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Ancien régime

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Theancien régime(/ˌɒ̃sjæ̃reɪˈʒiːm/;French:[ɑ̃sjɛ̃ʁeʒim]ⓘ;lit. 'old rule') was thepoliticaland social system of theKingdom of Francethat theFrench Revolutionoverturned[1]through its abolition in 1790 of thefeudalsystem of theFrench nobility[2]and in 1792 through itsexecution of the kinganddeclaration of a republic.[3]"Ancien régime" is now a common metaphor for "a system or mode no longer prevailing".[4][a]

Louis XIV of France(the Sun King), under whose reign theancien régimereached anabsolutistform of government; portrait byHyacinthe Rigaud,1701
TheStorming of the Bastilleon 14 July 1789, later taken to mark the end of theancien régime;watercolour byJean-Pierre Houël

The administrative and social structures of theancien régimein France evolved across years of state-building, legislative acts (like theOrdinance of Villers-Cotterêts), and internal conflicts. The attempts of theValois Dynastyto reform and re-establish control over the scattered political centres of the country were hindered by theWars of Religionfrom 1562 to 1598.[5]During theBourbon Dynasty,much of the reigns ofHenry IV(r. 1589–1610) andLouis XIII(r. 1610–1643) and the early years ofLouis XIV(r. 1643–1715) focused on administrative centralization. Despite the notion of "absolute monarchy"(typified by the king's right to issue orders throughlettres de cachet) and efforts to create a centralized state,ancien régimeFrance remained a country of systemic irregularities: administrative, legal, judicial, and ecclesiastic divisions and prerogatives frequently overlapped, the French nobility struggled to maintain their influence in local judiciary and state branches whilethe Frondeand other major internal conflicts violently contested additional centralization.

The drive for centralization related directly to questions of royal finances and the ability to wage war. The internal conflicts and dynastic crises of the 16th and the 17th centuries between Catholics and Protestants, theHabsburgs' internal family conflict, and the territorial expansion of France in the 17th century all demanded great sums, which needed to be raised by taxes, such as the land tax (taille) and the tax on salt (gabelle), and by contributions of men and service from the nobility.

One key to the centralization was the replacing of personalpatronagesystems, which had been organised around the king and other nobles, by institutional systems that were constructed around the state.[6]The appointments ofintendants,representatives of royal power in the provinces, greatly undermined the local control by regional nobles. The same was true of the greater reliance that was shown by the royal court on thenoblesse de robeas judges and royal counselors. The creation of regionalparlementshad the same initial goal of facilitating the introduction of royal power into the newly assimilated territories, but as theparlementsgained in self-assurance, they started to become sources of disunity.

Origin of term

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By the end of 1789 the termAncien Régimewas commonly used in France by journalists and legislators to refer to the institutions of French life before the Revolution.[7]It first appeared in print in English in 1794 (two years after the inauguration of theFirst French Republic) and was originally pejorative.Simon Schamahas observed that "virtually as soon as the term was coined, 'old regime' was automatically freighted with associations of both traditionalism and senescence. It conjured up a society so encrusted with anachronisms that only a shock of great violence could free the living organism within. Institutionally torpid, economically immobile, culturally atrophied and socially stratified, this 'old regime' was incapable of self-modernization".[8]

Foreign policy

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Main article:International relations, 1648–1814

Nine Years' War: 1688–1697

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Main article:Nine Years' War

TheNine Years' War(1688–97), between France and a coalition of Austria and the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, Spain, England and Savoy, was fought in continental Europe and on the surrounding seas, and in Ireland, North America and India. It was the first trulyglobal war.[9]

Louis XIV emerged from theFranco-Dutch Warin 1678 as the most powerful monarch in Europe and an absolute ruler with numerous military victories. Using a combination of aggression, annexation and quasilegal means, he set about extending his gains to stabilize and strengthen France's frontiers, culminating in the briefWar of the Reunions(1683–1684). The resultingTruce of Ratisbonguaranteed France's new borders for 20 years, but Louis XIV's subsequent actions, notably hisrevocation of the Edict of Nantesin 1685, led to the deterioration of his military and political dominance. Louis XIV's decision to cross theRhinein September 1688 was designed to extend his influence and to pressure theHoly Roman Empireinto accepting his territorial and dynastic claims, but Leopold I and the German princes resolved to resist, and theStates Generaland William III brought the Dutch and the English into the war against France. Louis XIV faced a powerful coalition aimed at curtailing his ambitions.

The main fighting took place around France's borders in theSpanish Netherlands,theRhineland,theDuchy of Savoy,andCatalonia.The fighting generally favoured Louis XIV's armies, but by 1696, France was in the grip of an economic crisis. The maritime powers (England and the Dutch Republic) were also financially exhausted, and when Savoy defected from the alliance, all of the parties were keen for a negotiated settlement. By the terms of theTreaty of Ryswick(1697), Louis XIV retained the whole ofAlsace,but was forced to returnLorraineto its ruler and to give up any gains on the right bank of the Rhine. Also, Louis XIV accepted William III as the rightful King of England, and the Dutch acquired their barrier fortress system in the Spanish Netherlands to help secure their own borders. However, with the ailing and childlessCharles II of Spainapproaching his end, a new conflict over the inheritance of theSpanish Empirewould soon embroil Louis XIV and the Grand Alliance in a final war: theWar of the Spanish Succession.

War of the Spanish Succession: 1701–1713

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Main articles:War of the Spanish SuccessionandBourbon claim to the Spanish throne

Spain had a number of major assets apart from its homeland. It controlled important territory in Europe and the New World. Spain's American colonies produced enormous quantities of silver, brought to Spain every few years in convoys.

Spain also had many weaknesses. Its domestic economy had little business, industry or advanced craftsmanship and was poor. Spain had to import practically all of its weapons and its large army was poorly trained and poorly equipped. Spain had a small navy since seamanship was a low priority for the elites. Local and regional governments and the local nobility, controlled most of the decisionmaking. The central government was quite weak, with a mediocre bureaucracy, and few able leaders.King Charles IIreigned 1665 to 1700, but was in very poor physical and mental health.[10]

As King Charles II had no children, the question of who would succeed to the Spanish throne unleashed a major war. The Vienna-based Habsburg family, to which Charles II belonged, proposed its own candidate for the throne.[11]However, the Bourbons, the ruling family of France, instinctively opposed expansions of Habsburg power within Europe andhad their own candidate:Philip,the grandson of the powerful Louis XIV. That was a confrontation between two different styles[12]ofancien régime:the French and Spanish style versus the Habsburg style.

Spain's silver and its inability to protect its assets made it a highly-visible target for ambitious Europeans. For generations, Englishmen contemplated capturing the Spanish treasure fleet, a feat that had been accomplished only once: in 1628 by the DutchmanPiet Hein.English mariners nevertheless seriously pursued the opportunities forprivateeringand trade in Spain's colonies.[13]

As he neared his death, Charles II bequeathed his throne to the Bourbon candidate, the future Philip V of Spain. Philip's grandfather, Louis XIV, eagerly endorsed the choice and made unilateral aggressive moves to safeguard the viability of his family's new possessions, such as moving the French army into the Spanish Netherlands and securing exclusive trading rights for the French inSpanish America.[14]However, a coalition of enemies opposed to that rapid expansion of French power quickly formed, and a major European war broke out from 1701 to 1714.[15]

To France's enemies, the notion of France gaining enormous strength by taking over Spain and all its European and overseas possessions was anathema. Furthermore, the prospect of capturingSpanish territoriesin theNew Worldproved very attractive. France's enemies formed a Grand Alliance, led bythe Holy Roman Empire's Leopold I,which included Prussia and most of the other German states, the Dutch Republic,Portugal,Savoy(inItaly) andEngland.The opposing alliance was primarily France and Spain but also included a few smaller German princes and dukes in Italy. Extensive back-and-forth fighting took place in the Netherlands, but the dimensions of the war once again changed when both Emperor Leopold and his son and successor, Joseph, died. That leftArchduke Charles, the second son of Leopold, younger brother to Joseph,as the Alliance candidate for both king of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor.[16]

Since such a union between Spain and the Holy Roman Empire would be too powerful in the eyes of Charles VI's allies, most of the allies quickly concluded a separate peace with France. After another year of fruitless campaigning, Charles VI did the same and abandoned his desire to become the king of Spain.

