A transatlantic battle of the robes: French priests in the Haitian Revolution.

This article examines the complex role of French Catholic priests in revolutionary Saint-Domingue during the intertwined Haitian and French Revolutions, focusing on their competing visions for Church authority amid shifting political landscapes. It highlights how these clerics, divided between allegiance to the French constitutional Church (Gallican) and loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church, navigated alliances with enslaved insurgents and free laborers not primarily out of abolitionist motives but to assert ecclesiastical control and influence. The study reveals that Haitian revolutionary leaders like Toussaint Louverture and King Christophe strategically engaged with the Catholic Church and the Holy See as sources of political legitimacy distinct from France. Ultimately, the article underscores the significance of religious disputes and clerical rivalry in shaping revolutionary dynamics and calls for a broader integration of religious history into the study of the Haitian Revolution.