03430cam a22003373u 450000100060000000300070000600500170001300600020003000700050003200800410003704000110007804100170008905000070010610000520011324500620016526400510022730000470027833600260032533700260035133800360037750000310041350801950044452021530063953400610279265300240285365300330287765300440291085600760295485600430303099900190307376902UtSlPG20260610134800.0mcr n260607r20251838utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d aUtSlPG 7aen2iso639-1 4aDC1 aDavenport, R. A.q(Richard Alfred),d1777?-185214aThe history of the Bastile, and of its principal captives 1aSalt Lake City, UT :bProject Gutenberg,c2025 a1 online resource :bmultiple file formats atextbtxt2rdacontent acomputerbc2rdamedia aonline resourcebcr2rdacarrier aRelease date is 2025-09-20 aCharlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) a"The history of the Bastile, and of its principal captives" by R. A. Davenport is a historical account written in the early 19th century. It examines the notorious Paris state prison, detailing its origins, structure, administration, the machinery of lettres de cachet, the daily realities of confinement, and the stories of prominent prisoners across successive French reigns, with a clear moral stance against arbitrary power. The opening of the work sets its scope and purpose: the author admits space constraints, promises accuracy and fairness, and aims to unite information with engagement. It then outlines the book’s breadth via a detailed contents list and a plan of the fortress, before Chapter I gives a close, almost architectural tour of the Bastile—its courts, towers, dungeons, rooms, meagre furnishings, food allowances and abuses, the tiny library, and chapel niches—alongside an explanation of lettres de cachet, their uses and abuses, and the secrecy that shrouded arrests, correspondence, illness, death, and burial. Vivid particulars include corrupt provisioning, the suppression of letters, bans on tools and even compasses, night-time isolation, medical delays, refusal to permit wills, and the masking of identities after death; a first-person narrative of an eight-month inmate illustrates the routine of arrest, processing, confinement, limited exercise, controlled reading, and ultimate release with none of his letters delivered. Chapter II begins the chronological history: the term “Bastile,” early Paris bastiles, the founding efforts of Stephen Marcel and later enlargements by Hugh Aubriot (whose downfall to university and clerical hostility and brief liberation during a popular rising are recounted), then political imprisonments under Charles VI, including Noviant and La Rivière, the fall of Montaigu, and the factional struggle between Burgundians and Armagnacs centered in Paris. It closes amid the rise and peril of Provost Peter des Essarts—his seizure of the Bastile and the Burgundian-orchestrated popular siege—where the excerpt breaks off. (This is an automatically generated summary.) pOriginally published:cLondon: Thomas Tegg and Son, 1838 aBastille -- History aPrisons -- France -- History aPolitical crimes and offenses -- France4 uhttps://archive.org/details/historyofbastile00daveuoft/page/n5/mode/2up40uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76902 c117627d117627