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GERLE, CHRISTOPHE ANTOINE (1736–c. 1801)

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Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 769 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GERLE, CHRISTOPHE See also:ANTOINE (1736–c. 1801) , See also:French, revolutionist and mystic, was See also:born at See also:Riom in See also:Auvergne. Enter-, See also:ing the Carthusian See also:order See also:early in See also:life, he became See also:prior of See also:Laval-Dieu in See also:Perche, and afterwards of See also:Pont-Sainte-See also:Marie at See also:Moulins. Elected See also:deputy to the states-See also:general in 1789, Gerle became very popular, and though he had no seat in the See also:assembly until after the See also:Tennis See also:Court See also:oath, being only'deputy suppleant, he is represented in See also:David's classic See also:painting as taking See also:part in it. In 1792 X1. 25he was chosen elector of See also:Paris. In the revolutionary turmoil Gerle See also:developed a strong vein of See also:mysticism, mingled with ideas of reform, and in See also:June 1790 the prophetic See also:powers of Suzanne Labrousse (1947–1821), a visionary who had predicted the Revolution ten years before, were brought by him to the See also:notice of the See also:Convention. In Paris, where he lived first with a spiritualistic See also:doctor and afterwards, like See also:Robespierre, at the See also:house of a cabinetmaker, his mystical tendencies were strengthened. The insane fancies of See also:Catherine Thcot, a See also:convent servant turned prophetess, who proclaimed herself the Virgin, the " See also:Mother of See also:God " and the " new See also:Eve," were eminently attractive to Gerle; in the See also:person of Robespierre he recognized the See also:Messiah, and at the meetings of the Theotists he officiated with the aged prophetess as co-See also:president. But the activities of Catherine and her adepts were See also:short-lived. The Theotists' cult of Robespierre was a weapon in the hands of his opponents; and shortly after the festival of the Supreme Being, Vadier made a See also:report to the Convention calling for the See also:prosecution of Catherine, Gerle and others as fanatics and conspirators. They were arrested, thrown into See also:prison and, in the confusion of Robespierre's fall, apparently forgotten.

Catherine died in prison, but Gerle, released by the See also:

Directory, became one of the editors of the See also:Messager du soir, and was afterwards in the See also:office of See also:Pierre Benezech (1775–1802), See also:minister of the interior. Having renounced his monastic vows in Paris, he is thought to have married, towards the See also:close of his life, Christine See also:Raffet, aunt of the artist See also:Denis Raffet. The date of his-See also:death is uncertain.

End of Article: GERLE, CHRISTOPHE ANTOINE (1736–c. 1801)

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