At the end of July 1789 the peasants of the Maconnais revolted against their lords. Having attacked the castles and the parsons, they demanded that both the feudal rights of the lords and the tithe be abolished and that communal lands be restored. In the course of “the wars at the castles” they burnt the land register and inventories, destroyed the colombiers, and took the weathercocks off the roofs. Though such behaviors of the peasants led to the lootings of the properties in the castles, their violence aimed not to the persons but to the system. The peasants of the Maconnais demanded the abolition of the feudal regime, which represented itself not only as the economic system of collecting the rents but also as the social structures of ruling. With an aim to achieving such goals, the populace of the village united together in the frame of the parish and under the guidance of the principal villagers, which were those people who enjoyed the stable positions such as a village chief and the tax collectors. The social composition of the rioters testifies to the communal unity. They consisted of the various rural elements such as vine farmers, artisans, laboureurs, day laborers, servants. The leaders of the movement plotted the goals and the mobilization in advance. They led the demonstrators to the castles and then directed the operations of the riots. In the meantimes, the humble villagers served as the action groups. Like this the rural community of the Maconnais maintained their unity against their lords. In the initial stage of the French Revolution the peasant movement illustrates that despite the social differentiation of the peasantry the peasants behaved themselves as a single bloc, which could not be divided into social categories, strata, classes.
A la fin de juillet 1789, les paysans maconnais se sont souleves contre leurs seigneurs. En attaquant les chateaux et les cures, ils ont reclame la suppression des droits seigneuriaux et des dimes et le retablissement des biens communaux. Pendant la “guerre aux chateaux”, ils ont brule les titres feodaux et les terriers qui justifient les droits seigneuriaux, detruit les colombiers et enleve les girouettes couronnees sur les tours du chateau. Meme si les actions paysannes se degeneraient souvent au pillage et a la devastation, elles visaient au systeme, non a la personne de la classe dominante. Par ces actions, les paysans maconnais commandaient l’abolition du regime feodal, non seulement comme un systeme economique du prelevement, mais aussi comme un systeme social de la domination aristocratique. Pour obtenir cet objectif, les villageois se reunissaient dans le cadre paroissial sous la direction des “habitants principaux”, qui avaient une position stable dans leur village comme syndic ou comme collecteur des impots. La composition des revoltes prouve cette unite communautaire. Les attroupements se composaient de divers groupes sociaux de la campagne, c’est-a-dire vignerons, artisans, laboureurs, journaliers, domestiques et autres. Les meneurs du mouvement premeditent sur l’objectif et sur la modalite de la mobilisation. Sur le terrain, ils marchent sur le chateau a la tete des attroupements et dirigent les operations, tandis que les “petits habitants” assument le role de l’aile marchant. La communaute rurale maconnaise gardait ainsi son unite face au seigneur. Le mouvement paysan au debut de la Revolution francaise montre que, malgre la differenciation sociale, la paysannerie reagit encore contre le seigneuren un bloc entier qu’on ne pouvait pas diviser simplement par les categories sociales comme classe ou strate.