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After the castle and the garden we have a special animation dedicated to the Vendée Wars. As you saw earlier, this logis is an example of a certain harmony of existence between the noble and his peasants. It thus came as a great surprise here that peasants in much of the rest of France were rising up against their lords. It was not such a surprise that most of the trouble was coming from Paris. Here in Vendée the peasants were outraged that their lords and their priests were accused of injustice. Here in Vendée, the peasants themselves rose up not for but AGAINST the Revoluton. Early in these wars the peasants went to the home of a noble knight named Charette. He accepted to lead the fight. For three years from 1793-1796, he led the Catholic and Royal Army that almost extinguished the French Revolution. In the end he was captured in the woods just outside the Chabotterie, which itself had been captured by the Republic (that means the Revolution). He was dragged to the kitchen here and cared for. When well enough, he was marched to Nantes, nearby. There he was judged and sentenced to the firing squad. Upon his death he lifted his blind and asked to give the signal for himself. He did so by bowing the head, by pointing to his heart, and by saying "It is here that you must strike the brave"...