The 1713Treaty of Utrechtresolved all these issues. France gave up Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Louis XIV's grandson became King Philip V of Spain and kept all of his overseas colonies but renounced any rights to the French throne. Spain lost its European holdings outside the homeland itself.[17]

The former members of the alliance also profited from the war. The Dutch maintained their independence in the face of French aggression. The Habsburgs picked up territory north of Austria and in Italy, including the Spanish Netherlands and Naples. However, the greatest beneficiary of the war wasGreat Britain,since in addition to extensive extra-European territorial gains at the expense of Spain and France, it established further checks to French expansion within the continent by moderately strengthening its European allies.[14]

Peaceful interlude: 1715–1740

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The quarter-century after the Treaty of Utrecht was peaceful, with no major wars. The main powers exhausted themselves in warfare, and suffered many deaths, disabled veterans, ruined navies, high pension costs, heavy loans and high taxes. In 1683, indirect taxes had brought in 118,000,000 livres, but by 1714, these revenues had plunged to only 46,000,000 livres.[18]

Louis XIV, with his eagerness for warfare, was gone and replaced by a small sickly child, the last Bourbon survivor. This death had the potential to throw France into another round of warfare. Louis XV lived until the 1770s. France's main foreign policy decisionmaker wasCardinal Fleury,who recognised that France's need to rebuild and so pursued a peaceful policy.

France had a poorly-designed taxation system in which tax farmers kept much of the money, and the treasury was always short. The banking system in Paris was undeveloped, and the treasury was forced to borrow at very high interest rates. London's financial system proved strikingly competent in funding not only the British Army but also those of its allies. Queen Anne was dead, and her successor, King George I, was a Hanoverian who moved his court to London but never became fluent in English and surrounded himself with German advisors. They spent much of their time and most of their attention on Hanoverian affairs. He too was threatened by an unstable throne, since the Stuart pretenders, long supported by Louis XIV, threatened repeatedly to invade through Ireland or Scotland and had significant internal support from the Tory faction. However, SirRobert Walpolewas the dominant decision-maker from 1722 to 1740, in a role that would later be called prime minister. Walpole strongly rejected militaristic options and promoted a peace program that was agreed to by Fleury, and the two powers formed an alliance.

The Dutch Republic was much reduced in power and so agreed with Britain's idea of peace. In Vienna, the Holy Roman Empire's Habsburg emperors bickered with the new Bourbon king of Spain, Philip V, over Habsburg control of most of Italy, but relations with France were undramatic.[19]

Provinces and administrative divisions

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Territorial expansion

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French territorial expansion from 1552 to 1798

In the mid-15th century, France was smaller than it is today,[20][b]and numerous border provinces (such asRoussillon,Cerdagne,Conflent,Vallespir,Capcir,Calais,Béarn,Navarre,County of Foix,Flanders,Artois,Lorraine,Alsace,Trois-Évêchés,Franche-Comté,Savoy,Bresse,Bugey,Gex,Nice,Provence,DauphinéandBrittany) were autonomous or belonged to theHoly Roman Empire,theCrown of Aragonor theKingdom of Navarra;there were also foreign enclaves like theComtat Venaissin.

In addition, certain provinces within France were ostensibly the personal fiefs of noble families. Notably theBourbonnais,ForezandAuvergnewere held by theHouse of Bourbonuntil the provinces were forcibly integrated into theroyal domainin 1527 after the fall ofCharles III, Duke of Bourbon.

From the late 15th century to the late 17th century and again in the 1760s, French territory greatly expanded and it attempted to better integrate its provinces into an administrative whole.

French acquisitions from 1461 to 1768

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France in 1477. Red line: Boundary of the Kingdom of France; Light blue: the directly held royal domain.

Administration

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Main articles:Provinces of FranceandGénéralité

Despite centralization efforts of the kings, France remained a patchwork of local privileges and historical differences. The arbitrary power of the absolute monarchy was much limited by historic and regional particularities.[21]Administrative (including taxation), legal (parlement), judicial and ecclesiastic divisions and prerogatives frequently overlapped (for example,French bishoprics and diocesesrarely coincided with administrative divisions).

Certain provinces and cities had won special privileges, such as lower rates for thegabelleor salt tax.Southern Francewas governed by written law adapted from theRoman legal system,but northern France usedcommon law,codified in 1453 into a written form.

The representative of the king in his provinces and cities was thegouverneur.Royal officers chosen from the highest nobility, provincial and city governors (oversight of provinces and cities was frequently combined) were predominantly military positions in charge of defense and policing. Provincial governors, also calledlieutenants généraux,also had the ability to convoke provincialparlements,provincial estates and municipal bodies.

The titlegouverneurfirst appeared underCharles VI.The Ordinance of Blois in 1579 reduced their number to 12, and an ordinance of 1779 increased their number to 39 (18 first-class governors and 21 second-class governors). Although in principle, they were the king's representatives, and their charges could be revoked at the king's will, some governors had installed themselves and their heirs as a provincial dynasty.

The governors reached the height of their power from the mid-16th to the mid-17th century. Their role in provincial unrest during the civil wars ledCardinal Richelieuto create the more tractable positions ofintendantsof finance, policing and justice, and in the 18th century, the role of provincial governors was greatly curtailed.

Major provinces of France,with provincial capitals. Cities in bold had provincialparlementsorconseils souverainsduring theancien régime.Note: The map reflects France's modern borders and does not indicate the territorial formation of France over time. Provinces on the list may encompass several other historic provinces and counties (for example, at the revolution,Guyennewas made up of eight smaller historic provinces, includingQuercyandRouergue).

1.Île-de-France(Paris)
2.Berry(Bourges)
3.Orléanais(Orléans)
4.Normandy(Rouen)
5.Languedoc(Toulouse)
6.Lyonnais(Lyon)
7.Dauphiné(Grenoble)
8.Champagne(Troyes)
9.Aunis(La Rochelle)
10.Saintonge(Saintes)
11.Poitou(Poitiers)
12.GuyenneandGascony(Bordeaux)
13.Burgundy(Dijon)
14.Picardy(Amiens)
15.Anjou(Angers)
16.Provence(Aix-en-Provence)
17.Angoumois(Angoulême)
18.Bourbonnais(Moulins)
19.Marche(Guéret)
20.Brittany(Rennes,parlement briefly atNantes)
21.Maine(Le Mans)
22.Touraine(Tours)
23.Limousin(Limoges)
24.Foix(Foix)

25.Auvergne(Clermont-Ferrand)
26.Béarn(Pau)
27.Alsace(Strasbourg,cons. souv. inColmar)
28.Artois(cons provinc. inArras)
29.Roussillon(cons. souv. inPerpignan)
30.FlandersandHainaut(Lille,parliament first inTournai,then inDouai)
31.Franche-Comté(Besançon,formerly atDole)
32.Lorraine(Nancy)
33.Corsica(off map,Ajaccio,cons. souv. inBastia)
34.Nivernais(Nevers)
35.Comtat Venaissin(Avignon), aPapalfief
36.Imperial Free CityofMulhouse
37.Savoy,aSardinianfief (parl. inChambéry1537–59)
38.Nice,aSardinianfief
39.Montbéliard,a fief ofWürttemberg
40. (not indicated)Trois-Évêchés(Metz,ToulandVerdun)
41. (not indicated)Dombes(Trévoux)
42. (not indicated)Navarre(Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port)
43. (not indicated)Soule(Mauléon)
44. (not indicated)Bigorre(Tarbes)
45. (not indicated)Beaujolais(Beaujeu)
46. (not indicated)Bresse(Bourg)
47. (not indicated)Perche(Mortagne-au-Perche)

In an attempt to reform the system, new divisions were created. Therecettes générales,commonly known asgénéralités,were initially only taxation districts (see "state finances" below). The first 16 were created in 1542 by edict ofHenry II.Their role steadily increased, and by the mid-17th century, thegénéralitéswere under the authority of anintendantand were a vehicle for the expansion of royal power in matters of justice, taxation and policing. By the revolution, there were 36généralités,the last two being created in 1784.

