social and Cultural History of Europe, 1500-2000, France: Nation, Revolution and Empire, 1789-1914 and Becoming an Historian. She has also taught on the Glasgow Caledonian module The Rise of Western Societies, 1789-1914 and provided temporary teaching cover for the University of Exeter on France and Empire, 1756-1830.

Course Code 09 202

Enquiries should be sent to: lifelonglearningdundee@gmail.com

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