Arrondissements The 20 administrative districts, each with a mayor, into which Paris was divided.
Brassardiers Arm-band wearers.
Cantiniere Canteen woman attached to each battalion.
Catafalques Decorated coffins used in funeral processions.
Chassepots An early type of rifle.
Code Napoleon The French legal code upholding bourgeois property and rights drawn up under Napoleon I but still the basis of the French legal system.
Corps Legislatif Legislative Assembly.
Enceinte The wall around the old city of Paris.
Faubourgs Suburbs.
Feuilles-de-route Travel document issued to a soldier giving the route to be followed and destination, and used for passing from one army unit to another.
Franc-tireurs Irregular soldiers.
Gallicans The Church faction which wanted the independence of the Church in France and questioned the appointment of bishops. (Cf. Ultramontanes below.)
Girondists The right wing of the Revolution in 1793, opposed by the Jacobins.
Hôtel-de-Ville The central town hall of Paris.
Lettres de cachet The famous order by which the monarchs of the old regime could have people imprisoned indefinitely in the Bastille or other prisons.
Levée en masse The general mobilisation of the populace for battle.
Mairie Town hall of each arrondissement.
Montagnards A name for the Jacobins the left wing of the bourgeois revolution deriving from the high benches they occupied in the revolutionary assembly of 1791-2.
Octrois Local taxes levied at the city limits.
Pekin Term for civilian used by the military.
Procureur de la République Public Prosecutor.
Pupilles de la Commune Orphans largely of men who had died in the fighting who were taken care of by the Commune.
Rappel The call to arms.
Rurales Provincials.
Sbirri Police thugs.
Sergents-de-ville Municipal police.
Tabellionat Scriveners (a category of members of the legal profession).
Tirailleurs Riflemen.
Turcos Algerian units of the French army, so called by the Russians in the Crimean War who took them for Turks.
Ultra-montanes Church faction which looked to Rome.
Vareuse Cross-fastening jacket.