Storming of the Bastille Storming of the Bastille The Storming of the Bastille ( ) occurred in Paris, France, on the afternoon of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress, armory, and political prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. The prison contained just seven inmates at the time of its storming, but was seen by the revolutionaries as a symbol of the monarchy's abuses of power; its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution. In France, "Le quatorze juillet" (14 July) is a public holiday, usually called Bastille Day in English. During the reign of
Paris in the Middle Ages enter quietly and seize the city with the aid of allies inside. Arrests and massacres followed, with some three to four hundred persons killed, including Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac. In 1420, King Charles VI was compelled by the Treaty of Troyes to accept the English king, Henry V, as the regent and rightful heir to the French throne. On 21 May and 30 May, the merchants of Paris and the faculty of the University took an oath to respect English rule. The English occupation force in Paris was small, only about two hundred men stationed in the Bastille, the