The Martyrs of Compiègne were the 16 members of the Carmel of Compiègne, France: 11 Discalced Carmelite nuns, three lay sisters, and two externs (or tertiaries). They were executed by the guillotine towards the end of the Reign of Terror, at what is now the Place de la Nation in Paris on 17 July 1794, and are venerated as beatified martyrs of the Catholic Church. Ten days after their execution, Maximilien Robespierre himself was executed, ending the Reign of Terror. Their story has inspired a novella, a motion picture, a television movie, and an opera, Dialogues of the Carmelites, written by French composer Francis Poulenc. History According to writer William Bush, the number of Christian martyrs greatly expanded in the early years of the French Revolution. Thousands of Christians were killed by the guillotine, as well as by mass deportations, drownings, imprisonments, shootings, mob violence, and "sheer butchery". In 1790, the French Revolutionary government passed the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which outlawed religious life. The community of Carmelite sisters at Compiègne, a commune in northern France, 72 km north of Paris, was founded in 1641, a daughter house of the monastery in Amiens. The community grew rapidly, and "was renowned for its fervor and fidelity". It was supported by the French court from its beginnings, until interrupted by the French Revolution, which was hostile towards religion and the Catholic Church. Shortly after Bastille Day, on 4 August 1790, government officials, with armed guards, interviewed each sister at their convent in Compiègne and forced them to choose between breaking their vows or risking further punishment. They all refused to abandon their lives of obedience, chastity, and poverty. They were allowed to stay at the convent, becoming wards of the state, which entitled them to receive government pensions. The revolutionary government, at the end of 1791, required all clergy to swear a civic oath supporting the Civil Constitution or risk losing their pensions and becoming destitute. At Easter in 1792, the government plundered churches and interrupted services; it was the last Easter the sisters celebrated at Compiègne. Mother Teresa of St. Augustine, the convent's prioress, suggested to the community that they commit themselves to execution, and offer themselves as a sacrifice for France and for the French Church. She almost missed participating in the sacrifice she proposed because she had to return to her family's home in Paris to care for