HiSCoD

Description (langue originale) : -

Description (anglais) : Lanturelu uprising. The issue was the imposition of the elus regime on the province of Burgundy, a measure which implied abolition of the Estates, centralization of tax collections by the crown and creation of a new set of venal office holders. It was a major drama unfolding over a series of days. The rrevolt of the Lanturelu was carnivzl procession turning into riot; pillagers dancing to the 'Lanturelu' around bonfires of elegant furniture; the portrait of Louis XIII being burned to cries of 'Long live the Emperor!'. Crowds of 'vignerons and unknown persons' gathered in several locations armed with 'pikes, halberds, swords, muskets and iron-tipped clubs', rang the tocsins of Saint Michel and Saint Philibert, and set out through the city in semi-military fashion. These were armed men, not women and children, and they proceeded with a sense of purpose, cheered on by thousands of bystanders (28 February). By noon the pillaging was spreading beyond the original targets to the houses of other visibly rich notables. The échevins and the Parlement had each sent delegations out to pacify the population but their envoys had beaten a hasty retreat and militia companies had failed to materialize, perhaps because their artisan captains were refusing to take a stand. Around noon, a better organized group of 'good inhabitants' and parlementaires left the hôtel de ville and confronted patrol in the Rue du Potet. Shots were fired, six to eight rioters were killed, and the rest fled. The revolt was clearly prepared by elites who may have encouraged its outbreak and who faltered in its repression until persecution became a political necessity. But if they were foolish enough to foment actual resistance, they certainly unleashed a dangerous force which none could manipulate.