Généralités of Franceby city (and province). Areas inred arepays d'état(note: should also include 36, 37 and parts of 35);whitepays d'élection;yellowpays d'imposition(see State finances below).

1. Généralité ofBordeaux,(Agen,Guyenne)
2. Généralité ofProvence,orAix-en-Provence(Provence)
3. Généralité ofAmiens(Picardy)
4. Généralité ofBourges(Berry)
5. Généralité ofCaen(Normandy)
6. Généralité ofChâlons(Champagne)
7. Généralité ofBurgundy,Dijon(Burgundy)
8. Généralité ofGrenoble(Dauphiné)
9. Généralité ofIssoire,later ofRiom(Auvergne)
10. Généralité ofLyon(Lyonnais,BeaujolaisandForez)
11. Généralité ofMontpellier(Languedoc)
12. Généralité of Paris (Île-de-France)
13. Généralité ofPoitiers(Poitou)
14. Généralité ofRouen(Normandy)
15. Généralité ofToulouse(Languedoc)
16. Généralité ofTours(Touraine,MaineandAnjou) 17. Généralité ofMetz(Trois-Évêchés)
18. Généralité ofNantes(Brittany)
19. Généralité ofLimoges(divided in two parts:Angoumois&Limousin–Marche)

20. Généralité ofOrléans(Orléanais)
21. Généralité ofMoulins(Bourbonnais)
22. Généralité ofSoissons(Picardy)
23. Généralité ofMontauban(Gascony)
24. Généralité ofAlençon(Perche)
25. Généralité ofPerpignan(Roussillon)
26. Généralité ofBesançon(Franche-Comté)
27. Généralité ofValenciennes(Hainaut)
28. Généralité ofStrasbourg(Alsace)
29. (see 18)
30. Généralité ofLille(Flanders)
31. Généralité ofLa Rochelle(AunisandSaintonge)
32. Généralité ofNancy(Lorraine)
33. Généralité ofTrévoux(Dombes)
34. Généralité ofCorsica,orBastia(Corsica)
35. Généralité ofAuch(Gascony)
36. Généralité ofBayonne(Labourd)
37. Généralité ofPau(BéarnandSoule)

State finances

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Further information:Economic history of France

The desire for more efficient tax collection was one of the major causes for French administrative and royal centralisation during the early modern period. Thetaillebecame a major source of royal income. Exempted were clergy and nobles (except for non-noble lands held inpays d'état,see below), officers of the crown, military personnel, magistrates, university professors and students, and certain cities (villes franches) such as Paris.

The provinces were of three sorts, thepays d'élection,thepays d'étatand thepays d'imposition.In thepays d'élection(the longest-held possessions of the French crown; some of the provinces had held the equivalent autonomy of apays d'étatbut had lost it through the effects of royal reforms) the assessment and collection of taxes were trusted to elected officials (at least originally, since later on those positions were bought), and the tax was generally "personal" and so was attached to non-noble individuals.

In thepays d'état( "provinces with provincial estates" ),Brittany,Languedoc,Burgundy,Auvergne,Béarn,Dauphiné,Provenceand portions ofGascony,such asBigorre,Commingesand theQuatre-Vallées,recently acquired provinces that had been able to maintain a certain local autonomy in terms of taxation, the assessment of the tax was established by local councils and the tax was generally "real"and so was attached to non-noble lands (nobles with such lands were required to pay taxes on them).Pays d'impositionwere recently conquered lands that had their own local historical institutions (they were similar to thepays d'étatunder which they are sometimes grouped), but taxation was overseen by the royalintendant.

Taxation history

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Taxation districts had gone through a variety of mutations since the 14th century. Before the 14th century, oversight of the collection of royal taxes had fallen generally to thebaillisandsénéchauxin their circumscriptions. Reforms in the 14th and the 15th centuries saw France's royal financial administration run by two financial boards, which worked in a collegial manner: the fourGénéraux des finances(also calledgénéral conseillerorreceveur général) oversaw the collection of taxes (taille,aides,etc.) by tax-collecting agents (receveurs) and the fourTrésoriers de France(Treasurers) oversaw revenues from royal lands (the "domaine royal").

Together, they were theMessieurs des finances.The four members of each board were divided by geographical districts (although the termgénéralitéappears only in the late 15th century). The areas were named Languedoïl, Languedoc, Outre-Seine-and-Yonne, and Nomandy (the last was created in 1449, the other three earlier), with the directors of the "Languedoïl" region typically having an honorific preeminence. By 1484, the number of généralités had increased to six.

In the 16th century, the kings of France, in an effort to exert more direct control over royal finances and to circumvent the double board, which was accused of poor oversight, made numerous administrative reforms, including the restructuring of the financial administration and increasing the number ofgénéralités.In 1542, France was divided into 16généralités.The number increased to 21 at the end of the 16th century and to 36 at the time of the French Revolution; the last two were created in 1784.

The administration of thegénéralitésof the Renaissance went through a variety of reforms. In 1577,Henry IIIestablished 5 treasurers (trésoriers généraux) in each généralité who formed a bureau of finances. In the 17th century, oversight of thegénéralitéswas subsumed by theintendantsof finance, justice and police. The expressiongénéralitéandintendancebecame roughly synonymous.

Until the late 17th century, tax collectors were calledreceveurs.In 1680, the system of theFerme généralewas established, a franchised customs and excise operation in which individuals bought the right to collect the taille on behalf of the king, through six-year adjudications (certain taxes like theaidesand thegabellehad been farmed out in this way as early as 1604). The major tax collectors in that system were known as thefermiers généraux('farmers-general ").

Thetaillewas only one of a number of taxes. There also existed thetaillon(a tax for military purposes), a national salt tax (thegabelle), national tariffs (theaides) on various products (wine, beer, oil and other goods), local tariffs on speciality products (thedouane) or levied on products entering the city (theoctroi) or sold at fairs and local taxes. Finally, the church benefited from a mandatory tax ortithe,thedîme.

Louis XIV created several additional tax systems, including thecapitation,which began in 1695 and touched every person, including nobles and the clergy although exemption could be bought for a large one-time sum and the "dixième" (1710–1717, restarted in 1733), which enacted to support the military and was a true tax on income and on property value. In 1749, underLouis XV,a new tax based on thedixième,thevingtième,was enacted to reduce the royal deficit and continued for the rest of theancien régime.

