| Year | French history | Victor Hugo | Les Misérables |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start of 1789 | The reigning king is Louis XVI, continuing a line of Kings going back to 843. Marie Antoinette was queen consort. | Jean Valjean was 19 years old having been born in 1769. Monsieur Thénardier was 12 years old, born 1776. |
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| 1789 | March on the Bastille, beginning of the French Revolution. | Fantine born, not baptised, birth not recorded. | |
| 1792 | The First Republic established. | ||
| 1793 | Louis XVI executed for treason. His very young son was claimed to be his successor as Louis XVII. | ||
| 1795 | France ruled by The Directory, bringing in period of Dechristianisation. | Valjean arrested and imprisoned for sealing a loaf of bread. Becomes prisoner 24601. | |
| 1802 | Victor Hugo born | ||
| 1804 | Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself as emperor. | ||
| 1810 | Marius born, son of Baron Pontmercy. | ||
| 1814 | The combined allied forces of Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Austria seize Paris in March. Napoleon forced to abdicate, exiled to Alba. Louis XVIII, younger brother of Louis XVI made king. | ||
| 1815 | Napoleon returns from exile, restored as emperor. 94 days later, abdicated in favour of his very young son (Napoleon II – disputed) following his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo. Exiled to Saint Helena. Louis XVIII restored again. France occupied by foreign soldiers. | At Waterloo, Thénardier robs Baron Pontmercy but saves the Baron’s life in the process. Jean Valjean released from prison. He has a fateful encounter with Monsieur Myriel, the Bishop of Digne which changes his moral outlook. He settles in Montreuil-sur-Mer under the name of M. Madeleine. Fantine abandoned by Tholomyes. She gives birth to a daughter, Cosette |
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| 1820 | Valjean, now a prosperous businessman accepts position of Mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer. Cosette left in the ‘care’ of the Thénardiers. |
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| 1821 | Napoleon dies at St Helena. | ||
| 1822 | First book published, Odes et Poésies Diverses (Miscellaneous Odes and Verses). | Fantine loses her job and starts to sink. | |
| 1823 | Valjean befriends Fantine. He is morally obliged to reveal his true identity in a court of law and is soon arrested and reimprisoned for skipping parole (as prisoner number 9430). He sees the dying Fantine before his arrest and commits to caring for Cossette. Valjean soon escapes and travels to travels to Montfermeil to rescue Cosette. They move to Paris and take refuge in a Convent where Valjean poses as the brother of the gardener, Fauchelevent. |
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| 1825 | Louis XVIII dies, the last French monarch to die while still reigning. Succeeded by his more conservative brother Charles X. | ||
| 1829 | Valjean and Cosette leave the convent as Valjean wants her to see more of the world. She is 14 years old. Valjean now calls himself Urbain Fabre. | ||
| 1830 | The Second French Revolution, also known as the July Revolution. Charles X forced out, replaced by a distant cousin with more progressive ideas – Louis Philippe II. | Hugo became one of the leaders of a group of Romantic rebels who were trying to loosen the hold of classical literature in France. | Marius first encouters Valjean and Cosette but they do not speak. |
| Notre-Dame de Paris published. | |||
| 1832 | June 5 and 6: The Paris Uprising, aimed at deposing the monarchy and restoring the republic. Crushed by the National Guard. | Marius and Cosette fall in love and become engaged. Valjean, fearful for his safety talks of emigrating to England with Cosette. Marius becomes involved in the Paris Uprising, his life is saved by Valjean. Marius and Cosette marry, but become distant from Valjean | |
| 1833 | In this year Hugo’s daughter Léopoldine was drowned, along with her husband and his play Les Burgraves was a failure. For the next few years, Hugo decided to focus on the growing social problems in France and did not write at all. | Valjean dies, reconciled to Marius and Cosette. | |
| 1845 | Hugo starts work on Les Misérables; he put this aside after three years. | ||
| 1848 | The Third French Revolution in February overthrows Louis Philippe II; Napoleon Bonaparte’s nephew, Louis Napoleon becomes president. A further workers’ rebellion, in June, is quashed. The Second Republic is established. | By now, Hugo was a Republican. He was elected to the new formation of the Second Republic, to the French Constitutional Assembly and to the French Legislative Assembly where he was an advocate of social justice. However, he opposed the June 1848 rebellion. His attempts to justify this contrary position occupy a chapter in Les Misérables. | |
| 1851 | Louis Napoleon launches a successful coup and becomes Emperor Napoleon III, The Second Republic ends. | Hugo tries to rally the workers of Paris against the new Emperor and then flies to Brussels. | |
| Hugo published Napoleon Le Petit, a book very critical of the new Emperor. Hugo moved to self-imposed exile on the Island of Guernsey. | |||
| 1860 | Resumes work on Les Misérables, with increased emphasis on social issues. | ||
| 1862 | Les Misérables published in five volumes. | ||
| 1870 | Napoleon III overthrown in the Fourth French Revolution and exiled to England. He died three years later. The Third Republic established which was to last until WW2 | After the fall of the Empire, Hugo made a triumphant return to Paris and was elected to the National Assembly. | |
| 1876 | Hugo is elected to the Senate, but poor health meant that he returned to Guernsey. | ||
| 1885 | May 22: At the age of eighty-three, Victor Hugo died in Paris. June 1: He was given a national funeral attended by over two million people. His body was borne on a pauper’s hearse, in accordance with his wishes. He was buried in the Panthéon. | ||