To add to my posts on the Carmelites of Compiègne, the following translates / summarise a paper by Jean-Clément Martin on the Revolution and the concept of martyrdom, first published in 2012 (and now available on Academia). In J.-C. M.'s view, the language of sacrifice and commemoration was central to the common experience, and to subsequent memory, on both sides of the Revolutionary struggle.
Martyrs et Révolution française, autour du sacré
The Revolutionary period offers an exceptional opportunity to observe the workings of memory and religion in human society. The Revolutionary decade overturned established relations with the sacred and created memories which formed the foundation of new political, social and regional identities. However, the complexity of events makes it difficult to move beyond traditional secular and political interpretations to give due weight to this dimension.
The find an appropriate vocabulary also remains problematic, for example whether to distinguish "victims" from "martyrs", or to talk about "religion" in general... Rival traditions have their different emblematic figures: Marat, Robespierre, Bara on the one hand, the Royal family and the "martyrs of the faith" on the other... What follows offers only a sort of "Japanese path", laying down a few stepping stones to suggest a possible route.
I want to understand why this era was obsessed with sacrifice, why different movements and groups vied with each other to claim the glory of martyrdom; and above all why this glory has been "awarded" in national memory only to representatives of the Catholic religion.