Fees for holding state positions

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Another key source of state financing was through charging fees for state positions (such as most members of parlements, magistrates,maître des requêtesand financial officers). Many of the fees were quite high, but some of the offices conferred nobility and could be financially advantageous. The use of offices to seek profit had become standard practice as early as the 12th and the 13th centuries. A law in 1467 made these offices irrevocable except through the death, resignation or forfeiture of the title holder, and the offices, once bought, tended to become hereditary charges that were passed on within families with a fee for transfer of title.[22]

In an effort to increase revenue, the state often turned to the creation of new offices. Before it was made illegal in 1521, it had been possible to leave the date that the transfer of title was to take effect open-ended. In 1534, a rule adapted from church practice made the successor's right void if the preceding office holder died within forty days of the transfer, and the office returned to the state. However, a new fee, thesurvivance jouissanteprotected against that rule.[22]In 1604,Sullycreated a new tax, thepauletteor "annual tax" of a sixtieth of the official charge, which permitted the titleholder to be free of the forty-day rule. Thepauletteand the venality of offices became key concerns in the parliamentarian revolts of the 1640s called theFronde.

The state also demanded a "free gift", which the church collected from holders of ecclesiastic offices through taxes called thedécime(roughly a twentieth of the official charge, created under Francis I).

State finances also relied heavily on borrowing, both private (from the great banking families in Europe) and public. The most important public source for borrowing was through the system ofrentes sur l'Hôtel de Villeof Paris, a kind of government bond system offering investors annual interest. The system first came to use in 1522 under Francis I.

Until 1661, the head of the financial system in France was generally thesurintendant des finances.That year, thesurintendantNicolas Fouquetfell from power, and the position was replaced by the less powerfulcontrôleur général des finances.

Justice

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Lower courts

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Justice in seigneurial lands, including those held by the church or that lay within cities, was generally overseen by the seigneur or his delegated officers. In the 15th century, much of the seigneur's legal purview was given to thebailliagesorsénéchausséesand theprésidiaux,leaving only affairs concerning seigneurial dues and duties, and small affairs of local justice. Only certain seigneurs, those with the power ofhaute justice(seigneurial justice was divided into "high" "middle" and "low" justice), could enact the death penalty and only with the consent of theprésidiaux.

Crimes of desertion, highway robbery and mendicants (so-calledcas prévôtaux) were under the supervision of theprévôtdes maréchaux,who exacted quick and impartial justice. In 1670, their purview was overseen by theprésidiaux.

The national judicial system was made up of tribunals calledbailliagesin northern France andsénéchausséesin southern France. These tribunals numbered around 90 in the 16th century and far more at the end of the 18th century, were supervised by alieutenant généraland were subdivided into:

  • prévôté[fr]ssupervised by aprévôt;
  • or (as was the case inNormandy) intovicomtéssupervised by avicomte,a position that could also be held by non-nobles;
  • or (in parts of northern France) intochâtelleniessupervised by achâtelain,also a position that could be held by non-nobles;
  • or, in the south, intovigueriesorbayliessupervised by aviguieror abayle.

To reduce the case load in the parlements, certainbailliageswere given extended powers byHenry II of France,which were calledprésidiaux.

Theprévôtsor their equivalent were first-level judges for non-nobles and ecclesiastics. In the exercise of their legal functions, they sat alone but had to consult with certain lawyers calledavocatsorprocureurs,whom they chose themselves. To use the technical phrase, these lawyers were "summoned to their council". Appeals of their sentences went to thebailliages,who also had jurisdiction in the first instance over actions brought againstnobles.Bailliagesandprésidiauxwere also the first court for certain crimes calledcas royauxwhich had formerly been under the supervision of the local seigneurs: sacrilege,lèse-majesté,kidnapping,rape,heresy,alteration of money, sedition, insurrection and the illegal carrying of arms. Appeals of abailliage's decisions went to the regionalparlements.

The most important of the royal tribunals was theprévôté[c]and présidial of Paris, theChâtelet,which was overseen by theprévôtof Paris, civil and criminal lieutenants, and a royal officer in charge of maintaining public order in the capital, theLieutenant General of Policeof Paris.

Superior courts

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The following werecours souveraines,or superior courts, whose decisions could be revoked only by "the king in his conseil" (see administration section below).

The head of the judicial system in France was thechancellor.

Administration

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Main article:Conseil du Roi

One of the established principles of the French monarchy was that the king could not act without the advice of his counsel, and the formula "le roi en son conseil" expressed that deliberative aspect. The administration of the French state in the early modern period went through a long evolution, as a truly administrative apparatus, relying on old nobility, newer chancellor nobility ( "noblesse de robe" ) and administrative professionals, was substituted to the feudal clientelist system.

Conseil du Roi

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UnderCharles VIIIandLouis XII,the Conseil du Roi (King's Counsel) was dominated by members of about 20 noble or rich families. UnderFrancis Ithe number of counsellors increased to roughly 70 (although the old nobility was then proportionally more important than had been in the previous century). The most important positions in the court were those of theGreat Officers of the Crown of France,headed by theconnétable(chief military officer of the realm) until it was eliminated in 1627) and thechancellor.

The royal administration during the Renaissance was divided between a small counsel (the "secret" and later "high" counsel) of 6 or fewer members (3 members in 1535, 4 in 1554) for important matters of state and a larger counsel for judicial or financial affairs. Francis I was sometimes criticised for relying too heavily on a small number of advisors, andHenry II,Catherine de Mediciand their sons found themselves frequently unable to negotiate between the opposingGuiseandMontmorencyfamilies in their counsel.

Over time, the decision-making apparatus of the council was divided into several royal counsels. Its subcouncils can be generally grouped as "governmental councils", "financial councils" and "judicial and administrative councils". With the names and subdivisions of the 17th and 18th centuries, the subcouncils were the following:

Governmental councils:

  • Conseil d'en haut( "High Council", concerning the most important matters of state) – composed of the king, the crown prince (the "dauphin" ), the chancellor, thecontrôleur général des finances,and the secretary of state in charge of foreign affairs.
  • Conseil des dépêches( "Council of Messages", concerning notices and administrative reports from the provinces) – composed of the king, the chancellor, the secretaries of state, thecontrôleur général des finances,and other councillors according to the issues discussed.
  • Conseil de Conscience

Financial councils:

  • Conseil royal des finances( "Royal Council of Finances" ) – composed of the king, the "chef du conseil des finances" (an honorary post), the chancellor, thecontrôleur général des financesand two of his consellors, and the intendants of finance.
  • Conseil royal de commerce

Judicial and administrative councils:

  • Conseil d'État et des FinancesorConseil ordinaire des Finances– by the late 17th century, its functions were largely taken over by the three following sections.
  • Conseil privéorConseil des partiesorConseil d'État( "Privy Council" or "Council of State", concerning the judicial system, officially instituted in 1557) – the largest of the royal councils, composed of the chancellor, the dukes withpeerage,the ministers and secretaries of state, thecontrôleur général des finances,the 30councillors of state,the 80maître des requêtesand theintendantsof finance.
  • Grande Direction des Finances
  • Petite Direction des Finances

In addition to the above administrative institutions, the king was also surrounded by an extensive personal and court retinue (royal family,valet de chambres,guards, honorific officers), regrouped under the name "Maison du Roi".

At the death of Louis XIV, the RegentPhilippe II, Duke of Orléansabandoned several of the above administrative structures, most notably the Secretaries of State, which were replaced by councils. That system of government, called thePolysynody,lasted from 1715 to 1718.

