The French Republican calendar (1793–1805) was a highly structured, if short-lived, calendar intended to make its users more aware of the natural world around them, and the agricultural processes and products of each season.

The year was divided into 12 months of 30 days, with an extra block of 5 or 6 days to keep it aligned with the solar year. The days numbered 10, 20 and 30 in each month were associated with an agricultural tool, and the days 5, 15, and 25 were associated with an animal. The remainder of the days were associated with the plants in season at that time.


Winter/1: Nivôse

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Nivôse
décade 1
1 21 Dec Tourbe (Peat)
2 22 Dec Houille (Coal)
3 23 Dec Bitume (Bitumen)
4 24 Dec Soufre (Sulphur)
5 25 Dec Chien (Dog)
6 26 Dec Lave (Lava)
7 27 Dec Terre végétale (Topsoil)
8 28 Dec Fumier (Manure)
9 29 Dec Salpêtre (Saltpeter)
10 30 Dec Fléau (Flail)
décade 2
11 31 Dec Granit (Granite)
12 1 Jan Argile (Clay)
13 2 Jan Ardoise (Slate)
14 3 Jan Grès (Sandstone)
15 4 Jan Lapin (Rabbit)
16 5 Jan Silex (Flint)
17 6 Jan Marne (Marl)
18 7 Jan Pierre à chaux (Limestone)
19 8 Jan Marbre (Marble)
20 9 Jan Van (Winnowing fan)
décade 3
21 10 Jan Pierre à plâtre (Gypsum)
22 11 Jan Sel (Salt)
23 12 Jan Fer (Iron)
24 13 Jan Cuivre (Copper)
25 14 Jan Chat (Cat)
26 15 Jan Étain (Tin)
27 16 Jan Plomb (Lead)
28 17 Jan Zinc (Zinc)
29 18 Jan Mercure (Mercury)
30 19 Jan Crible (Sieve)

Notes

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Nivôse
30 19 Jan Crible (Sieve)
 
Metsys portrait of Elizabeth I holding a sieve

Sieve. [from frWP] In iconography, the sieve was used as a symbol of chastity, in reference to the Latin legend recounting how the vestal virgin Tuccia carried water from the Tiber in a sieve without losing a drop, thus proving her virginity. At least two portraits of Queen Elizabeth I of England show her holding a sieve in her hand, like the vestals Aemilia and Tuccia. The portrait by George Gower, known as Plimpton's, dates from 1579[1], another portrait by Quentin Metsys the Younger dating from 1583 is in the Pinacoteca in Siena[2].

Sifting through a sieve became a metaphor for a strict test that "separates the wheat from the chaff". Socrates' apologue of the three sieves[2] recounts how the philosopher asked someone who wished to speak to him whether he had passed his speech through the three sieves of truth, of goodness and of necessity. Only words that pass the test of the three sieves should be spoken[3].

Winter/2: Pluviôse

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Pluviôse
décade 1
1 20 Jan Lauréole (Spurge-laurel)
2 21 Jan Mousse (Moss)
3 22 Jan Fragon (Butcher's Broom)
4 23 Jan Perce-neige (Snowdrop)
5 24 Jan Taureau (Bull)
6 25 Jan Laurier-thym (Laurustinus)
7 26 Jan Amadouvier (Tinder polypore)
8 27 Jan Mézéréon (Daphne mezereum)
9 28 Jan Peuplier (Poplar)
10 29 Jan Coignée (Axe)
décade 2
11 30 Jan Ellébore (Hellebore)
12 31 Jan Brocoli (Broccoli)
13 1 Feb Laurier (Bay laurel)
14 2 Feb Avelinier (Filbert)
15 3 Feb Vache (Cow)
16 4 Feb Buis (Box Tree)
17 5 Feb Lichen (Lichen)
18 6 Feb If (Yew tree)
19 7 Feb Pulmonaire (Lungwort)
20 8 Feb Serpette (Billhook)
décade 3
21 9 Feb Thlaspi (Pennycress)
22 10 Feb Thimelé (Rose Daphne)
23 11 Feb Chiendent (Couch grass)
24 12 Feb Trainasse (Common Knotgrass)
25 13 Feb Lièvre (Hare)
26 14 Feb Guède (Woad)
27 15 Feb Noisetier (Hazel)
28 16 Feb Cyclamen (Cyclamen)
29 17 Feb Chélidoine (Celandine)
30 18 Feb Traîneau (Sleigh)

