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To Quell the Terror: The True Story of the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne
By William Bush (Professor Emeritus of French Literature at the University of Western Ontario). Recounts the dramatic true story of the Discalced Carmelite nuns of Compiegne, martyred during the French Revolution's 'Great Terror' and known to the world through their fictional representation in Gertrud von Le Fort's Song at the Scaffold and Francis Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites. Includes index and 15 photos.
At the height of the French Revolution's 'Great Terror' a community of sixteen Carmelite nuns from Compiegne offered their lives to restore peace to the church and to France. Ten days after their deaths by the guillotine, Robespierre fell, and with his exectuion on the same scaffold the Reign of Terror effectively ended. Had God thus accepted and used the Carmelites' generous self-gift? Through Gertrud von Le Fort's modern novella, Song at the Scaffold, and Francis Poulenc's famed opera, Dialogues of the Carmelites, (with its libretto by Georges Bernanos), modern audiences around the world have become captivated by the mysterious destiny of these Compiegne martyrs, Blessed Teresa of St. Augustine and her companions. Now, for the first time in English, William Bush explores at length the facts behind the fictional representations, and reflects on their spiritual significance. Based on years of research, this book recounts in lively detail virtually all that is known of the life and background of each of the martyrs, as well as the troubled times in which they lived. The Compiegne Carmelites, sustained by their remarkable prioress, emerge as distinct individuals, struggling as Christians to understand and respond to an awesome calling, relying not on their own strength but on the mercy of God and the guiding hand of Providence.
At the height of the French Revolution's 'Great Terror' a community of sixteen Carmelite nuns from Compiegne offered their lives to restore peace to the church and to France. Ten days after their deaths by the guillotine, Robespierre fell, and with his exectuion on the same scaffold the Reign of Terror effectively ended. Had God thus accepted and used the Carmelites' generous self-gift? Through Gertrud von Le Fort's modern novella, Song at the Scaffold, and Francis Poulenc's famed opera, Dialogues of the Carmelites, (with its libretto by Georges Bernanos), modern audiences around the world have become captivated by the mysterious destiny of these Compiegne martyrs, Blessed Teresa of St. Augustine and her companions. Now, for the first time in English, William Bush explores at length the facts behind the fictional representations, and reflects on their spiritual significance. Based on years of research, this book recounts in lively detail virtually all that is known of the life and background of each of the martyrs, as well as the troubled times in which they lived. The Compiegne Carmelites, sustained by their remarkable prioress, emerge as distinct individuals, struggling as Christians to understand and respond to an awesome calling, relying not on their own strength but on the mercy of God and the guiding hand of Providence.
243 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1999
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August 7, 2025
‘She kneels before the prioress, is blessed, and gives her last kiss to the little image cupped in Madame Lidoine’s palm.
“Permission to die, Mother?”
“Go, my daughter!”’
This scene and its accompanying dialogue are repeated fifteen times as each of the Carmelites of Compiègne kneels before her prioress, Madame Lidoine, Mother Teresa of St. Augustine, then stands and walks to Madame la Guillotine without hesitation, concern or trepidation. Witnesses that day remembered their heroic calm, beautiful singing, white Carmelite habits and how much they differed from all other ‘victims’ who had gone before or came after them.
When all of her daughters had gone to their deaths, Madame Lidoine ‘bows her head. Raising her palm to her mouth, she kisses the statuette. Thoughtfully she makes the sign of the cross. Then, for the first time since taking up her station at the foot of the scaffold, she suddenly seems to hesitate. A devout woman, standing nearby, has understood. Slipping up to the solitary Mother Teresa of St. Augustine, she surreptitiously extends her hand and receives the little worn clay image, unobtrusively assuring her that this mystic hour of consummation will be remembered by future believers who, years hence, will kiss this tiny relic, blessing God for what it represents of his mercy to humankind.’
A picture of this little clay image is included in the book. It would be tossed aside as a crude carving by someone with small skill if its history was not known. That is the way of most relics and accounts for so much counterfeiting and loss, not to mention disbelief.