17th-century state positions

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UnderHenry IVandLouis XIII,the administrative apparatus of the court and its councils was expanded and the proportion of the "noblesse de robe" increased and culminated in the following positions during the 17th century:

Royal administration in the provinces had been the role of thebailliagesandsénéchausséesin the Middle Ages, but that declined in the early modern period, and by the late 18th century, thebailliagesserved only a judicial function. The main source of royal administrative power in the provinces in the 16th and the early 17th centuries fell to thegouverneurs(who represented "the presence of the king in his province" ), positions which had long been held by only the highest ranked families in the realm. With the civil wars of the early modern period, the king increasingly turned to more tractable and subservient emissaries, which caused the growth of the provincialintendantsunder Louis XIII and Louis XIV. Indendants were chosen from among themaître des requêtes.Those attached to a province had jurisdiction over finances, justice and policing.

By the 18th century, royal administrative power had been firmly established in the provinces, despite protestations by local parlements. In addition to their role as appellate courts, regionalparlementshad gained the privilege to register the edicts of the king and to present the king with official complaints concerning the edicts. They thus had acquired a limited role as the representative voice of (predominantly) the magistrate class. A refusal by the parlement to register the edicts (frequently concerning fiscal matters) allowed the king to impose its registration through a royal assize ( "lit de justice" ).

The other traditionalrepresentatives' bodiesin the realm were theÉtats généraux(created in 1302), which reunited the threeestates of the realm(clergy, nobility and the third estate) and the États provinciaux (Provincial Estates). The États généraux (convoked in this period in 1484, 1560–61, 1576–1577, 1588–1589, 1593, 1614 and 1789) had been reunited during fiscal crises or convoked by parties malcontent with royal prerogatives (the Ligue, the Huguenots), but they had no true power since dissensions between the three orders rendered them weak and they were dissolved before having completed their work. As a sign of French absolutism, they ceased to be convoked from 1614 to 1789. The provincial estates proved to be more effective and were convoked by the king to respond to fiscal and tax policies.

Religion

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For church history in the 16th century, seeProtestant ReformationandFrench Wars of Religion.
Dioceses of France in 1789.

The French monarchy was irrevocably linked to theCatholic Church(the formula wasla France est la fille aînée de l'église,or "France is the eldest daughter of the church" ), and French theorists of thedivine right of kingsandsacerdotalpower in the Renaissance had made those links explicit.Henry IVwas able to ascend to the throne only after abjuring Protestantism. The symbolic power of the Catholic monarch was apparent in his crowning (the king was anointed with blessed oil inRheims) and he was popularly believed to be able to curescrofulaby laying on his hands (accompanied by the formula "the king touches you, but God heals you").

In 1500, France had 14 archbishoprics (Lyon, Rouen, Tours, Sens, Bourges, Bordeaux, Auch, Toulouse, Narbonne, Aix-en-Provence, Embrun, Vienne, Arles and Rheims) and 100 bishoprics. By the 18th century, archbishoprics and bishoprics had expanded to a total of 139 (seeList of Ancien Régime dioceses of France). The upper levels of the French church were made up predominantly of old nobility, both from provincial families and from royal court families, and many of the offices had becomede factohereditary possessions, with some members possessing multiple offices. In addition to the fiefs that church members possessed as seigneurs, the church also possessed seigneurial lands in its own right and enacted justice upon them.

In the early the 16th century, thesecular clergy(curates,vicars,canons,etc.) accounted for around 100,000 individuals in France.[20]

Other temporal powers of the church included playing a political role as thefirst estatein the "États Généraux" and the "États Provinciaux" (Provincial Assemblies) and in Provincial Conciles orSynodsconvoked by the king to discuss religious issues. The church also claimed a prerogative to judge certain crimes, most notably heresy, although the Wars of Religion did much to place that crime in the purview of the royal courts and parliament. Finally, abbots, cardinals and other prelates were frequently employed by the kings as ambassadors, members of his councils (such asRichelieuandMazarin) and in other administrative positions.

The faculty of theology of Paris (often called theSorbonne), maintained acensorship board,which reviewed publications for their religious orthodoxy. The Wars of Religion saw their control over censorship however pass to the parliament and, in the 17th century to the royal censors, although the church maintained a right to petition.

The church was the primary provider of schools (primary schools and "colleges" ) and hospitals ( "hôtel-Dieu", theSisters of Charity) and distributor of relief to the poor in pre-revolutionary France.

ThePragmatic Sanction of Bourges(1438, suppressed byLouis XIbut brought back by the États Généraux of Tours in 1484) gave the election of bishops and abbots to the cathedralchapter housesandabbeysof France, thus stripping the pope of effective control of the French church and permitting the beginning of aGallican church.However, in 1515, Francis I signed a new agreement with PopeLeo X,theConcordat of Bologna,which gave the king the right to nominate candidates and the pope the right ofinvestiture.The agreement infuriated Gallicans but gave the king control over important ecclesiastical offices with which to benefit nobles.

Although exempted from thetaille,the church was required to pay the crown a tax called the "free gift" ( "don gratuit" ), which it collected from its office holders, at roughly a twentieth the price of the office (that was the "décime", reapportioned every five years). In its turn, the church exacted a mandatory tithe from its parishioners, called the "dîme".

In theCounter-Reformation,the French church created numerous religious orders such as theJesuitsand made great improvements in the quality of its parish priests; the first decades of the 17th century were characterized by a massive outpouring of devotional texts and religious fervor, exemplified inSaint Francis of SalesandSaint Vincent de Paul.Although theEdict of Nantes(1598) permitted the existence of Protestant churches in the realm (characterized as "a state within a state" ), over the next eighty years the rights of theHuguenotsslowly eroded, until Louis XIV finallyrevoked the edictin 1685, which caused a massive emigration of Huguenots to other countries. Religious practices that veered too close to Protestantism (likeJansenism) or to the mystical (likeQuietism) were also severely suppressed, as werelibertinageor overtatheism.

Regular clergy(those inCatholic religious orders) in France numbered into the tens of thousands in the 16th century. Some orders, like theBenedictines,were largely rural; others, like theDominicans(also called "Jacobins" ) and theFranciscans(also called "cordeliers" ) operated in cities.[20]

Although the church came under attack in the 18th century by the philosophers ofthe Enlightenmentand recruitment of clergy and monastic orders dropped after 1750, figures show that on the whole, the population remained a profoundly Catholic country (absenteeism from services did not exceed 1% in the middle of the century[25]). At the eve of the revolution, the church possessed upwards of 7% of the country's land (figures vary) and generated yearly revenues of 150 million livres.

Gallicanism

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Louis XIV supported theGallican Churchto give the government a greater role than the pope in choosing bishops and the revenues from vacant bishoprics. There would be no inquisition in France, and papal decrees only held sway after the government approved them. Louis avoided schism and wanted more royal power over the French Church but did not want to break free of Rome. The pope likewise recognized the "most Christian king" was a powerful ally, who could not be alienated.[26]

Monasteries

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Until the French Revolution, the monastic community constituted a central element of the economic, social, and religious life of many localities under the Old Regime. From the end of the Wars of Religion to the French Revolution,Menat,a Cluniac abbey dating back to 1107, ruled over the Sioule Valley in the northwest region of the Clermont diocese. The monks were large landholders and developed a diversified and complex set of links with their neighbors. They received seigniorial rights; provided work to the rural poor and were in daily contact with notaries public, merchants, and surgeons. While they did not directly manage the religious life of the faithful, which was done by parish priests, monks were a motivating force in it by setting up of a parish clergy, providing alms and social services and playing the role of intercessors.

