A parish priest from Lorraine and a deputy to the Estates-General, the abbé Grégoire advocated civil equality for Protestants and Jews, political rights for free people of colour and the abolition of slavery. Elected constitutional bishop of Loir-et-Cher, he refused to renounce his priesthood during the dechristianisation campaign. He also promoted the extension of French throughout the Republic, presenting his 1794 Report on the Necessity and Means of Eliminating the Patois and Universalising the Use of the French Language. As a member of the Committee of Public Instruction, he introduced the term vandalisme to condemn the destruction of books, works of art and historic monuments.