Notes

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Pluviôse
2 21 Jan Mousse (Moss)

Some Sphagnum mosses can absorb up to 20 times their own weight in water.[4] In World War I, Sphagnum mosses were used as first-aid dressings on soldiers' wounds, as these mosses said to absorb liquids three times faster than cotton, retain liquids better, better distribute liquids uniformly throughout themselves, and are cooler, softer, and be less irritating.[4] It is also claimed to have antibacterial properties.[5] Native Americans were one of the peoples to use Sphagnum for diapers and menstrual pads, which is still done in Canada.[6]

Pluviôse
4 23 Jan Perce-neige (Snowdrop)
 
G. nivalis piercing snow cover

The common snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis. Galanthus is derived from the Greek γάλα (gala), meaning "milk" and ἄνθος (anthos) meaning "flower", alluding to the colour of the flowers. The epithet nivalis is derived from the Latin, meaning "of the snow".[7][8] The word "Snowdrop" may be derived from the German Schneetropfen (snow-drop), the tear drop shaped pearl earrings popular in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

[The French term, perce-neige, literally means 'that which pierces the snow'.]

Pluviôse
7 26 Jan Amadouvier (Tinder fungus)
 
Tinder fungus on a dead birch

Tinder fungus, Fomes fomentarius, is a species of fungal plant pathogen, shaped like a horse's hoof. The species' mycelium penetrates the wood of trees through damaged bark or broken branches, causing rot in the host.[9] The species typically continues to live on trees long after they have died, changing from a parasite to a decomposer. The species is both a pest and useful in timber production.

As Fomes fomentarius infects trees through damaged bark, it will often infect trees already weakened from beech bark disease. However, it is too weakly parasitic to infect healthy trees, and thus has the important and useful role of decomposing unusable timber.[10]

F. fomentarius has traditionally seen use as the main ingredient of amadou, a material used primarily as tinder. The 5,000-year-old Ötzi the Iceman carried four pieces of F. fomentarius, concluded to be for use as tinder.

 
Door of the Chapel in the yew tree at La Haye-de-Routot
Pluviôse
18 6 Feb If (Yew tree)

In France, the oldest yew trees are almost all located in church yards of Normandy and a chapel was very often laid out in the hollow trunk. Some examples can be found in La Haye-de-Routot or La Lande-Patry. It is said that up to 40 people could stand inside one of the La-Haye-de-Routot yew trees and the Le Ménil-Ciboult yew is probably the largest one (13 m diameter[11]). Some of these trees ... may be over 2,000 years old.

Yew is the wood of choice for English longbow making[12]; the bows are constructed so that the heartwood of yew is on the inside of the bow while the sapwood is on the outside. This takes advantage of the natural properties of yew wood since the heartwood resists compression while the sapwood resists stretching. The trade of yew wood to England for longbows was so robust that it depleted the stocks of good-quality, mature yew over a vast area [of Europe].[13]

Pluviôse
26 14 Feb Guède (Woad)
 
The Hunt of the Unicorn, dyed with weld (yellow), madder (red), and woad (blue)

Woad was one of the three staples of the European dyeing industry, along with weld (yellow) and madder (red).[14] The three colors can be seen together in tapestries such as The Hunt of the Unicorn (1495–1505), though typically it is the dark blue of the woad that has lasted best.

In medieval times, the triangle created by Toulouse, Albi, and Carcassonne, was for a long time the most productive of woad, or "pastel" as it was known there, one writer commenting that "woad... hath made that country the happiest and richest in Europe."[14] The prosperous woad merchants of Toulouse displayed their affluence in splendid mansions, many of which are still standing.

With the development of a chemical process to synthesize indigo, both the woad and natural indigo industries collapsed in the first years of the 20th century. The last commercial harvest of woad occurred in 1932, in Lincolnshire, Britain. Small amounts of woad are now grown in the UK and France to supply craft dyers.[15]