Convents

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Communities of nuns in France on the eve of Revolution had on average 25 members and a median age of 48 years. Nuns were both entering the profession later and living longer than ever. In general, they had little wealth. Recruitment varied from region to region and by convent lifestyle (active or contemplative, austere or opulent, lower class or middle class). The nature of male and female monasticism differed greatly in France both before and during the revolution. Convents tended to be more isolated and less centrally controlled, which made for greater diversity among them than among male monasteries.[27]

Reformation and the Protestant minority

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French Protestantism, which was largelyCalvinist,derived its support from the lesser nobles and trading classes. Its two main strongholds were southwestern France and Normandy, but even there, Catholics were a majority. Protestantism in France was considered to be a grave threat to national unity, as the Huguenot minority felt a closer affinity with German and Dutch Calvinists than with its fellow Frenchmen. In an effort to cement their position, Huguenots often allied with France's enemies. The animosity between the two sides led to the French Wars of Religion and the tragicSt. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.The religious wars ended in 1593, when the HuguenotHenry of Navarre(1553–1610), who was already effectively king of France, became a Catholic and was recognized by both Catholics and Protestants as KingHenry IV(reigned 1589–1610).

The main provisions of theEdict of Nantes(1598), which Henry IV had issued as a charter of religious freedoms for the Huguenots, allowed Huguenots to hold religious services in certain towns in each province, allowed them to control and fortify eight cities, established special courts to try Huguenots, and gave Huguenots the same civil rights as Catholics.

Military privileges were incorporated in the edict to allay the fears of the minority. Over time, those privileges were clearly open to abuse. In 1620, the Huguenots proclaimed a constitution for the "Republic of the Reformed Churches of France", and Prime MinisterCardinal Richelieu(1585–1642) invoked the full powers of the state and captured La Rochelle after a long siege in 1628. The next year, theTreaty of Alaisleft the Huguenots their religious freedom but revoked their military freedoms.

Montpellierwas among the most important of the 66villes de sûretéthat the 1598 edict had granted to the Huguenots. The city's political institutions and university were handed over to the Huguenots. Tension with Paris led to a siege by the royal army in 1622. Peace terms called for the dismantling of the city's fortifications. A royal citadel was built, and the university and consulate were taken over by the Catholics. Even before the Edict of Alès, Protestant rule was dead and theville de sûretéwas no more.

By 1620 the Huguenots were on the defensive, and the government increasingly applied pressure. A series of small civil wars that broke out in southern France between 1610 and 1635 were long considered by historians to be regional squabbles between rival noble families. New analysis shows that the civil wars were in fact religious in nature and remnants of the French Wars of Religion, which had largely ended by the Edict of Nantes. Small wars in the provinces of Languedoc and Guyenne had Catholics and Calvinists use destruction of churches, iconoclasm, forced conversions and the execution of heretics as weapons of choice.

Louis XIV acted more and more aggressively to force the Huguenots to convert. At first, he sent missionaries, which were backed by a fund to reward converts to Catholicism financially. Then, he imposed penalties, closed Huguenots' schools and excluded them from favorite professions. Escalating the attack, he tried to convert the Huguenots by force by sending armeddragonnades(soldiers) to occupy and loot their houses. Finally, the 1685Edict of Fontainebleaurevoked the Edict of Nantes.[28][29]

The revocation forbade Protestant services, required children to be educated as Catholics and prohibited most Huguenot emigration. That proved disastrous to the Huguenots and costly for France by precipitating civil bloodshed, ruining commerce and resulting in the illegal flight from the country of about 180,000 Protestants, many of whom became intellectuals, doctors and business leaders in England, Scotland, the Netherlands Prussia and South Africa; also, 4000 went to the American colonies.[28][29]

The English welcomed the French refugees by providing money from both government and private agencies to aid their relocation. The Huguenots who stayed in France became Catholics and were called "new converts". Only a few Protestant villages remained in isolated areas.[28][29]

By the 1780s, Protestants comprised about 700,000 people, or 2% of the population. It was no longer a favorite religion of the elite since most Protestants were peasants. Protestantism was still illegal. The law was seldom enforced but could be a threat or a nuisance to Protestants.

Calvinists lived primarily in the southern France, and about 200,000 Lutherans lived in Alsace, where the 1648Treaty of Westphaliastill protected them.[30]

In addition, there were about 40,000 to 50,000 Jews in France, chiefly centred in Bordeaux, Metz and a few other cities. They had very limited rights and opportunities, apart from the moneylending business, but their status was legal.[31]

Social structure

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A prerevolutionary cartoon showing the Third Estate carrying on her back the Second Estate (the nobility) and the First Estate (the clergy)
A prerevolutionary cartoon showing the Third Estate carrying on his back the Second Estate (the nobility) and the First Estate (the clergy)

Political power was widely dispersed among the elites. The law courts calledparlementswere powerful, especially that of France. However, the king had only about 10,000 officials in royal service: very few indeed for a large country with very slow internal communications over an inadequate road system. Travel was usually faster by ocean ship or river boat.[32]The differentestates of the realm(the clergy, the nobility, and commoners) occasionally met together in theEstates General,but in practice, the Estates General had no power since it could petition the king but not pass laws itself.

The Catholic Church controlled about 40% of the country's wealth, which was tied up in long-term endowments that could be added to but not reduced. The king, not the pope, nominated bishops, but typically had to negotiate with noble families that had close ties to local monasteries and church establishments.

The nobility came second in terms of wealth but had no unity. Each noble had his own lands, his own network of regional connections and his own military force.[32]

The cities had a quasi-independent status and were largely controlled by the leading merchants and guilds. Paris was by far the largest city, with 220,000 people in 1547 and a history of steady growth. Lyon and Rouen each had about 40,000 population, but Lyon had a powerful banking community and a vibrant culture. Bordeaux was next, with only 20,000 population in 1500.[32]

The role of women has recently received attention, especially regarding their religiosity.[33][34]

Peasants

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Peasants made up the vast majority of the population, and in many cases had well-established rights the authorities had to respect. In 1484, about 97% of France's 13 million people lived in rural villages. In 1700, at least 80% of the population of 20 million were peasants.

In the 17th century, peasants had ties to the market economy, provided much of the capital investment necessary for agricultural growth and frequently changed villages or towns.Geographic mobility,directly tied to the market and the need for investment capital, was the main path to social mobility. The stable core of French society, town guildspeople and village labourers, included cases of staggering social and geographic continuity, but even that core required regular renewal.[35]

Accepting the existence of both of those societies, the constant tension between them and extensive geographic and social mobility tied to a market economy were the key to the evolution of the social structure, the economy and even the political system of early modern France. TheAnnales Schoolparadigm underestimated the role of the market economy and failed to explain the nature of capital investment in the rural economy and grossly exaggerated social stability.[35]Demands by peasants played a major role in fashioning the early stages of the French Revolution in 1789.[36]

Historians have explored numerous aspects of peasant life in France, such as:[37]

  • The struggle against nature and society
  • Life and death in the peasant village
  • Scarcity and insecurity in agrarian life
  • A source of peasant strength; the village community
  • Peasant protests and popular uprisings
  • The peasant revolution of 1789.

Downfall

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Main article:Causes of the French Revolution
One of the assistants ofCharles Henri Sansonshows the head of Louis XVI.

In 1789, theancien régimewas violently overthrown by theFrench Revolution.Although France in 1785 facedeconomicdifficulties that concerned mostly the equitability of taxation, it was one of the richest and most powerful nations of Europe.[38]TheFrench peoplealso enjoyed morepolitical freedomand a lower incidence of arbitrary punishment than many of their fellow Europeans.

However,Louis XVI,his ministers, and the widespread French nobility had become immensely unpopular because the peasants and, to a lesser extent, thebourgeoisiewere burdened with ruinously high taxes, which were levied to support wealthy aristocrats and their sumptuous lifestyles.

