ABSTRACT
Women played a major part in the French Revolution of 1789, without receiving any recognition for it. Madame de Rambouillet gathered her various friends around her, thus creating the first salon. The first renowned female journalist was Jeanne l'Heritier, who in 1703 collaborated on the newspaper. There was also great progress in literacy. Under Louis XIV, only 10 percent of women living in the provinces knew how to sign their name, as did one-third of working women. Women in northern France were free, and usually lived alone with their husbands. In the south, however, a wife was usually meant to live with her husband's family. And numerous were the women who awoke during the Revolution. They participated actively, if covertly, in the drafting of the Books of Grievances. The female rioters who participated in and assisted with events were countless.