Winter/3: Ventôse

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Ventôse
décade 1
1 19 Feb Tussilage (Coltsfoot)
2 20 Feb Cornouiller (Dogwood)
3 21 Feb Violier (Matthiola)
4 22 Feb Troène (Privet)
5 23 Feb Bouc (Billygoat)
6 24 Feb Asaret (Wild Ginger)
7 25 Feb Alaterne (Italian Buckthorn)
8 26 Feb Violette (Violet)
9 27 Feb Marceau (Goat Willow)
10 28 Feb Bêche (Spade)
décade 2
11 1 Mar Narcisse (Narcissus)
12 2 Mar Orme (Elm)
13 3 Mar Fumeterre (Common fumitory)
14 4 Mar Vélar (Hedge mustard)
15 5 Mar Chèvre (Goat)
16 6 Mar Épinard (Spinach)
17 7 Mar Doronic (Doronicum)
18 8 Mar Mouron (Pimpernel)
19 9 Mar Cerfeuil (Chervil)
20 10 Mar Cordeau (Twine)
décade 3
21 11 Mar Mandragore (Mandrake)
22 12 Mar Persil (Parsley)
23 13 Mar Cochléaria (Scurvy-grass)
24 14 Mar Pâquerette (Daisy)
25 15 Mar Thon (Tuna)
26 16 Mar Pissenlit (Dandelion)
27 17 Mar Sylvie (Wood Anemone)
28 18 Mar Capillaire (Maidenhair fern)
29 19 Mar Frêne (Ash tree)
30 20 Mar Plantoir (Dibber)

Notes

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Ventôse
14 4 Mar Vélar (Hedge mustard)

In folk medicine, [Hedge mustard] was used to soothe sore throats - indeed one French name for it is the herbe aux chantres (the singers' plant) ... "it having been considered up to the time of Louis XIV an infallible remedy for loss of voice."[16].
Craignant l'extinction de voix, les acteurs, orateurs et chanteurs la gardaient sous la main, d'où son ancien nom d'Erysimum (du grec eryô, « sauver », et oïmê, « récit, poème »)[17].
[enWP & en.wiktionary do not recognise this etymology]

Ventôse
15 5 Mar Chèvre (Goat)

The Angora breed of goats produces long, curling, lustrous locks of mohair. The entire body of the goat is covered with mohair and there are no guard hairs. The locks constantly grow to four inches or more in length. The wool is shorn twice a year, with an average yield of about 4.5 kg (10 lb).

Most goats have softer insulating hairs nearer the skin, and longer guard hairs on the surface. The desirable fiber for the textile industry is the former, and it goes by several names (down, cashmere and pashmina). The cashmere goat produces a commercial quantity of cashmere wool, which is one of the most expensive natural fibers commercially produced; cashmere is very fine and soft. The cashmere goat fiber is harvested once a year, yielding around 260 g (9 oz) of down.

In South Asia, cashmere is called "pashmina" (from Persian pashmina, "fine wool"). In the 18th and early 19th centuries, Kashmir (then called Cashmere by the British), had a thriving industry producing shawls from goat-hair imported from Tibet and Tartary through Ladakh. The shawls were introduced into Western Europe when the General in Chief of the French campaign in Egypt (1799–1802) [ie Bonaparte] sent one to Paris. Since these shawls were produced in the upper Kashmir and Ladakh region, the wool came to be known as "cashmere".

Goats have been used by humans to clear unwanted vegetation for centuries. There has been a resurgence of this in North America since 1990, when herds were used to clear dry brush from California hillsides thought to be endangered by potential wildfires. This form of using goats to clear land is sometimes known as conservation grazing. Since then, numerous public and private agencies have hired private herds from companies such as Rent A Goat to perform similar tasks.[18][19]

Ventôse
16 6 Mar Épinard (Spinach)
 
A page from a copy of The Forme of Cury

Spinach first appeared in England and France in the 14th century, probably via Spain, and it gained quick popularity because it appeared in early spring, when other vegetables were scarce and when Lenten dietary restrictions discouraged consumption of other foods. Spinach is mentioned in the first known English cookbook, The Forme of Cury (1390), where it is referred to as spinnedge and/or spynoches.[20]

In 1533, Catherine de' Medici became queen of France; she so loved spinach, she insisted it be served at every meal. To this day, dishes made with spinach are known as "Florentine", reflecting Catherine's birth in Florence.[21]

Ventôse
19 9 Mar Cerfeuil (Chervil)

Chervil (/ˈɜːrˌvɪl/; Anthriscus cerefolium), sometimes called French parsley or garden chervil (to distinguish it from similar plants also called chervil), is a delicate annual herb related to parsley. The name chervil is from Anglo-Norman, from Latin chaerephylla or choerephyllum, meaning "leaves of joy";[22] the Latin is formed, as from an Ancient Greek word χαιρέφυλλον (chairephyllon).[23][24]

Chervil is one of the four traditional French fines herbes, along with tarragon [not in the calendar], chives [27 Floréal], and parsley [22 Ventôse], which are essential to French cooking.[25] Unlike the more pungent, robust herbs such as thyme and rosemary, which can take prolonged cooking, the fines herbes are added at the last minute, to salads, omelettes, and soups.[26]

Ventôse
24 14 Mar Pâquerette (Daisy)

The name "daisy" is considered a corruption of "day's eye",[27] because the whole head closes at night and opens in the morning. Chaucer called it "eye of the day".

