Cordeliers

Cordeliers (kôrdəlyā`), political club of the French Revolution. Founded (1790) as the Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, it was called after its original meeting place, the suppressed monastery of the Cordeliers (Franciscan Recollects). It provided a political base for Georges Danton and Jean Paul Marat. In 1792–93, after Danton left the club, it was instrumental in the destruction of the Girondists. After Marat's assassination the club was led by Jacques René Hébert and it drifted to the extreme left. Controlling the Paris commune, the Hébertists seemed a threat to the power of Maximilien Robespierre, who had them executed during the Reign of Terror. The club dissolved after Hébert was executed (Mar., 1794).

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Cordeliers 

members of a political club of the period of the Great French Revolution, officially called the Society of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. They became known as Cordeliers because they held their meetings in a former monastery of the Cordeliers (Franciscans) in Paris. The club was founded in July 1790 and was dominated by democrats of a leftist tendency. Its members included J. P. Marat, G. Danton, C. Desmoulins, J. R. Hebert, A. Momoro, and A. Cloots. During the political crisis of the summer of 1791 caused by Louis XVTs flight to Varennes, the Cordeliers headed the republican movement. After the popular uprising of Aug. 10, 1792, they took part in the struggle against the Girondins. The club was the center for the Hébertists (left Jacobins) from late 1793 through 1794. With the crushing of the Hébertists in March 1794 the club’s activity ceased.