To Quell the Terror: The True Story of the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne does what the title says it does; it tells the true story of the Carmelites of Compiègne, martyred in Paris, France on July 17, 1794, at the peak of the “Great Terror”. As opposed to other better known and well-loved, but fictionalized accounts of this event, such as Gertrud von Le Fort’s The Song at the Scaffold and Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites: Vocal Score, William Bush’s book is a factual account of the sister’s story. It is set against the backdrop of the demise of the once great French Catholic Church and her Christian Monarchy, both of which were the target of the 18th century revolutionaries.
Bush gives us what is known about each of the sixteen Carmelites, plus the others who died just before and the three who were away from the convent when the other sisters were taken away. One of these, Madame Philippe ended up being a significant chronicler for the community so her ‘escape’ proved to be her ‘gift’, however much she lamented not dying with her fellow sisters. As a Carmelite without a community and an ex-royal, she also suffered much in other ways, a sort of ‘white martyrdom’ as France remained a country in search of new identities and beliefs for some time.
The author also relates some of the attempts by the revolutionaries to introduce their secular rites in place of the religious liturgical celebrations used for hundreds of years. In his most devastating comparison, Bush compares the gallons of human blood poured out daily to the Precious Blood of Christ represented by a cup of wine in the sacred chalice, the offering of countless human bodies piling up in a pit to the pure white hosts offered on an altar and the stench of that blood and flesh which no effort could get out of the clothes, buildings or in the air to the sweet smell of incense lingering in a church. France, what have you traded away?
Finally, and most importantly, we learn the story behind the story of the Carmelite’s motivation for their sacrifice. Personally, I was reminded of Jesus’ own words: ‘“No one takes (my life) from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”’ The sisters saw themselves as the Brides of Christ and good daughters of St. Teresa of Jesus. This view combined with the history of this community led Madame Lidoine: ‘to envisage a community act of consecration for holocaust. Through it they would offer themselves daily, body and soul, to appease the wrath of God. Might they not thereby help restore his son’s peace to the realm? Both France and her church were being sorely tried by massacres, slaughter, mass drownings, and deportations of priests, expulsions and persecution of religious orders, to say nothing of the split between constitutional and non-constitutional clergy. Did not an immediate and urgent need exist for Christian action to counter this attempt by the powers of darkness to wipe out the church of Jesus Christ in France?’ The sisters had given their lives to Jesus and now were giving their deaths to Him as well. They began a daily Act of Consecration which they continued right up until the end. It is this, I believe which gave them the strength to do what they did. To any who have made acts of consecration, they are powerful!
Although Mr. Bush’s book is not a complete history of the French Revolution, as it offers such a unique and vital perspective of matters spiritual, it should be on anyone’s essential reading list who is trying to understand that time period.
MOST HIGHLY recommended. TEN stars if I could give them.
Note: I only skim read this back in 2011 when I had the immense joy of seeing the opera Dialogues of the Carmelites performed at a local college. This time I read it slowly as it deserves. While Dialogues and Song at the Scaffold are not factually true, they are still beautiful, not disrespectful to the memory of the Carmelites and the music of Dialogues is sublime and spiritually enriching!
“Permission to die, Mother?”
“Go, my daughter!”’
This scene and its accompanying dialogue are repeated fifteen times as each of the Carmelites of Compiègne kneels before her prioress, Madame Lidoine, Mother Teresa of St. Augustine, then stands and walks to Madame la Guillotine without hesitation, concern or trepidation. Witnesses that day remembered their heroic calm, beautiful singing, white Carmelite habits and how much they differed from all other ‘victims’ who had gone before or came after them.
When all of her daughters had gone to their deaths, Madame Lidoine ‘bows her head. Raising her palm to her mouth, she kisses the statuette. Thoughtfully she makes the sign of the cross. Then, for the first time since taking up her station at the foot of the scaffold, she suddenly seems to hesitate. A devout woman, standing nearby, has understood. Slipping up to the solitary Mother Teresa of St. Augustine, she surreptitiously extends her hand and receives the little worn clay image, unobtrusively assuring her that this mystic hour of consummation will be remembered by future believers who, years hence, will kiss this tiny relic, blessing God for what it represents of his mercy to humankind.’
