Jacques Cathelineau nicknamed le Saint d'Anjou ("the Saint from Anjou

Anjou

Anjou is a former county , duchy and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire...

"), was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 Vendéan insurrection leader during the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

. His grandson, Henri de Cathelineau, was an officer in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War

Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...

.

Early life

Born at Le Pin-en-Mauges

Le Pin-en-Mauges

Le Pin-en-Mauges is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France....

, in the lands now forming the département of Maine-et-Loire

Maine-et-Loire

Maine-et-Loire is a department in west-central France, in the Pays de la Loire region.- History :Maine-et-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. Originally it was called Mayenne-et-Loire, but its name was changed to Maine-et-Loire in 1791....

, he became well known in Anjou, a region over which he travelled as a peddler

Peddler

A peddler, in British English pedlar, also known as a canvasser, cheapjack, monger, or solicitor , is a travelling vendor of goods. In England, the term was mostly used for travellers hawking goods in the countryside to small towns and villages; they might also be called tinkers or gypsies...

 and alleged dealer in contraband

Contraband

The word contraband, reported in English since 1529, from Medieval French contrebande "a smuggling," denotes any item which, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold....

 goods. He was a devout Catholic, and supported the Church's traditional role in French society. His physical strength, macho charisma, and great piety enabled him to command considerable respect among his fellow peasants.

In the first years of the Revolution, Cathelineau joined the numbers of Vendean peasants disgusted by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy

Civil Constitution of the Clergy

The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was a law passed on 12 July 1790 during the French Revolution, that subordinated the Roman Catholic Church in France to the French government....

, the draft

Conscription

Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...

 laws, and the execution of King Louis XVI of France

Louis XVI of France

Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....

. He collected an army of peasants and waged a private war against the government of the First French Republic.

Republican propagandists and their modern sympathizers have alleged that the revolt was provoked by the exhortations of Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 priests and Royalist

House of Bourbon

The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...

 émigré

Émigré

Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out", but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile....

s.

Rebellion

He learned of the March 10, 1793 rising against the National Convention

National Convention

During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...

 in Saint-Florent-le-Vieil

Saint-Florent-le-Vieil

Saint-Florent-le-Vieil is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.-Geography:The Èvre forms the commune's western border, then flows into the Loire, which forms the commune's northern border.-References:*...

. Collecting a growing band of peasants, he captured the château

Château

A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...

of Jallais

Jallais

Jallais is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France....

, where he seized a cannon

Cannon

A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...

 - known to the Vendéans "The Missionary" -, and then in quick succession took the towns of Chemillé

Chemillé

Chemillé is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department of western France.-Points of interest:*Camifolia, a botanical garden specializing in medicinal plants* Cybercentre du chemillois : http://www.cyberchemille.com-See also:...

, Cholet

Cholet

Cholet is a commune of western France in the Maine-et-Loire department. It was the capital of military Vendée.-Geography:Cholet stands on an eminence on the right bank of the Moine, which used to be crossed by a bridge from the fifteenth century...

, Vihiers

Vihiers

Vihiers is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.-Geography:Vihiers is around 30 km south of Angers, around 30 km northeast of Cholet, and around 80 km east of Nantes.-Transport:Main road D960 skirts the village....

 and Chalonnes

Chalonnes-sur-Loire

Chalonnes-sur-Loire is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. The closest airport to Chalonnes Sur Loire is Angers Airport also worth considering are Nantes Airport , Rennes Airport , or Tours Airport ....

.
As the war dragged on, the Vendeans were increasingly enraged by the atrocities perpetrated by the revolutionaries against both Catholic priests and their fellow Vendean peasants. Cathelineau's soldiers began committing reprisals, something from which they had once refrained.

End

Meanwhile, Cathelineau's troops increased, and he combined with the other Vendéan chiefs, such as Jean-Nicolas Stofflet

Jean-Nicolas Stofflet

Jean-Nicolas Stofflet was a French leader of the Revolt in the Vendée against the First French Republic.Born in Bathelémont-lès-Bauzemont , the son of a miller, he was for long a private in the Swiss Guard, and afterwards gamekeeper to the comte de Colbert-Maulévrier, he joined the Vendéans when...

 and Maurice-Louis-Joseph Gigot d'Elbée, taking the towns of Beaupréau

Beaupréau

Beaupréau is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France....

, Fontenay-le-Comte

Fontenay-le-Comte

Fontenay-le-Comte is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Geography:The Vendée River flows though the town. The town has an area of .-History:...

, and Saumur

Saumur

Saumur is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.The historic town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc...

. The first successes of the Vendéans were due to the Republicans having not expected an insurrection. When the resistance to the insurgents became more serious, differences arose among their leaders. To avoid these rivalries, it is thought that Cathelineau was named generalissimo

Generalissimo

Generalissimo and Generalissimus are military ranks of the highest degree, superior to Field Marshal and other five-star ranks.-Usage:...

of the rebels, although his authority over the undisciplined troops was not increased by the new office.

In June 1793 the combined Royalist forces stormed Nantes

Nantes

Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....

. Cathelineau had entered the town in spite of the resistance of General Jean-Baptiste Canclaux - when he was killed by a sniper. The Vendéan army was defeated and soon divided into factions. Numerous relatives of Cathelineau also perished in the war of Vendée and the reprisals that followed. The remainder of his family was ennobled

French nobility

The French nobility was the privileged order of France in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern periods.In the political system of the Estates General, the nobility made up the Second Estate...

 under the Bourbon Restoration

Bourbon Restoration

The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon  – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...

.