Historians explain the sudden collapse of theancien régimeas stemming in part from its rigidity. Aristocrats were confronted by the rising ambitions of merchants, tradesmen and prosperous farmers allied with aggrieved peasants, wage-earners and intellectuals influenced by the ideas ofEnlightenmentphilosophers. As the revolution proceeded, power devolved from the monarchy and privileged-by-birth to more representative political bodies, like legislative assemblies, but conflicts among formerly allied republican groups caused considerable discord and bloodshed.

A growing number of French people had absorbed the ideas of "equality" and "freedom of the individual" as presented byVoltaire,Diderot,Turgot,and otherphilosophers and social theoristsof the Enlightenment. TheAmerican Revolutionhad demonstrated that Enlightenment ideas about the organisation of governance could actually be put into practice. Some American diplomats, likeBenjamin FranklinandThomas Jefferson,had lived inParisand consorted freely with members of the French intellectual class there. Furthermore, contact between American revolutionaries and the French soldiers, who had provided aid to theContinental Armyin North America during theAmerican Revolutionary War,helped to spread revolutionary ideals in France.

After a time, many people in France began to attack thedemocraticdeficit of their own government, push forfreedom of speech,challenge theRoman Catholic Churchand decry the prerogatives of the nobles.[39]

The revolution was caused by not a single event but a series of events that together irreversibly changed the organisation of political power, the nature of society and the exercise of individual freedoms.

Nostalgia

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For some observers, the term came to denote a certain nostalgia. For example,Charles de Talleyrandfamously quipped:

Celui qui n'a pas vécu au dix-huitième siècle avant la Révolution ne connaît pas la douceur de vivre:[d]( "He who has not lived in the eighteenth century before the Revolution does not know the sweetness of living." )

That affection was caused by the perceived decline in culture and values after the revolution, in which the aristocracy lost much of its economic and political power to what was seen as a rich, coarse and materialistic bourgeoisie. The theme recurs throughout 19th-centuryFrench literature,withHonoré de BalzacandGustave Flaubertalike attacking the mores of the new upper classes. To that mindset, theancien régimehad expressed a bygone era of refinement and grace before the revolution and its associated changes ushered in a crude uncertain modernity.

The historianAlexis de Tocquevilleargued against that defining narrative in his classic studyL'Ancien Régime et la Révolution,which highlighted the continuities in French institutions before and after the revolution.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^According to theOxford English Dictionary(second edition, 1989) and theNew Oxford American Dictionary(third edition, 2010), the original French is translated "old rule". The term no longer needs to be italicised since it has become part of theEnglish language.According to theNew Oxford American Dictionary(2010), when it is capitalised, it refers specifically to the political and social system in France before the French Revolution. When it is not capitalised, it can refer to any political or social system that has been displaced.
  2. ^In 1492, roughly 450,000 km2compared to 550,000 km2today.
  3. ^Despite being called aprévôté,theprévôtéof Paris was effectively abailliage.See[23]
  4. ^"Celui qui n'a pas vécu au dix-huitième siècle avant la Révolution ne connaît pas la douceur de vivre et ne peut imaginer ce qu'il peut y avoir de bonheur dans la vie. C'est le siècle qui a forgé toutes les armes victorieuses contre cet insaisissable adversaire qu'on appelle l'ennui. L'Amour, la Poésie, la Musique, le Théâtre, la Peinture, l'Architecture, la Cour, les Salons, les Parcs et les Jardins, la Gastronomie, les Lettres, les Arts, les Sciences, tout concourait à la satisfaction des appétits physiques, intellectuels et même moraux, au raffinement de toutes les voluptés, de toutes les élégances et de tous les plaisirs. L'existence était si bien remplie qui si le dix-septième siècle a été le Grand Siècle des gloires, le dix-huitième a été celui des indigestions." Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord: Mémoires du Prince de Talleyrand: La Confession de Talleyrand, V. 1-5 Chapter: La jeunesse – Le cercle de Madame du Barry.

References

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  1. ^Dewever, Richard (June 14, 2017)."On the changing size of nobility under ancien régime, 1500-1789"(PDF).L'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales.RetrievedFebruary 3,2022.
  2. ^The National Assembly (19 June 1790)."Decree on the Abolition of the Nobility"(PDF).The Open University.Archived(PDF)from the original on 2017-10-19.RetrievedDecember 27,2021.
  3. ^"Ancien Regime",Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World,The Gale Group Inc., 2004,retrieved26 February2017– via Encyclopedia.com
  4. ^"Definition of ANCIEN RÉGIME".merriam-webster.com.Retrieved2023-10-26.
  5. ^"Wars of Religion | French history | Encyclopædia Britannica".britannica.com.Retrieved2022-03-14.
  6. ^Major 1994,pp. xx–xxi
  7. ^Doyle 2012,p. 1.
  8. ^Schama, Simon(1989).Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution.New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 184.
  9. ^Wolf, John B.(1951).The Emergence of the Great Powers: 1685–1715.Harper. pp. 15–53.ISBN9789070084745.
  10. ^Nolan, Cathal J. (2008).Wars of the Age of Louis XIV, 1650-1715.pp. 71, 444–445.
  11. ^Wolf (1951),p. 59-91.
  12. ^López, Ignacio Vicent (1 January 1994)."Una cuestión de estilo".Madrid.
  13. ^Satsuma, Shinsuke (2013).Britain and Colonial Maritime War in the Early Eighteenth Century: Silver, Seapower and the Atlantic.Boydell & Brewer. pp. 1–2.ISBN9781843838623.
  14. ^abKennedy, Paul(1987).The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers.Random House.ISBN0-394-54674-1.
  15. ^Kamen, Henry (1969).The War of Succession in Spain, 1700-1715.
  16. ^Falkner, James (2015).The War of the Spanish Succession 1701–1714.
  17. ^Lynch, John (1989).Bourbon Spain 1700–1808.
  18. ^Davis, William Stearns (1919).A History of France from the Earliest Times to the Treaty of Versailles.Houghton Mifflin. p.193.
  19. ^Roberts, Penfield (1947).The Quest for Security: 1715 – 1740.pp. 1–20.;Ogg, David (1965).Europe of the Ancien Régime: 1715-1783.pp. 128–150.
  20. ^abcBély (1994),p. 50.
  21. ^Morrill, J. S. (1978). Briggs, R.; Kierstead, R. F.; Coveney, P. J.; Mettam, R.; Hatton, R.; Klaits, Joseph; Baxter, Douglas C.; Hamscher, Albert M. (eds.)."French Absolutism As Limited Monarchy".The Historical Journal.21(4): 961–972.doi:10.1017/S0018246X00000777.ISSN0018-246X.JSTOR2638977.S2CID159560630.
  22. ^abSalmon (1975),p. 77.
  23. ^Salmon (1975),p. 73.
  24. ^Salmon (1975),p. 67.
  25. ^Viguerie (1995),p. 280.
  26. ^Wolf (1968),p. 388–392.
  27. ^Rapley, Elizabeth; Rapley, Robert (1997). "An Image of Religious Women in the 'Ancien Regime': the 'Etats Des Religieuses' of 1790–1791".French History.11(4): 387–410.doi:10.1093/fh/11.4.387.
  28. ^abcWolf (1968),ch. 24.
  29. ^abcVan Ruymbeke, Bertrand (2001). "Escape from Babylon".Christian History.20(3): 38–42.
  30. ^Aston (2000),p. 61-72.
  31. ^Aston (2000),p. 72–89.
  32. ^abcBaumgartner, Frederick J. (1995).France in the Sixteenth Century.St. Martin's Press. pp. 4–7.ISBN9780312099640.
  33. ^Gibson, Wendy (1989).Women in seventeenth-century France.Palgrave Macmillan UK.ISBN9780333463956.
  34. ^Rapley, Elizabeth (1990).The dévotes: women and church in seventeenth-century France.McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP.ISBN9780773507272.
  35. ^abCollins, James B. (1991). "Geographic and Social Mobility in Early-modern France".Journal of Social History.24(3): 563–577.doi:10.1353/jsh/24.3.563.For theAnnales Schoolinterpretation, seeGoubert, Pierre (1986).The French Peasantry in the Seventeenth Century.
  36. ^McPhee, Peter (1989). "The French Revolution, peasants, and capitalism".American Historical Review.94(5): 1265–1280.doi:10.2307/1906350.JSTOR1906350.
  37. ^Woloch, Isser,ed. (1970).The peasantry in the old regime: conditions and protests.Holt, Rinehart and Winston.ISBN9780030798306.
  38. ^Gash, Norman. "Reflections on the revolution – French Revolution".National Review.Yet in 1789 France was the largest, wealthiest, and most powerful state in Western Europe[verification needed]
  39. ^"The Origins of the French Revolution".Historyguide.org.30 October 2006.Retrieved18 November2011.

