FRENCH REPUBLICAN CALENDAR

dating system that was adopted in 1793 during the French Revolution and which was intended to replace the Gregorian calendar with a more scientific and rational system that would avoid Christian associations. The Revolutionary Convention established the calendar on Oct. 5, 1793, setting its beginning (1 Vendmiaire, year I) on the Gregorian date of Sept. 22, 1792. The 12 months of the French republican calendar each contained three decades (instead of weeks) of 10 days each; at the end of the year were grouped five (six in leap years) supplementary days. The months in order were Vendmiaire, Brumaire, Frimaire, Nivse, Pluvise, Ventse, Germinal, Floral, Prairial, Messidor, Thermidor, and Fructidor. Each of the 360 days in the year was named for a seed, tree, flower, fruit, animal, or tool, replacing the saints'-day names and Christian festivals. The Gregorian calendar was reestablished in France by the Napoleonic regime on Jan. 1, 1806.