A picture of this little clay image is included in the book. It would be tossed aside as a crude carving by someone with small skill if its history was not known. That is the way of most relics and accounts for so much counterfeiting and loss, not to mention disbelief.
To Quell the Terror: The True Story of the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne does what the title says it does; it tells the true story of the Carmelites of Compiègne, martyred in Paris, France on July 17, 1794, at the peak of the “Great Terror”. As opposed to other better known and well-loved, but fictionalized accounts of this event, such as Gertrud von Le Fort’s The Song at the Scaffold and Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites: Vocal Score, William Bush’s book is a factual account of the sister’s story. It is set against the backdrop of the demise of the once great French Catholic Church and her Christian Monarchy, both of which were the target of the 18th century revolutionaries.
Bush gives us what is known about each of the sixteen Carmelites, plus the others who died just before and the three who were away from the convent when the other sisters were taken away. One of these, Madame Philippe ended up being a significant chronicler for the community so her ‘escape’ proved to be her ‘gift’, however much she lamented not dying with her fellow sisters. As a Carmelite without a community and an ex-royal, she also suffered much in other ways, a sort of ‘white martyrdom’ as France remained a country in search of new identities and beliefs for some time.
The author also relates some of the attempts by the revolutionaries to introduce their secular rites in place of the religious liturgical celebrations used for hundreds of years. In his most devastating comparison, Bush compares the gallons of human blood poured out daily to the Precious Blood of Christ represented by a cup of wine in the sacred chalice, the offering of countless human bodies piling up in a pit to the pure white hosts offered on an altar and the stench of that blood and flesh which no effort could get out of the clothes, buildings or in the air to the sweet smell of incense lingering in a church. France, what have you traded away?
Finally, and most importantly, we learn the story behind the story of the Carmelite’s motivation for their sacrifice. Personally, I was reminded of Jesus’ own words: ‘“No one takes (my life) from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”’ The sisters saw themselves as the Brides of Christ and good daughters of St. Teresa of Jesus. This view combined with the history of this community led Madame Lidoine: ‘to envisage a community act of consecration for holocaust. Through it they would offer themselves daily, body and soul, to appease the wrath of God. Might they not thereby help restore his son’s peace to the realm? Both France and her church were being sorely tried by massacres, slaughter, mass drownings, and deportations of priests, expulsions and persecution of religious orders, to say nothing of the split between constitutional and non-constitutional clergy. Did not an immediate and urgent need exist for Christian action to counter this attempt by the powers of darkness to wipe out the church of Jesus Christ in France?’ The sisters had given their lives to Jesus and now were giving their deaths to Him as well. They began a daily Act of Consecration which they continued right up until the end. It is this, I believe which gave them the strength to do what they did. To any who have made acts of consecration, they are powerful!
Although Mr. Bush’s book is not a complete history of the French Revolution, as it offers such a unique and vital perspective of matters spiritual, it should be on anyone’s essential reading list who is trying to understand that time period.
MOST HIGHLY recommended. TEN stars if I could give them.
Note: I only skim read this back in 2011 when I had the immense joy of seeing the opera Dialogues of the Carmelites performed at a local college. This time I read it slowly as it deserves. While Dialogues and Song at the Scaffold are not factually true, they are still beautiful, not disrespectful to the memory of the Carmelites and the music of Dialogues is sublime and spiritually enriching!
June 7, 2024
From the author's foreword, in which he explains how researching the execution of 16 nuns led him to revisit everything he thought he knew about the French Revolution:
"The great discovery, however, was that Bernanos was totally wrong in regard to Christianity and the French Revolution. There had never been a "good" Revolution in 1789 which, Bernanos maintained, had turned "bad" only in 1793. The destruction of Christianity was blatantly present from the very beginning, as is incontrovertibly proven by the simple fact that on October 29, 1789, no more than three and a half months after the fall of the Bastille, the taking of all religious vows was forbidden in France. Sister Constance in the monastery at Compiegne, for example, could never make her profession as a Carmelite before going to the guillotine five years later. Further proof existed in the fact that just four days after this October 29 decree, on November 2, the totality of Church property throughout all of France was confiscated and declared property of the state, completely stripping religious communities of their means of income.