Works cited

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  • Aston, Nigel (2000).Religion and Revolution in France, 1780-1804.Washington D.C.: Catholic University of America Press.ISBN978-0-8132-0977-7.OCLC59522675.,comprehensive overview
  • Bély, Lucien (1994).La France moderne: 1498–1789.Collection: Premier Cycle (in French). Paris: PUF.ISBN2-1304-7406-3.
  • Doyle, William, ed. (2012).The Oxford Handbook of the Ancien Régime.OUP Oxford.ISBN978-0-1992-9120-5.
  • Major, J. Russell (1994).From Renaissance Monarchy to Absolute Monarchy: French Kings, Nobles & Estates.JHU Press.ISBN0-8018-5631-0.
  • Salmon, J.H.M. (1975).Society in Crisis: France in the Sixteenth Century.University paperbacks. Vol. 681. London: Methuen.ISBN0-4167-3050-7.
  • Viguerie, Jean de (1995).Histoire et dictionnaire du temps des Lumières 1715–1789.Collection: Bouquins (in French). Paris: Laffont.ISBN2-2210-4810-5.
  • Wolf, John B.(1968).Louis XIV.Gollancz.ISBN978-0-5750-0088-9.

Further reading

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  • Baker, Keith Michael (1987).The French Revolution and the creation of modern political culture.Vol. 1, The Political Culture of Old Regime. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
  • Behrens, C.B.A.Ancien Regime(1989)
  • Black, Jeremy.From Louis XIV to Napoleon: The Fate of a Great Power(1999)
  • Bluche, François (1993).L'Ancien Régime: Institutions et société(in French) (Livre de poche ed.). Paris: Fallois.ISBN2-2530-6423-8.
  • Brockliss, Laurence and Colin Jones.The Medical World of Early Modern France(1997); highly detailed survey, 1600–1790sISBN0-1982-2750-7
  • Darnton, Robert. (1982).Literary Underground of the Old Regime.Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
  • Doyle, William, ed. (2001).Old Regime France: 1648–1788.Oxford University Press.ISBN0-1987-3129-9.OL6796918M.
  • Goubert, Pierre(1972).Louis XIV and Twenty Million Frenchmen.ISBN978-0-3947-1751-7.,social history fromAnnales School
  • Goubert, Pierre(1986).The French Peasantry in the Seventeenth Century.Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-5213-1269-1.
  • Hauser, H. "The Characteristic Features of French Economic History from the Middle of the Sixteenth to the Middle of the Eighteenth Century."Economic History Reviewvolume 4, page 3, 1933, pp. 257–272.JSTOR2590647
  • Holt, Mack P.Renaissance and Reformation France: 1500–1648(2002)ISBN0-1987-3165-5
  • Jones, Colin.The Great Nation: France from Louis XV to Napoleon(2002).ISBN0-1401-3093-4OL7348269M
  • Jouanna, Arlette; Hamon, Philippe; Biloghi, Dominique; Thiec, Guy (1998).Histoire et dictionnaire des Guerres de religion(in French) (Bouquins ed.). Paris: Laffont.ISBN2-2210-7425-4.
  • Jouanna, Arlette; Hamon, Philippe; Biloghi, Dominique; Thiec, Guy (2001).La France de la Renaissance; Histoire et dictionnaire(in French) (Bouquins ed.). Paris: Laffont.ISBN2-2210-7426-2.
  • Kendall, Paul Murray.Louis XI: The Universal Spider.(1971).ISBN0-3933-0260-1
  • Kors, Alan Charles.Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment(1990; 2nd ed. 2003)ISBN0-1951-0430-7
  • Knecht, R.J.The Rise and Fall of Renaissance France.(1996).ISBN0-0068-6167-9
  • Le Roy Ladurie, Emmanuel.The Ancien Regime: A History of France 1610–1774(1999), political surveyISBN0-6312-1196-9
  • Lindsay, J.O. ed.The New Cambridge Modern History, Vol. 7: The Old Regime, 1713-1763(1957)online
  • Lynn, John A.The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714(1999)ISBN0-5820-5629-2
  • Mayer, Arno(2010) [1981].The Persistence of the Old Regime: Europe to the Great War.London & Brooklyn, NY:Verso.ISBN978-1-8446-7636-1.
  • O'Gorman, Frank. "Eighteenth-Century England as an Ancien Régime," in Stephen Taylor, ed.Hanoverian Britain and Empire(1998) argues that a close comparison with England shows that France did have an Ancien Régime and England did not (an attack on Jonathan Clark.English Society, 1688–1832(1985))
  • Perkins, James Breck.France under Louis XV(1897)
  • Pillorget, René; Pillorget, Suzanne (1995).France Baroque, France Classique 1589–171(in French) (Bouquins ed.). Paris: Laffont.ISBN2-2210-8110-2.
  • Potter, David.A History of France, 1460–1560: The Emergence of a Nation-State(1995)
  • Riley, James C. "French Finances, 1727-1768,"Journal of Modern History(1987) volume 59, page 2, pp. 209–243JSTOR1879726
  • Roche, Daniel.France in the Enlightenment(1998), wide-ranging history 1700–1789ISBN0-6740-0199-0
  • Schaeper, T.J.The Economy of France in the Second Half of the Reign of Louis XIV(Montreal, 1980).
  • Spencer, Samia I., ed.French Women and the Age of Enlightenment.1984.
  • Sutherland, D. M. G. "Peasants, Lords, and Leviathan: Winners and Losers from the Abolition of French Feudalism, 1780-1820,"Journal of Economic History(2002) volume 62, pp. 1–24JSTOR2697970
  • Tocqueville, Alexis de(1856).L'Ancien Régime et la Révolution(2008 ed.). Penguin Publishing.ISBN0-1414-4164-X.OL25953921M.
  • Treasure, G.R.R.Seventeenth Century France(2nd ed. 1981), a leading scholarly survey
  • Treasure, G.R.R.Louis XIV(2001) short scholarly biography;excerpt

Religion

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  • McManners, John(1999).Church and Society in Eighteenth-Century France.Vol. 1: The Clerical Establishment and Its Social Ramifications, Vol. 2: The Religion of the People and the Politics of Religion.
  • Palmer, R.R.(1939).Catholics and Unbelievers in Eighteenth-Century France.Princeton University Press.
  • Van Kley, Dale(1996).The Religious Origins of the French Revolution: From Calvin to the Civil Constitution, 1560–1791.
  • Ward, W. R.(1999).Christianity under the Ancien Régime, 1648–1789.
Preceded by French periods of history
1453–1789 		Succeeded by
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