REUNION. Decree of the National Convention of... Lot 10

REUNION. Decree of the National Convention of March 19, 1793, which changes the name of the Island of Bourbon into the Island of Reunion. Marseille, from the printing house of Auguste Mossy, the second year of the French Republic, 1793. 4 pages. Rare Marseille printing of the official decree that changed the name of the Island of Bourbon to Reunion Island, as ordered by the French Revolutionary National Convention. The island now known as Reunion was first claimed by France in 1638 and in 1649 had been named Île de Bourbon, after the French royal family. During the French Revolution, after the overthrow of the French monarchy and the execution of Louis XVI on January 21, 1793, the new Jacobin regime was determined to erase all traces of the Bourbon family in France and in all the colonies. On March 19, 1793, the National Convention decreed that the name of the island of Bourbon be changed to Reunion Island. Its name was chosen to commemorate the reconciliation of the revolutionary factions in Marseille with the National Guard in Paris.