Thus, from its very beginning, the total eradication of religious orders in France was a clearly stated purpose of the Revolution, as was also the humiliation of the once proud Church of France, brought to her knees before her sanguinary enemies by the decree of November 2, 1789. Her confiscated goods would finance the Revolution for ten years." (xvii)
This book is for those who want to investigate just how deeply opposed to God and religion the French Revolution, apparent defender of "freedom" and "liberty," really was. The author, through painstaking research and astute synthesis, puts together a coherent and compelling narrative that introduces us to each of the martyrs, their motivations, and the events that impelled them towards a death in which they sang until the guillotine silenced them. Their sacrifice, 10 days before the end of the Terror, was surely one of the events that helped end the satanic reign of evil over poor France.
One of the points that particularly stayed with me was the courageous questioning of one of the nuns to Fouquier-Tinville, one of the greatest villains of the Revolution, as to what the charge of "fanaticism" meant that they were charged with, and in short, it was simply adhering to Catholicism and wanting to be nuns. Such desires got you executed during this horrible time in France's history.
"The great discovery, however, was that Bernanos was totally wrong in regard to Christianity and the French Revolution. There had never been a "good" Revolution in 1789 which, Bernanos maintained, had turned "bad" only in 1793. The destruction of Christianity was blatantly present from the very beginning, as is incontrovertibly proven by the simple fact that on October 29, 1789, no more than three and a half months after the fall of the Bastille, the taking of all religious vows was forbidden in France. Sister Constance in the monastery at Compiegne, for example, could never make her profession as a Carmelite before going to the guillotine five years later. Further proof existed in the fact that just four days after this October 29 decree, on November 2, the totality of Church property throughout all of France was confiscated and declared property of the state, completely stripping religious communities of their means of income.
Thus, from its very beginning, the total eradication of religious orders in France was a clearly stated purpose of the Revolution, as was also the humiliation of the once proud Church of France, brought to her knees before her sanguinary enemies by the decree of November 2, 1789. Her confiscated goods would finance the Revolution for ten years." (xvii)
This book is for those who want to investigate just how deeply opposed to God and religion the French Revolution, apparent defender of "freedom" and "liberty," really was. The author, through painstaking research and astute synthesis, puts together a coherent and compelling narrative that introduces us to each of the martyrs, their motivations, and the events that impelled them towards a death in which they sang until the guillotine silenced them. Their sacrifice, 10 days before the end of the Terror, was surely one of the events that helped end the satanic reign of evil over poor France.
One of the points that particularly stayed with me was the courageous questioning of one of the nuns to Fouquier-Tinville, one of the greatest villains of the Revolution, as to what the charge of "fanaticism" meant that they were charged with, and in short, it was simply adhering to Catholicism and wanting to be nuns. Such desires got you executed during this horrible time in France's history.
September 20, 2019
First, you must read this book. I say that because the first 50 pages were somewhat confusing. Then I couldn't put it down. I will be honest in saying what I know of the French Revolution I learned in American public school. We learned that the revolution was noble, similar to our own 1776, in that it was throwing off the yoke of a corrupt king and allowing for liberty, equality, etc What we barely learned, except maybe in English class reading A Tale of Two Cities, of the absolute barbarity of the revolutionaries. To Quell the Terror is about 15 Carmelite nuns who went to the guillotine after being found guilty by a revolutionary court. Their courage and belief that they were sacrifcing themselves in order to quell the terror is transforming. Reading about the hysteria reminded me of Mao's little monsters called the Red Guard, Nazi brown shirts destroying anything and anyone who did not agree with the regime or was deemed anathema. The same under Stalin's show trials, Pol Pot, any number of African despots. I hope the kids at my former Brooklyn public school are beginning to learn the truth. Revolutions eat their young.
