Bignon Commission (French Revolution)

The president of the tribunal was Antoine Gonchon but it came to be known after François Bignon, captain of the 2nd battalion of Paris Volunteers, who directed most of its proceedings.

Any group that appeared to not believe in the true ideals of the revolution were considered counter-revolutionary, and during the Reign of Terror, many were quickly tried and often sentenced to death.

In fact, Charles-Melchior de Bonchamps ordered that 5,000 republican prisoners of war be set free.

These military commissions were initially created to put emigres on trial, but by March 19, 1793, the law changed.

[4] Rebels who had weapons or other political counter-revolutionaries were put on trial under the military commissions which is similar to a criminal court today.

The Bignon Commission was created in Le Mans, 14 December 1793, by the représentants en mission Pierre Bourbotte, Louis Turreau [fr] and Pierre-Louis Prieur.

[1] Still in the Maine-et-Loire department, which was basically the Parein and Felix commission's area of action, thousands of people were executed like in the Avrille massacres [fr] counting maybe 1300 deaths.

Jean-jacques Hussenet indeed estimated that in this department alone 6300 to 7000 people were victims of repression by violent deaths (essentially executions.)

[7] Any local commission or tribunal that was once able to trial emigres, rebels, or clergy were no longer granted that power unless the Committee of Public Safety gave them the right to do so.

[7] In the last months of the Reign of Terror, the remaining executions occurred in places such as Bordeaux, Nîmes and Arras.

[7] The Reign of Terror caused great fear and distrust of the committees because of their power in the swift creation of military commissions to shut down counter-revolutionary groups.