Daisy is used as a girl's name and as a nickname for girls named Margaret, after the French name for the oxeye daisy, marguerite.

Ventôse
26 16 Mar Pissenlit (Dandelion)

Dandelions secrete latex when the tissues are cut or broken, yet in the wild type the latex content is low and varies greatly. Using modern cultivation methods and optimization techniques, scientists in the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME) in Germany developed a cultivar that is suitable for commercial production of natural rubber. The latex produced exhibits the same quality as the natural rubber from rubber trees.[28] In collaboration with Continental Tires, IME is building a pilot facility. As of May 2014, the first prototype test tires made with blends from dandelion-rubber are scheduled to be tested on public roads over the next few years.[29]

Spring/1: Germinal

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Germinal
décade 1
1 21 Mar Primevère (Primrose)
2 22 Mar Platane (Plane Tree)
3 23 Mar Asperge (Asparagus)
4 24 Mar Tulipe (Tulip)
5 25 Mar Poule (Hen)
6 26 Mar Bette (Chard)
7 27 Mar Bouleau (Birch)
8 28 Mar Jonquille (Daffodil)
9 29 Mar Aulne (Alder)
10 30 Mar Couvoir (Incubator)
décade 2
11 31 Mar Pervenche (Periwinkle)
12 1 Apr Charme (Hornbeam)
13 2 Apr Morille (Morel)
14 3 Apr Hêtre (Beech Tree)
15 4 Apr Abeille (Bee)
16 5 Apr Laitue (Lettuce)
17 6 Apr Mélèze (Larch)
18 7 Apr Ciguë (Hemlock)
19 8 Apr Radis (Radish)
20 9 Apr Ruche (Beehive)
décade 3
21 10 Apr Gainier (Judas tree)
22 11 Apr Romaine (Romaine lettuce)
23 12 Apr Marronnier (Horse chestnut)
24 13 Apr Roquette (Rocket)
25 14 Apr Pigeon (Pigeon)
26 15 Apr Lilas (Lilac)
27 16 Apr Anémone (Anemone)
28 17 Apr Pensée (Pansy)
29 18 Apr Myrtille (Bilberry)
30 19 Apr Greffoir (Grafting knife)

Notes

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Germinal
9 29 Mar Aulne (Alder)

Most of the pilings that form the foundation of Venice were made from alder trees.[30]

Germinal
23 12 Apr Marronnier (Horse chestnut)
 
A selection of fresh conkers from a horse chestnut tree

During the First World War, there was a campaign to ask for everyone (including children) to collect horse-chestnuts and donate them to the government. The conkers were used as a source of starch for fermentation using the Clostridium acetobutylicum method devised by Chaim Weizmann to produce acetone for use as a solvent for the production of cordite, which was then used in military armaments. Weizmann's process could use any source of starch, but the government chose to ask for conkers to avoid causing starvation by depleting food sources. But conkers were found to be a poor source, and the factory only produced acetone for three months; however, they were collected again in the Second World War for the same reason.[31]

In Germany, horse-chestnuts are often found in beer gardens, particularly in Bavaria. Prior to the advent of mechanical refrigeration, brewers would dig cellars for lagering. To further protect the cellars from the summer heat, they would plant chestnut trees, which have spreading, dense canopies but shallow roots which would not intrude on the caverns. The practice of serving beer at these sites evolved into the modern beer garden.[32]

Germinal
27 16 Apr Anémone (Anemone)

(The wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa)) spreads very slowly in UK forests, by as little as six feet per century, so it is often used as an indicator for ancient woodland[33]

Summer/2: Thermidor

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Notes

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Thermidor
25 12 Aug Loutre (Otter)
 
Sign warning drivers in Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides to beware otters on the road

The word otter derives from the Old English word otor or oter. This, and cognate words in other Indo-European languages, ultimately stem from the Proto-Indo-European language root *wódr̥, which also gave rise to the English word "water".[34][35]

Several otter species live in cold waters and have high metabolic rates to help keep them warm. European otters must eat 15% of their body weight each day, and sea otters 20 to 25%, depending on the temperature. In water as warm as 10 °C (50 °F), an otter needs to catch 100 g (3.5 oz) of fish per hour to survive. Most species hunt for three to five hours each day and nursing mothers up to eight hours each day.

Thermidor
26 13 Aug Myrte (Myrtle)
27 14 Aug Colza (Rapeseed)
28 15 Aug Lupin (Lupin)
29 16 Aug Coton (Cotton)
30 17 Aug Moulin (Mill)


References

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References
  1. ^ Elizabeth I Sieve Portrait, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington DC, USA
  2. ^ "Les trois tamis" (pdf). Académie de Grenoble. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  3. ^ Marc de Smedt et Michel Piquemal, Paroles de sagesse éternelle, Albin Michel, 1999
  4. ^ a b The Plant Underworld, Sphagnum and Water, Australian Botanic Garden Archived 2014-02-17 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Stalheim, T.; Ballance, S.; Christensen, B. E.; Granum, P. E. (2009-03-01). "Sphagnan – a pectin-like polymer isolated from Sphagnum moss can inhibit the growth of some typical food spoilage and food poisoning bacteria by lowering the pH". Journal of Applied Microbiology. 106 (3): 967–976. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2672.2008.04057.x. ISSN 1365-2672. PMID 19187129. S2CID 1545021.
  6. ^ Hotson, J. W. (1921). "Sphagnum Used as Surgical Dressing in Germany during the World War (Concluded)". The Bryologist. 24 (6): 89–96. doi:10.1639/0007-2745(1921)24[89:suasdi]2.0.co;2. JSTOR 3237483.
  7. ^ Hyam & Pankhurst 1995.
  8. ^ Hollinger.
  9. ^ Schwarze, Francis W. M. R.; Engels, Julia; Mattheck, Claus (2000). Fungal Strategies of Wood Decay in Trees. Springer. ISBN 978-3-540-67205-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link), p. 61
  10. ^ Butin, Heinz; Lonsdale, D. (1995). Tree Diseases and Disorders. Oxford University Press. pp. 167–8. ISBN 978-0-19-854932-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ List of world largest trees
  12. ^ http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/softwoods/european-yew/ The Wood Database: European Yew
  13. ^ Yew: A History. Hageneder F. Sutton Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-0-7509-4597-4.
  14. ^ a b Balfour-Paul, Jenny (2006). Indigo. London: Archetype Publications. ISBN 978-1-904982-15-9. Cite error: The named reference "indigo" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  15. ^ Chris Cooksey. "Indigo - woad". Chriscooksey.demon.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-10-09.
  16. ^ M Greve & C F Leyel, A Modern Herbal, UK: Merchant Books, 1973, p.570
  17. ^ Magic and Medicine of Plants. Reader's Digest Association. 1986. p. 29..
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference seattlepi2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ McGuire, Virginia C. (September 17, 2013). "How to Get a Goat to Weed Your Garden". Modernfarmer.com.
  20. ^ Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman, "Spinach". The Food Encyclopedia: Over 8,000 Ingredients, Tools, Techniques and People . Toronto: Robert Rose. 2006. (WWW: Canadian Living. Accessed 03/07/2010). [1]
  21. ^ Spinach, The George Mateljan Foundation
  22. ^ "Chervil, One of the Best & Least Appreciated Herbs". The Art of Eating. 1 October 2014.
  23. ^ Donnegan, James (3 August 2018). "O new greek and english lexicon". Cowie.
  24. ^ "ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ".
  25. ^ Julia Child, Mastering the Art of French Cooking vol. I p 18.
  26. ^ Peter, K. V. (Ed.). (2012). Handbook of herbs and spices (2nd ed., Vol. 2). Woodhead Publishing.
  27. ^ http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/daisy.aspx
  28. ^ "Making Rubber from Dandelion Juice". sciencedaily.com. sciencedaily.com. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  29. ^ "Fraunhofer and Continental come together when the dandelion rubber meets the road". Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  30. ^ Kendall, Paul (25 August 2010). "Mythology and Folklore of the Alder". Trees for life. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  31. ^ "Conkers - collected for use in two world wars". Making history. BBC. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  32. ^ Schäffer, Albert (2012-05-21). "120 Minuten sind nicht genug" [120 minutes aren't enough]. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2016-10-11.
  33. ^ Plantlife - Wood Anemone
  34. ^ "Otter". Merriam Webster's online dictionary. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
  35. ^ Harper, Douglas. "otter". Online Etymology Dictionary.