Bastille is a Grammy award-nominated rock group from South London, … Although appointed by the king, the governor reported to the lieutenant general of police: the first of these, Throughout this period, but particularly in the middle of the 18th century, the Bastille was used by the police to suppress the trade in illegal and seditious books in France.Contrary to its later image, conditions for prisoners in the Bastille by the mid-18th century were in fact relatively benign, particularly by the standards of other prisons of the time.The governor received money from the Crown to support the prisoners, with the amount varying on rank: the governor received 19 livres a day for each political prisoner – with Although potentially dangerous objects and money were confiscated and stored when a prisoner first entered the Bastille, most wealthy prisoners continued to bring in additional luxuries, including pet dogs or cats to control the local vermin.The length of time that a typical prisoner was kept at the Bastille continued to decline, and by Louis XVI's reign the average length of detention was only two months.During the 18th century, the Bastille was extensively critiqued by French writers as a symbol of ministerial In the 1780s, prison reform became a popular topic for French writers and the Bastille was increasingly critiqued as a symbol of arbitrary despotism.Linguet's work was followed by another prominent autobiography, Modern historians of this period, such as Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink, Simon Schama and Monique Cottret, concur that the actual treatment of prisoners in Bastille was much better than the public impression left through these writings.Meanwhile, in 1784, the architect Alexandre Brogniard proposed that the Bastille be demolished and converted into a circular, public space with At de Launay's request, an additional force of 32 soldiers from the Swiss Salis-Samade regiment had been assigned to the Bastille on 7 July, adding to the existing 82 invalides pensioners who formed the regular garrison.On the morning of 14 July around 900 people formed outside the Bastille, primarily working-class members of the nearby faubourg Saint-Antoine, but also including some mutinous soldiers and local traders.Just as negotiations were about to recommence at around 1:30 pm, chaos broke out as the impatient and angry crowd stormed the outer courtyard of the Bastille, pushing toward the main gate.De Launay had limited options: if he allowed the Revolutionaries to destroy his main gate, he would have to turn the cannon directly inside the Bastille's courtyard on the crowds, causing great loss of life and preventing any peaceful resolution of the episode.Within hours of its capture the Bastille began to be used as a powerful symbol to give legitimacy to the revolutionary movement in France.As a result, in the days after 14 July, the fortress was searched for evidence of torture: old pieces of armour and bits of a printing press were taken out and presented as evidence of elaborate torture equipment.Despite a thorough search, the revolutionaries discovered only seven prisoners in the Bastille, rather fewer than had been anticipated.At first the revolutionary movement was uncertain whether to destroy the prison, to reoccupy it as a fortress with members of the volunteer guard militia, or to preserve it intact as a permanent revolutionary monument.The ruins of the Bastille rapidly became iconic across France.The Bastille remained a powerful and evocative symbol for French republicans throughout the 19th century.The storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, had been celebrated annually since 1790, initially through quasi-religious rituals, and then later during the Revolution with grand, secular events including the burning of replica Bastilles.Meanwhile, the legacy of the Bastille proved popular among French novelists.
Angered by Launay’s evasiveness, the people stormed and captured the place; this dramatic action came to symbolize the end of the