May 18, 2019
While there have been stories and an Opera written around these events, once again the real story is so much better. He gives some insight into how these Carmelites prepared themselves for this sacrifice and that they were deliberately offering themselves as a sacrifice to save others. There is just enough information to be able to provide insights into this religious community and the time they were evicted from religious life until their execution. Just a great story. I also enjoyed the author's theological insights seeing martyrdom as a theophany.
The story of their prioress Blessed Teresa of St. Augustine is especially interesting. How she was navigating prudentially in willing to be a martyr while also protecting those under her charge.
The story of their prioress Blessed Teresa of St. Augustine is especially interesting. How she was navigating prudentially in willing to be a martyr while also protecting those under her charge.
July 3, 2019
Very thought-provoking. For those familiar with Poulenc's opera Dialogues des carmélites, this provides the historical context of the 16 Martyrs of Compiègne. It not only helps to understand some of the non-fictional characters of that opera, it also shows the level of insanity to which the French Revolution rose. I cannot fathom what it must have been like to have lived through the Reign of Terror. Although I've read some history on it and remember it being covered in Western Civilization in high school and college, the sheer brutality of it was very glossed over. The descriptions in this book taken from eyewitness accounts and historical documents rank this up there with the atrocities of World War II. To hear people talking about town squares covered with putrefying blood, the stench of death that permeates the air and the mass graves with headless rotting corpses as the guillotine could massacre 12 people in 20 minutes is beyond understanding. It is always amazing to hear people today get on their soapboxes and scream about religion being the cause of war. Granted some wars have been fought on religious grounds but it pales in comparison to the brutality of the non-religious "enlightened and age of reason” adherents. One need only look at the French Revolution, Nazism, Russian Communism and Mao's purges. Their death tolls are in the millions.
January 28, 2022
Reads like a novel, history, and spiritual reading all rolled into one. This is the true story of the martyred Carmelites of Compiegne told rivetingly yet solemnly without the fluffiness of so many saints' lives. Learn what motivated these women and especially their mother superior to offer themselves as a sacrifice for France, her Church, and other Christian prisoners, including the English Benedictine sisters imprisoned with them in the Conciergerie who owed their release to England the Carmelites' sacrifice (and in the process managed to smuggle out of France relics of the martyrs--the clothes on their back!) I am so rarely moved to write a review of any book, but this one is a must read no matter your favorite reading genre. You will not be disappointed.
July 23, 2022
This book would be a bit hard to follow for someone with just a cursory knowledge of the French Revolution. The event itself was so complex that the author here is unable to fully explain surrounding context while still telling the story he intended. Even with the sometimes difficult surrounding history, this book was a beautifully presented and well-researched history of the martyrdom of these 16 Carmelites.
May 16, 2025
A very good account of the history of the martyrdom of the Carmelite nuns of Compiègne martyred during the French Revolution. Their sacrifice took place ten days before the fall of Robespierre and the end of the Reign of Terror. Catholics believe that the nuns’s sacrifice moved God to end the slaughter in France.
Most interesting was the back story of the convent. Many years before the French Revolution, a prophecy had circulated in the convent that the nuns would one day be called to “follow the lamb” to martyrdom.
The author of the book, William Bush, did a lot of research and clearly knows his subject. But sometimes he spends too much time on less important details, which interrupts the narrative. It would have been better to give a bit more of the background of the French Revolution itself and the Reign of Terror to give greater context to the nuns’s sacrifice.
Bush is also an Eastern Orthodox Christian and therefore not Catholic as the nuns (and most French people) were. He has a certain religious understanding of their martyrdom. But not being Catholic with a Catholic theological and spiritual background, he is limited in how deeply he can understand a Catholic martyr.
Overall an excellent book on the story of the Carmelite martyrs of Compiègne, perhaps the best in English.
Most interesting was the back story of the convent. Many years before the French Revolution, a prophecy had circulated in the convent that the nuns would one day be called to “follow the lamb” to martyrdom.
