Over two centuries ago, French revolutionaries sought to reshape society by rejecting Christian traditions. Their de-Christianization campaign led to a calendar that mandated workers rest only once every ten days—a direct challenge to God’s commandment for humans to rest on the seventh day after completing all work.
During the Reign of Terror—which saw an estimated 17,000 executions—the revolutionaries introduced a system dividing each year into 12 months of 30 days. This calendar added five extra days that did not fit into any month. Each month was split into three ten-day periods: Primidi, Duodi, Tridi, Quartidi, Quintidi, Sextidi, Septidi, Octidi, Nonidi, and Décadi. The tenth day of each period became the “day of Repose.”
Gilbert Romme, a Montagnard politician who oversaw the calendar’s development, noted in 1793 that while the new week included more days than traditional ones, it offered only one mandated rest day—a significant reduction for workers. The revolutionaries deliberately disrupted church attendance and eliminated religious holidays like Christmas. Sociologist Eviatar Zerubavel explained that common folk were stripped of all holy days from their Christian calendar, replaced instead with five days dedicated to revolutionary values such as industry and progress.
The French populace resented this change. Though the Republican calendar briefly reappeared in 1871, it was abolished by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1806 after being deemed a failure.
