The 12 Months of the French Republican Calendar

Month of sprouting buds
~ March 21 to April 19
The word was coined by revolutionary Phillippe Fabre-Desglantines from the German noun "germen" (sprout, bud). It was made famous by Émile Zola’s namesake novel. As Merriam-Webster teaches us, germinal is also an English noun, which means "being in the earliest stage of development" or "of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a germ cell or early embryo."

The months of flowering (from the Latin flos, flower)
~April 20 to May 19
In a poem dedicated to the new republican calendar, Citizen Cupière associated these names with the joy of nature’s rebirth:
"Germinal will have me caress my Lisette,
Floréal pin flowers to her ruff,
Prairial lead her to joyful lawns..."

Month of meadows
~ May 20 to June 18
This month is remembered for the infamous Law of 22 Prairial Year II, or Law of the Great Terror, which substantially weakened the rights of those accused to be “enemies of the people.”

Month of harvest (in Latin: messis)
~June 19 to July 18
Every day of the year was also renamed after an element of nature, to counter the Catholic calendar’s association of days with the names of saints and sacred events. The first three days of Messidor, for instance, were dedicated to rye, oat, and onion.

Month of warmth
~ July 19 to August 17
Because the revolt which caused the fall of Robespierre in 1794 occurred during this month, “Thermidhorian” has come to mean a counterrevolutionary movement or regime seeking to re-establish order and normalcy following a period of political radicalism.

Month of fruits
~ August 18 to September 16
Most people know of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, written in 1789. Less known is that a series of declarations, more or less radical in tone, followed.
The Constitution of the 5th Fructidor Year III, and the Declaration which served as its preamble, emphasized law and order. Article 1 stated: “The rights of man in society, are liberty, equality, security, and property.”

Month of vintage
~ September 22 to October 21
In Year IV of the Revolution (1795), the French legislative assembly (the Convention) passed a decree to counter the rising support enjoyed by royalists. According to this decree, two-thirds of the incoming representatives had to come from the poll of incumbents. On the 13th of Vendémiaire, an armed insurrection led by royalists was defeated by the French army. One of the leaders of the counter-insurrection was a certain Captain Napoléon Bonaparte, who royalists would long call general Vendémiaire.

Month of fog
~ October 22 to November 20
On the 18th of Brumaire, French General Napoléon Bonaparte led a coup which overthrew the government known as the “Directoire.” The event is often regarded as the end of the French Revolution.

Month of wintry weather
~ November 21 to December 20
Napoleon was crowned as Emperor of the French on the 11th day of this month, in Year XIII (December 2nd, 1804). The ceremony was led by Pope Pius, who blessed the new emperor with these words: "Que Dieu vous affermisse sur ce trône..." (’May God strengthen you upon this throne...).

Month of snow
~ December 21 to January 19
In the French Navy, Nivôse is the name of a warship built in 1992, which served notably in counter-piracy missions.

Month of rain
~ January 20 to February 18
On the 16th of Pluviôse, Year II (February 4, 1794), the National Assembly abolished slavery in all French colonies, and proclaimed the equality of all men, regardless of the color of their skin. Unfortunately, the victory of the anti-slavery camp was relatively short-lived, and slavery was restored in 1802.

Month of wind~ February 19 to March 20
This month is remembered in part for the Ventôse Decrees, which legalized the confiscation of the property of suspected counterrevolutionaries and its redistribution to needy patriots.