The author of the book, William Bush, did a lot of research and clearly knows his subject. But sometimes he spends too much time on less important details, which interrupts the narrative. It would have been better to give a bit more of the background of the French Revolution itself and the Reign of Terror to give greater context to the nuns’s sacrifice.
Bush is also an Eastern Orthodox Christian and therefore not Catholic as the nuns (and most French people) were. He has a certain religious understanding of their martyrdom. But not being Catholic with a Catholic theological and spiritual background, he is limited in how deeply he can understand a Catholic martyr.
Overall an excellent book on the story of the Carmelite martyrs of Compiègne, perhaps the best in English.
July 31, 2024
This is an excellent book. It tells the true story of 16 Discalced Carmelite nuns of Compiègne who offered themselves up to the guillotine during the French Revolution. They sacrificed their lives in hopes of shortening the Reign of Terror. 10 days after their execution, Maximilian Robespierre himself was executed, ending the Reign of Terror. The Carmelites were named Saints of the Catholic Church by Pope Pius X on 27 May 1906.
This book is extremely readable and holds ones interest from beginning to end. I highly recommend it.
This book is extremely readable and holds ones interest from beginning to end. I highly recommend it.
October 17, 2021
A great analysis of a deeply sad and heroic group of women. Looks at the Great Terror through the eyes of a displaced group of religious who offer their lives for peace. Well researched and thought out. I absolutely reccomend this to anyone who wants to learn about the French Revolution from a different perspective, and learn more about the smaller, lesser know players and victims.
May 21, 2023
A powerful and profound meditation on martyrdom. Well researched, devoid of sentimentality.
October 3, 2024
I keep coming back to this book, it has that unique blend of authentic belief, excellent historical analysis along with research skills, which culminate in a great story! There are a lot of characters, they are all real people who lived and died in revolutionary France, and had extraordinary courage. These individuals changed a nation. Not so easy to do. Probably best for the fan of history, because he does go back and forth a bit...
March 5, 2019
Amazing story of the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne, but the story is often obscured by the writing style and rambling of the author.
November 13, 2020
A quality historical monograph, a bit repetitive and out of chronological order at times, but nonetheless a very good insight into the lives of some Catholic martyrs of the Reign of Terror.
January 13, 2013
Very heart-wrenching historical account of the martyrdom of 16 Carmelite nuns during the French Revolution. Historian William Bush provides very detailed accounts of the executions so the book is not for the squeamish. However, he also provides very detailed accounts of what was going on with the 16 nuns before their martyrdom and also gives family backgrounds of all, which makes it even nore difficult to read details of their executions, having now been given more personal information about each of them. All-in-all, though, I would definitely recommend this book to everyone, especially those interested in a true account of this time in history during the French Revolution and the reports of these executions under the reign of Robespierre.
June 20, 2015
Brilliant and moving....the Carmelites offered themselves as an oblation...this book shows the Truth of the so called Enlightenment which was ushered in by the guillotine. This book needs to be read and treasured as these holy nuns did this for us out of love. We will have an opportunity to do so as well. How will we react to the persecution that is coming and is already here. We should be so lucky to follow the Carmelites footsteps.
February 19, 2012
Fascinating for one who had not ever been a student of the Revolution and "the Terror" nor the Carmelites. Horrifying and mesmerizing at the same time. Bush's account is academic; he sometimes seems obsessive in his scrutiny of minute details. But he delivers a shocking depiction of the Carmelites at the guillotine in July, 1794 that lingers long after the book is finished. Well worth the read.
April 25, 2012
A valuable source of historical facts concerning the 16 Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne. However, I did not care very much for the author's writing style. It was a bit choppy. And the fact that he continually switched off calling the sisters by their wordly and religious names was quite confusing.
June 27, 2011
The story of the Carmelite nuns of Compiegne who died for their faith singing on July 17, 1794. marvelously done.
February 25, 2015
This is an inspiring and fact-packed book. The confusing element is how the author keeps switching back and forth between the nuns' religious names and their birth names.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews