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Ancien Rgime

This article is about the administrative, judicial, and ecclesiastic structures of the Kingdom of France in the prerevolutionary period. For a general history of France in
this period, see Early modern France. For the political
history of France in this period, see Kingdom of France.
The Ancien Rgime (French pronunciation: [ .sj eim],

by the Wars of Religion. Much of the reigns of Henry


IV, Louis XIII and the early years of Louis XIV were focused on administrative centralisation. Despite, however,
the notion of extquotedblabsolute monarchy extquotedbl
(typied by the kings right to issue lettres de cachet)
and the eorts by the kings to create a centralized state,
Ancien Rgime France remained a country of systemic
irregularities: administrative (including taxation), legal,
judicial, and ecclesiastic divisions and prerogatives frequently overlapped, while the French nobility struggled
to maintain their own rights in the matters of local government and justice, and powerful internal conicts (like
the Fronde) protested against this centralization.
The need for centralization in this period was directly
linked to the question of royal nances and the ability to
wage war. The internal conicts and dynastic crises of the
16th and 17th centuries (the Wars of Religion, the conict with the Habsburgs) and the territorial expansion of
France in the 17th century demanded great sums which
needed to be raised through taxes, such as the taille and
the gabelle and by contributions of men and service from
the nobility.

One key to this centralization was the replacing of personal extquotedblclientele extquotedbl systems organized
around the king and other nobles by institutional systems around the state.[1] The creation of the Intendants
representatives of royal power in the provincesdid
much to undermine local control by regional nobles. The
same was true of the greater reliance shown by the royal
court on the noblesse de robe as judges and royal counselors. The creation of regional parlements had initially
the same goal of facilitating the introduction of royal
power into newly assimilated territories, but as the parLouis XIV, the Sun King
lements gained in self-assurance, they began to be sources
Old or Former Regime) was the monarchic, aristocratic, of disunity.
social and political system established in the Kingdom
of France from approximately the 15th century until the
later 18th century ( extquotedblearly modern France ex- 1 Terminology
tquotedbl) under the late Valois and Bourbon dynasties.
The administrative and social structures of the Ancien The term is French for Ancient Regime, but can also be
Rgime were the result of years of state-building, legisla- rendered in English as Old (or Former) Regime, Old
tive acts (like the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterts), inter- Order, or Old Rule. Most English language books
nal conicts and civil wars, but they remained a confusing use Ancien Rgime. The term rst appeared in print in
patchwork of local privilege and historic dierences until English in 1794, and was originally pejorative in nature:
the French Revolution ended the system.
Simon Schama has observed: virtually as soon as the
Much of the medieval political centralization of France
had been lost in the Hundred Years War, and the Valois Dynastys attempts at re-establishing control over the
scattered political centres of the country were hindered

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
1

2 PROVINCES AND ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS

organism within. Institutionally torpid, economically immobile, culturally atrophied and socially stratied, this
'old regime' was incapable of self-modernization.[2]
More generally, ancien rgime refers to any political and
social system having the principal features of the French
Ancien Rgime. Europes other anciens rgimes had similar origins, but diverse fates: some eventually evolved
into constitutional monarchies, whereas others were torn
down by wars and revolutions.

Provinces and administrative divisions

2.1

Territorial expansion

under French control since 1349)


under Louis XII Milan (1500, lost in 1521),
Naples (1500, lost in 1504)
under Francis I Brittany (1532)
under Henry II de facto Trois-vchs (Metz,
Toul, Verdun) (1552), Calais (1559)
under Henry IV County of Foix (1607)
under Louis XIII Barn and Navarre (1620, under French control since 1589 as part of Henry IV's
possessions)
Bergen op

D. of CLEVES

B. of MNSTER

France in 1477

LIGE

L
CO
h. of

Arc

Zoom
Royal domains
D. of
Duchy
GUELDERS
Antwerp
Bruges
Calais
Other houses House of Burgundy
Capetian houses
Ghent
of
Horne
County of
Burgundy
Gravelines
Foix
Valois-Alenon
D.
Boulogne
Jlich
BRABANT
FLANDERS
Cologne
Burgundy-Nevers
Armagnac
Valois-Anjou
County
Brussels
Lille
of
County
Guinegate
Aachen
Albret
Valois-Orlans
Tournai
Genappe
Saint-Pol
of
Limbourg
Lige
JLICH
Douai
Namur
Other
Dunois (Orlans)
County
of ARTOIS
HAINAUT
County of
Arras
of EU
Valenciennes
Valois-Angoulme
LONGUEVILLE
Bapaume
P
B. of
ICA
Dieppe
Eu
Dinant
CAMBRAI
Bourbon
Chimay
RD
Arch.
Cherbourg
Picquigny
B.
Y St-Quentin Guise
Duchy
Longueville
Bourbon-Vendme Guernsey
Amiens
C.
Nesle Ham
C. of

OG

of

NE

AUNIS

Rochefort
Saintes

SA

IN

L. : Lordship
V. : Viscount
C. : Count
M. : Marquisate
D. : Duchy
K. : Kingdom
B. : Bishopric
Arch. : Archbishopric

Nevers

C. of

TO

Prigueux
Bordeaux

Castillon

Turenne

G U Y E N N E
Bazas

Tartas

C. of
FOREZ

R
BA

Duchy
Geneva

Duchy

Faucigny

Annecy

Lyon

Aosta

SAVOY

Valence

VELAY

DAUPHIN

Montlaur

Brianon

Montlimar

Als

Valais
inf.

of

Chambry

Grenoble

Mende

RODEZ

Montauban

C. of ARMAGNAC

Lausanne

Saint-Claude

Annonay

Apcher

Neuchtel

Pontarlier

Bourg

Le Puy

GVAUDAN

B.
of
BASEL

BURGUNDY

Vienne

Rodez

Lectoure

Besanon

Auxonne

Mcon
Beaujeu

Feurs

Carlat

County of

Cahors
Agen

Semur

Montbrison

Murat

Aurillac

Gourdon

Marmande

Albret

Thiers

La Tour

Duchy Issoire
of AUVERGNE

Vesoul C. Mulhouse
of SUNDGAU
MONTBLIARD

Poligny

L. of
BEAUJEU

Ventadour

V. of Tulle
TURENNE

Sarlat

L. of ALBRET

Clermont

V. of LIMOGES

PRIGORD

Montpensier

Salm

Luxeuil

County of

Beaune

C. of
CHAROLAIS
Charolles

Cusset

Riom

Limoges

Angoulme

Evaux

Bourganeuf

Blmont

Epinal

Mnster

Chalon

BourbonLancy

Duchy
of BOURBON

Guret

Chteau-Chinon

NEVERS
Moulins

LA MARCHE

C.
of ANGOULME

NG

Dax

BERRY

La Trmouille

Nancy

D. of

Langres

Duchy
of Dijon
BURGUNDY

of

ME
TZ

LORRAINE

Semur

County

Metz

of

Joinville

Tonnerre
C. of
TONNERRE

Sancerre

Bourges

Saarbrcken

B.

SWISS CONFEDERATION

La Rochelle

Niort

Troyes
Brienne

of

Trier

TRIER

B.
of TOUL

Bar

Sens

Auxerre

Poitiers

Benon

M
NE

B. of
VERDUN

Joigny

Chteauroux

Fontenay

of

R
OU

IS

ch

Gien

C. of
BLOIS

Thouars
Loches
V. of
L. of PARTHENAY CHTELLERAULT

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Luxembourg
Longwy

NA

TOURAINE

Chinon

Nemours

D.

Orlans

of ORLANS

Tours

Plessis

Saumur

C. of RETZ

C. of
DUNOIS

C. of

Chlons

C. of
VERTUS

Nogent

Chartres

Vendme
Blois

Vertus

Montlhry Melun

C. of Chteaudun
VENDME

Rethel

CHAMPAGNE

Saint-Maur

Montfort

C. of ERRE
SANC

Nantes

English
possessions
Ecclesiastical
states
Free Imperial
cities
Other

Le Mans

Duchy
of ANJOU

Ancenis

Paris

Laon

D. of Soissons Roucy RETHEL


VALOIS Reims
Grandpr

ON

Graon

Machecoul

French territorial expansion from 15521798.

C. of
MAINE

Laval

Rennes

Josselin

C. of
PERCHE

Mayenne

Gurande

Conflans

Breteuil

ALENON Nogent-leRoi
Duchy ofAlenon
Mortagne

Fougres

Vannes

Belle-le

Beaumont Senlis

LY

Argentan

Mortain
Dol

Duchy of
BRITTANY

Clermont

Beauvais
Harcourt

of
LUXEMBOURG

GUISE

Rouen

Caen

NORMANDY
Lamballe

C. of
CLERMONT

Bayeux
Coutances

C. of
PENTHIVRE

of

of AUMALE Aumale

Harfleur

Brest

Jersey

Trguier

Saint-Pol-de-Lon

Orange

County of
VENAISSIN
(Papal States)

Gap Embrun

Marquisate
of
SALUZZO

Sisteron

In the mid-15th century, France was signicantly smaller


than it is today,[3] and numerous border provinces (such
as Roussillon, Cerdagne, Conent, Vallespir, Capcir,
Calais, Barn, Navarre, County of Foix, Flanders, Artois,
Lorraine, Alsace, Trois-vchs, Franche-Comt, Savoy, France in 1477. Red line: Boundary of the Kingdom of France;
Bresse, Bugey, Gex, Nice, Provence, Dauphin, and Light blue: the directly held royal domain.
Brittany) were either autonomous or belonged to the Holy
Roman Empire, the Crown of Aragon or the Kingdom of
under Louis XIV
Navarra; there were also foreign enclaves, like the Comtat
Venaissin.
--- Treaty of Westphalia (1648) Alsace and de
In addition, certain provinces within France were osjure Trois-Evchs
tensibly personal efdoms of noble families (like the
--- Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) Artois,
Bourbonnais, Marche, Forez and Auvergne provinces
Northern Catalonia (Roussillon, Cerdagne)
held by the House of Bourbon until the provinces were
--- Treaty of Nijmegen (167879) Francheforcibly integrated into the royal domain in 1527 after
Comt, Flanders
the fall of Charles III, Duke of Bourbon).
Kingdom of
CASTILE

Orthez

Saint-JeanPied-de-Port

Maulon
V. of
V.
SOULE

Pamplona

NAVARRE

French acquisitions from 14611768:

Pau

of
BARN

K. of

From the late fteenth century up to the late seventeenth


century, (and again in the 1760s) France underwent a
massive territorial expansion and an attempt to better integrate its provinces into an administrative whole.

Auch

Bayonne

Toulouse

Mirande

Tarbes

C. of
BIGORRE

Kingdom
of ARAGON

Millau

Castelnaudary

C. of
COMMINGES

C. of
FOIX

Foix

ANDORRA

Principality
of ORANGE

Albi

L'Isle-Jourdain

Lavaur

Lodve

Castres

LANGUEDOC

Nmes

Beaucaire
Montpellier

Ste

Carcassonne

Maguelonne

Arles

Forcalquier

Avignon

Apt County of
PROVENCE

Aix

Draguignan

Narbonne

Mirepoix

V. of
NARBONNE

C. of
Perpignan
ROUSSILLON

Hyres

Toulon

under Louis XV Lorraine (1766), Corsica (1768)

2.2 Administration
Main articles: Provinces of France and Gnralit

under Louis XI Provence (1482), Dauphin (1461,

Monaco

Nice

Cannes

Marseille

3.1

Taxation history

Despite eorts by the kings to create a centralized state


out of these provinces, France in this period remained a
patchwork of local privileges and historical dierences.
The arbitrary power of the monarch (as implied by the
expression absolute monarchy) was in fact much limited by historic and regional particularities. Administrative (including taxation), legal (parlement), judicial, and
ecclesiastic divisions and prerogatives frequently overlapped (for example, French bishoprics and dioceses
rarely coincided with administrative divisions).
Certain provinces and cities had won special privileges
(such as lower rates in the gabelle or salt tax). The south
of France was governed by written law adapted from the
Roman legal system, the north of France by common law
(in 1453 these common laws were codied into a written
form).
The representative of the king in his provinces and cities
was the extquotedblgouverneur extquotedbl. Royal ofcers 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 called lieutenants gnraux also had the ability of convoking provincial parlements, provincial estates
and municipal bodies.
The title gouverneur rst appeared under Charles VI.
The ordinance of Blois of 1579 reduced their number to
12, and an ordinance of 1779 increased their number to
39 (18 rst-class governors, 21 second-class governors).
Although in principle they were the kings representatives
and their charges could be revoked at the kings will, some
governors had installed themselves and their heirs as a
provincial dynasty.

3
The desire for more ecient tax collection was one of
the major causes for French administrative and royal centralization in the early modern period. The taille became a major source of royal income. Exempted from
the taille were clergy and nobles (except for non-noble
lands they held in pays d'tat, see below), ocers of the
crown, military personnel, magistrates, university professors and students, and certain cities (villes franches)
such as Paris.
The provinces were of three sorts, the extquotedblpays
d'lection extquotedbl, the extquotedblpays d'tat extquotedbl and the extquotedblpays d'imposition extquotedbl. In the pays d'lection (the longest held possessions of the French crown; some of these provinces
had had the equivalent autonomy of a pays d'tat in
an earlier period, but had lost it through the eects of
royal reforms) the assessment and collection of taxes were
trusted to elected ocials (at least originally, later these
positions were bought), and the tax was generally personal, meaning it was attached to non-noble individuals.
In the pays d'tat (provinces with provincial estates), Brittany, Languedoc, Burgundy, Auvergne,
Barn, Dauphin, Provence and portions of Gascony,
such as Bigorre, Comminges and the Quatre-Valles, recently acquired provinces which 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 extquotedblreal extquotedbl,
meaning that it was attached to non-noble lands (meaning that nobles possessing such lands were required to pay
taxes on them). Pays d'imposition were recently conquered lands which had their own local historical institutions (they were similar to the pays d'tat under which
they are sometimes grouped), although taxation was overseen by the royal intendant.

The governors were at the height of their power from the


middle of the 16th to the mid-17th century. Their role in
provincial unrest during the civil wars led Cardinal Richelieu to create the more tractable positions of intendants of 3.1 Taxation history
nance, policing and justice, and in the 18th century the
role of provincial governors was greatly curtailed.
Taxation districts had gone through a variety of mutations
In an attempt to reform the system, new divisions were from the 14th century on. Before the 14th century, overcreated. The recettes gnrales, commonly known as sight of the collection of royal taxes fell generally to the
extquotedblgnralits extquotedbl, were initially only baillis and snchaux in their circumscriptions. Reforms
taxation districts (see State nances below). The rst in the 14th and 15th centuries saw Frances royal nancial
sixteen were created in 1542 by edict of Henry II. administration run by two nancial boards which worked
Their role steadily increased and by the mid-17th cen- in a collegial manner: the four Gnraux des nances
tury, the gnralits were under the authority of an (also called gnral conseiller or receveur gnral )
extquotedblintendant extquotedbl, and they became a ve- oversaw the collection of taxes (taille, aides, etc.) by taxhicle for the expansion of royal power in matters of jus- collecting agents (receveurs) and the four Trsoriers de
tice, taxation and policing. By the Revolution, there were France (Treasurers) oversaw revenues from royal lands
36 gnralits; the last two were created in 1784.
(the extquotedbldomaine royal extquotedbl).

State nances

Further information: Economic history of France

Together they were often referred to as Messieurs des


nances. The four members of each board were divided by geographical circumscriptions (although the
term gnralit extquotedbl isn't found before the end
of the 15th century). The areas were named Languedol,
Languedoc, Outre-Seine-and-Yonne, and Nomandy (the

4
latter was created in 1449; the other three were created
earlier), with the directors of the Languedol region
typically having an honoric preeminence. By 1484, the
number of gnralits had increased to 6.
In the 16th century, the kings of France, in an eort to
exert more direct control over royal nances and to circumvent the double-board (accused of poor oversight)
instituted numerous administrative reforms, including the
restructuring of the nancial administration and an increase in the number of gnralits. In 1542, Henry
II, France was divided into 16 gnralits. 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 the gnralits of the Renaissance
went through a variety of reforms. In 1577, Henry III
established 5 treasurers (trsoriers gnraux) in each
gnralit who formed a bureau of nances. In the 17th
century, oversight of the gnralits was subsumed by the
intendants of nance, justice and police, and the expression gnralit extquotedbl and intendance became
roughly synonymous.
Until the late 17th century, tax collectors were called receveurs. In 1680, the system of the Ferme Gnrale was
established, a franchised customs and excise operation in
which individuals bought the right to collect the taille on
behalf of the king, through 6-years adjudications (certain taxes like the aides and the gabelle had been farmed
out in this way as early as 1604). The major tax collectors in that system were known as the fermiers gnraux
(farmers-general in English).
The taille was only one of a number of taxes. There also
existed the taillon (a tax for military purposes), a national salt tax (the gabelle), national taris (the aides)
on various products (wine, beer, oil, and other goods), local taris on speciality products (the douane) or levied
on products entering the city (the octroi) or sold at
fairs, and local taxes. Finally, the church beneted from
a mandatory tax or tithe called the dme.
Louis XIV created several additional tax systems, including the capitation (begun in 1695) which touched every
person including nobles and the clergy (although exemption could be bought for a large one-time sum) and the
dixime (171017, restarted in 1733), enacted to support the military, which was a true tax on income and on
property value. In 1749, under Louis XV, a new tax based
on the dixime, the vingtime (or one-twentieth),
was enacted to reduce the royal decit, and this tax continued through the remaining years of the Ancien Rgime.

JUSTICE

ocers). Many of these fees were quite elevated, but


some of these oces conferred nobility and could be nancially advantageous. The use of oces to seek prot
had become standard practice as early as the 12th and
13th centuries. A law in 1467 made these oces irrevocable, except through the death, resignation or forfeiture
of the title holder, and these oces, once bought, tended
to become hereditary charges (with a fee for transfer of
title) passed on within families.[4]
In an eort to increase revenues, the state often turned
to the creation of new oces. Before it was made illegal in 1521, It had been possible to leave open-ended
the date that the transfer of title was to take eect. In
1534, the forty days rule was instituted (adapted from
church practice), which made the successors right void
if the preceding oce holder died within forty days of
the transfer and the oce returned to the state;however, a
new fee, called the survivance jouissante protected against
the forty days rule.[4] In 1604, Sully created a new tax, the
extquotedblpaulette extquotedbl or annual tax (1/60 of
the amount of the ocial charge), which permitted the
title-holder to be free of the 40 day rule. The paulette
and the venality of oces became key concerns in the
parlementarian revolts of the 1640s (La Fronde).
The state also demanded of the church a free gift, which
the church collected from holders of eccleciastic oces
through taxes called the dcime (roughly 1/20th of the
ocial charge, created under Francis I).
State nances 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 of rentes sur l'Htel de Ville of Paris,
a kind of government bond system oering investors annual interest. This system rst came to use in 1522 under
Francis I.
Until 1661, the head of the nancial system in France
was generally the surintendant des nances; with the fall
of Fouquet, this was replaced by the lesser position of
contrleur gnral des nances.

4 Justice
4.1 Lower courts

Justice in seigneurial lands (including those held by the


church or within cities) was generally overseen by the
seigneur or his delegated ocers. Since the 15th century, much of the seigneurs legal purview had been given
to the bailliages or snchausses and the prsidiaux (see
below), leaving only aairs concerning seigneurial dues
3.1.1 Fees for holding state positions
and duties, and small aairs of local justice. Only certain seigneursthose with the power of haute justice
Another key source of state nancing was through charg- (seigneurial justice was divided into high middle and
ing fees for state positions (such as most members of par- low justice) could enact the death penalty, and only
lements, magistrates, matre des requtes and nancial with the consent of the prsidiaux.

4.2

Superior courts

Crimes of desertion, highway robbery, and mendicants


(so-called cas prvtaux) were under the supervision of
the prvt des marchaux, who exacted quick and impartial justice. In 1670, their purview was overseen by
the prsidiaux (see below).
The national judicial system was made-up of tribunals divided into bailliages (in northern France) and
snchausses (in southern France); these tribunals
(numbering around 90 in the 16th century, and far more
at the end of the 18th) were supervised by a lieutenant
gnral and were subdivided into:
prvts supervised by a prvt
or (as was the case in Normandy) into vicomts supervised by a vicomte (the position could be held by
non-nobles)
or (in parts of northern France) into chtellenies supervised by a chtelain (the position could be held
by non-nobles)
or, in the south, into vigueries or baylies supervised
by a viguier or a bayle.
In an eort to reduce the case load in the parlements, certain bailliages were given extended powers by Henry II of
France: these were called prsidiaux.
The prvts or their equivalent were the rst-level judges
for non-nobles and ecclesiastics. In the exercise of their
legal functions, they sat alone, but had to consult with
certain lawyers (avocats or procureurs) chosen by themselves, whom, to use the technical phrase, they summoned to their council. The appeals from their sentences
went to the bailliages, who also had jurisdiction in the
rst instance over actions brought against nobles. Bailliages and prsidiaux were also the rst court for certain
crimes (so-called cas royaux; these cases had formerly
been under the supervision of the local seigneurs): sacrilege, lse-majest, kidnapping, rape, heresy, alteration of
money, sedition, insurrections, and the illegal carrying of
arms. To appeal a bailliages decisions, one turned to the
regional parlements.
The most important of these royal tribunals was the
prvt[5] and prsidial of Paris, the Chtelet, which was
overseen by the prvt of Paris, civil and criminal lieutenants, and a royal ocer in charge of maintaining public order in the capital, the Lieutenant General of Police
of Paris.

4.2

Superior courts

5
Parlements eventually 14 in number: Paris,
Languedoc (Toulouse), Provence (Aix), FrancheComt (Besanon), Guyenne (Bordeaux), Burgundy
(Dijon), Flanders (Douai), Dauphin (Grenoble),
Trois-vchs (Metz), Lorraine (Nancy), Navarre
(Pau), Brittany (Rennes, briey in Nantes),
Normandy (Rouen) and (from 15231771)
Dombes (Trvoux). There was also parlement in
Savoy (Chambry) from 153759. The parlements
were originally only judicial in nature (appellate
courts for lower civil and ecclesiastical courts), but
began to subsume limited legislative functions (see
administration section below). The most important
of the parlements, both in administrative area
(covering the major part of northern and central
France) and prestige, was the parliament of Paris,
which also was the court of rst instance for peers
of the realm and for regalian aairs.
Conseils souverains Alsace (Colmar), Roussillon
(Perpignan), Artois (a conseil provincial, Arras) and
(from 155359) Corsica (Bastia); formerly Flanders, Navarre and Lorraine (converted into parlements). The conseils souverains were regional parliaments in recently conquered lands.
Chambre des comptes Paris, Dijon, Blois,
Grenoble, Nantes. The chambre des comptes supervised the spending of public funds, the protection of
royal lands (domaine royal), and legal issues involving these areas.
Cours des aides Paris, Clermont, Bordeaux,
Montauban. The cours des aides supervised aairs
in the pays d'lections, often concerning taxes on
wine, beer, soap, oil, metals, etc.
Chambre des comptes combined with Cours des aides
Aix, Bar-le-Duc, Dole, Nancy, Montpellier, Pau,
Rouen
Cours des monnaies Paris; additionally Lyon
(170471), and (after 1766), the chambre des
comptes of Bar-le-Duc and Nancy. The cours des
monnaies oversaw money, coins and precious metals.
Grand Conseil created in 1497 to oversee aairs
concerning ecclesiastical beneces; occasionally the
king sought the Grand Conseils intervention in affairs considered to be too contentious for the parliament.

The following were cours souveraines, or superior courts,


whose decisions could only be revoked by the king in his The head of the judicial system in France was the
chancellor.
conseil (see administration section below).

5 ADMINISTRATION

Administration

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; the formula le roi en son conseil expressed
this 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 clientel system.

5.1

Kings counsel

Under Charles VIII and Louis XII the kings counsel was
dominated by members of twenty or so noble or rich
families; under Francis I the number of counsellors increased to roughly 70 individuals (although the old nobility was proportionally more important than in the previous century). The most important positions in the court
were those of the Great Ocers of the Crown of France,
headed by the conntable (chief military ocer of the
realm; position eliminated in 1627) and the chancellor.

Conseil de Conscience
Financial Councils:
Conseil royal des nances (Royal Council of Finances) composed of the king, the chef du conseil des nances (an honorary post), the chancellor,
the contrleur gnral des nances and two of his
consellors, and the intendants of nance.
Conseil royal de commerce
Judicial and Administrative Councils:
Conseil d'tat et des Finances or Conseil ordinaire
des Finances by the late 17th century, its functions
were largely taken over by the three following sections.
Conseil priv or Conseil des parties or Conseil d'tat
(Privy Council or Council of State, concerning
the judicial system, ocially instituted in 1557)
the largest of the royal councils, composed of the
chancellor, the dukes with peerage, the ministers
and secretaries of state, the contrleur gnral des
nances, the 30 councillors of state, the 80 matre
des requtes and the intendants of nance.

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
Grande Direction des Finances
a larger counsel for judicial or nancial aairs. Francis I was sometimes criticized for relying too heavily on
Petite Direction des Finances
a small number of advisors, while Henry II, Catherine
de Medici and their sons found themselves frequently
unable to negotiate between the opposing Guise and In addition to the above administrative institutions, the
Montmorency families in their counsel.
king was also surrounded by an extensive personal
Over time, the decision-making apparatus of the Kings and court retinue (royal family, valet de chambres,
Council was divided into several royal counsels. The sub- guards, honoric ocers), regrouped under the name
councils of the Kings Council can be generally grouped extquotedblMaison du Roi extquotedbl.
as governmental councils, nancial councils and ju- At the death of Louis XIV, the Regent Philippe II, Duke
dicial and administrative councils. With the names and of Orlans abandoned several of the above administrative
subdivisions of the 1718th century, these subcouncils structures, most notably the Secretaries of State, which
were:
were replaced by Counsels. This system of government,
called the Polysynody, lasted from 171518.
Governmental Councils:
Conseil d'en haut (High Council, concerning the
most important matters of state) composed of the 5.1.1 17th century state positions
king, the crown prince (the dauphin), the chancellor, the contrleur gnral des nances, and the Under Henry IV and Louis XIII the administrative apparatus of the court and its councils was expanded and the
secretary of state in charge of foreign aairs.
proportion of the noblesse de robe increased, culminat Conseil des dpches (Council of Messages, con- ing in the following positions during the 17th century:
cerning notices and administrative reports from the
provinces) composed of the king, the chancellor,
the secretaries of state, the contrleur gnral des nances, and other councillors according to the issues
discussed.

First Minister: ministers and secretaries of state


such as Sully, Concini (who was also governor of several provinces), Richelieu, Mazarin, JeanBaptiste Colbert, Cardinal de Fleury, Turgot, etc.

7
exerted a powerful control over state administration in the 17th and 18th century. The title principal ministre de l'tat was however only given
six times in this period and Louis XIV himself refused to choose a prime minister after the death
of Mazarin.
Chancellor of France (also called the garde des
sceaux, or Keeper of the Seals extquotedbl; in the
case of incapacity or disfavor, the Chancellor was
generally permitted to retain his title, but the royal
seals were passed to a deputy, called the garde des
sceaux[6] )
Controller-General of Finances (contrleur gnral
des nances, formerly called the surintendant des nances).

Royal administration in the provinces had been the role


of the bailliages and snchausses in the Middle Ages,
but this declined in the early modern period, and by the
end of the 18th century, the bailliages served only a judicial function. The main source of royal administrative
power in the provinces in the 16th and early 17th centuries fell to the gouverneurs (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 increasing turned to more tractable and subservient
emissaries, and this was the reason for the growth of the
provincial intendants under Louis XIII and Louis XIV.
Indendants were chosen from among the matre des requtes. Intendants attached to a province had jurisdiction
over nances, justice and policing.

By the 18th century, royal administrative power was


Secretaries of State: created in 1547 by Henry II, of rmly established in the provinces, despite protestations
greater importance after 1588, generally 4 in num- by local parlements. In addition to their role as appellate
courts, regional parlements had gained the privilege to
ber, but occasionally 5:
register the edicts of the king and to present the king with
--- Secretary of State for Foreign Aairs
ocial complaints concerning the edicts; in this way, they
--- Secretary of State for War, also oversaw had acquired a limited role as the representative voice of
(predominantly) the magistrate class. In case of refusal
Frances border provinces.
on parliaments part to register the edicts (frequently con--- Secretary of State of the Navy
cerning scal matters), the king could impose registration
--- Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi (the through a royal assize (lit de justice).
kings royal entourage and personal military The other traditional representatives bodies in the realm
guard), who also oversaw the clergy, the af- were the Etats gnraux (created in 1302) which reunited
fairs of Paris and the non-border provinces.
the three estates of the realm (clergy, nobility, the third

--- Secretary of State for Protestant Aairs (com- estate) and the extquotedbltats provinciaux (Provincial
bined with the secretary of the Maison du Roi Estates). The Etats gnraux (convoked in this period
in 1484, 156061, 157677, 158889, 1593, 1614, and
in 1749).
1789) had been reunited in times of scal crisis or conCouncillors of state (generally 30)
voked by parties malcontent with royal prerogatives (the
Ligue, the Huguenots), but they had no true power, the
Matre des requtes (generally 80)
dissensions between the three orders rendered them weak
and they were dissolved before having completed their
Intendants of nance (6)
work. As a sign of French absolutism, they ceased to
be convoked from 1614 to 1789. The provincial estates
Intendants of commerce (4 or 5)
proved more eective, and were convoked by the king to
respond to scal and tax policies.
Ministers of State (variable)

Treasurers
Farmers-General
Superintendent of the postal system

6 The Church

The French monarchy was irrevocably linked to the


Catholic Church (the formula says la France est la lle
Directeur gnral of buildings
ane de l'glise, or France is the eldest daughter of the
church), and French theorists of the divine right of kings
Directeur gnral of fortications
and sacerdotal power in the Renaissance had made these
Lieutenant General of Police of Paris (in charge of links explicit: Henry IV was able to ascend to the throne
only after abjuring Protestantism. The symbolic power
public order in the capital)
of the Catholic monarch was apparent in his crowning
(the king was anointed by blessed oil in Rheims) and
Archbishop of Paris
he was popularly believed to be able to cure scrofula by
Royal confessor
the laying on of his hands (accompanied by the formula

6 THE CHURCH
The church was the primary provider of schools (primary
schools and colleges) and hospitals (htel-Dieu, the
Sisters of Charity) and distributor of relief to the poor in
pre-revolutionary France

Dioceses of France in 1789.

The Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges (1438, suppressed by


Louis XI but brought back by the tats Gnraux of Tours
in 1484) gave the election of bishops and abbots to the
cathedral chapter houses and abbeys of France, thus stripping the pope of eective control of the French church
and permitting the beginning of a Gallican church. However, in 1515, Francis I signed a new agreement with Pope
Leo X, the Concordat of Bologna, which gave the king
the right to nominate candidates and the pope the right of
investiture; this agreement infuriated gallicans, but gave
the king control over important ecclesiastical oces with
which to benet nobles.

Although exempted from the taille, the church was required to pay the crown a tax called the free gift
extquotedblthe king touches you, but God heals you ex- (don gratuit), which it collected from its oce holders, at roughly 1/20 the price of the oce (this was the
tquotedbl).
dcime, reapportioned every ve years). In its turn, the
In 1500, France had 14 archbishoprics (Lyon, Rouen,
church exacted a mandatory tithe from its parishioners,
Tours, Sens, Bourges, Bordeaux, Auch, Toulouse, Narcalled the extquotedbldme extquotedbl.
bonne, Aix-en-Provence, Embrun, Vienne, Arles, and
Rheims) and 100 bishoprics. By the 18th century, archFor church history in the 16th century, see
bishoprics and bishoprics had expanded to a total of 139
Protestant Reformation and French Wars of Re(see List of Ancien Rgime dioceses of France). The upligion.
per levels of the French church were made up predominantly of old nobility, both from provincial families and The Counter-Reformation saw the French church create
from royal court families, and many of the oces had numerous religious orders (such as the Jesuits) and make
become de facto hereditary possessions, with some mem- great improvements on the quality of its parish priests;
bers possessing multiple oces. In addition to efs that the rst decades of the 17th century were characterized
church members possessed as seigneurs, the church also by a massive outpouring of devotional texts and relipossessed seigneurial lands in its own right and enacted gious fervor (exemplied in Saint Francis of Sales, Saint
justice upon them.
Vincent de Paul, etc.). Although the Edict of Nantes
At the start of the 16th century, the secular clergy (1598) permitted the existence of Prostestant churches in
(curates, vicars, canons, etc.) numbered around 100,000 the realm (characterized as a state within a state), the
individuals in France.[7]
next eighty years saw the rights of the Huguenots slowly
stripped away, until Louis XIV nally revoked the edict
Other temporal powers of the church included playing
a political role as the rst estate in the extquotedbl- in 1685, producing a massive emigration of Huguenots
to other countries. Religious practices which veered too
tats Gnraux and the extquotedbltats Provinciaux
(Provincial Assemblies) and in Provincial Conciles or close to Protestantism (like Jansenism) or to the mystical (like Quietism) were also severely suppressed, as too
Synods convoked by the king to discuss religious issues.
The church also claimed a prerogative to judge certain libertinage or overt atheism.
crimes, most notably heresy, although the Wars of Religion did much to place this 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 as
Richelieu and Mazarin) and in other administrative positions.
The faculty of theology of Paris (often called the
Sorbonne), maintained a censor board which reviewed
publications for their religious orthodoxy. The Wars of
Religion saw this 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.

Regular clergy (i.e. those in Catholic religious orders) in


France numbered into the tens of thousands in the 16th
century. Some orders, like the Benedictines, were largely
rural; others, like the Dominicans (also called Jacobins)
and the Franciscans (also called cordeliers) operated in
cities.[7]
Although the church came under attack in the eighteenth
century by the philosophers of the Enlightenment and
recruitment of clergy and monastic orders dropped after 1750, gures 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[8] ). At the eve of the revolution, the church

6.4

Reformation and the Protestant Minority

possessed upwards of 7% of the countrys land (gures classes. Its two main strongholds were south west France
vary) and generated yearly revenues of 150 million livres. and Normandy, but even in these districts the Catholics
were a majority. Protestantism in France was considered
a grave threat to national unity, as the Huguenot minor6.1 Gallicanism
ity felt a closer anity with German and Dutch Calvinists
than with their fellow Frenchmen. In an eort to cement
Louis XIV supported the Gallican cause that gave the their position they often allied with French enemies. The
government a greater role than the pope in choosing animosity between the two sides led to the French Wars of
bishops, and gave the government the revenues when a Religion and the tragic St. Bartholomews Day Massacre.
bishopric was vacant. There would be no inquisition in The religious wars ended in 1593, when the Huguenot
France, and papal decrees could operate only after the Henry of Navarre (15531610), who was already eecgovernment approved them. Louis avoided schism he tively king of France became a Catholic and was recogwanted more royal power over the French Church but did nized by both Catholics and Protestants as King Henry IV
not want to break free of Rome. The pope likewise recog- (reigned 15891610).
nized the most Christian king was a powerful ally who
The main provisions of the Edict of Nantes (1598),
could not be alienated.[9]
which Henry IV had issued as a charter of religious freedoms for the Huguenots, were as follows; rst) Huguenots
were allowed to hold religious services in certain towns in
6.2 Monasteries
each province; second) They were allowed to control and
Until the French Revolution, the monastic community fortify eight cities; third) Special courts were established
constituted a central element of the economic, social, and to try Huguenot oenders; d) Huguenots were to have
religious life of many localities under the Old Regime. equal civil rights with the Catholics.
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 diversied 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
(parish priests did that), monks did constitute a motivating force in it through their setting up of a parish clergy,
providing alms and social services, and playing the role
of intercessors.

6.3

Convents

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 before. 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 diered greatly in France
both before and during the revolution. Convents tended
to be more isolated and less centrally controlled. This
made for greater diversity among them than among male
monasteries.[10]

6.4

Reformation and the Protestant Minority

The military privileges were incorporated in the Edict in


order to allay the fears of the minority. Over time it became clear these privileges were open to abuse and when
in 1620 the Huguenots proclaimed a constitution for the
Republic of the Reformed Churches of France, the
Prime Minister Cardinal Richelieu (15851642) invoked
the full powers of the state; He captured La Rochelle after
a long siege in 1628. The subsequent Treaty of Alais left
the Huguenots their religious freedom but revoked their
military freedoms.
Montpellier was among the most important of the 66
villes de sret extquotedbl that the Edict of 1598
granted to the Huguenots. The citys political institutions
and the university were all 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 citys
fortications. A royal citadel was built and the university and consulate were taken over by the Catholic party.
Even before the Edict of Als (1629), Protestant rule was
dead and the ville de sret was 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 these civil wars were in fact
religious in nature, remnants of the French Wars of Religion that largely ended with the Edict of Nantes in 1598.
Small wars in the provinces of Languedoc and Guyenne
show Catholic and Calvinist groups using destruction of
churches, iconoclasm, forced conversions, and the execution of heretics as weapons of choice.

Louis XIV acted more and more aggressively to force


French Protestantism, which was largely Calvinist, dethe Huguenots to convert. At rst he sent missionaries
rived its support from the lesser nobles and trading

10

to convert them, backed by a fund to nancially reward


converts to Catholicism. Then he imposed penalties and
closed their schools and excluded them from favorite professions. Escalating the attack, he tried to forcibly reCatholicize the Huguenots by the employment of armed
dragonnades (soldiers) to occupy and loot their houses,
and nally by the revocation (Oct. 18, 1685) of the liberal Edict of Nantes of 1598.[11]
The revocation forbade Protestant services, the children
were to be educated as Catholics, and emigration was prohibited. It proved disastrous to the Huguenots and costly
for France. It precipitated civil bloodshed, ruined commerce, and resulted in the illegal ight from the country
of about 180,000 Protestants, many of whom became intellectuals, doctors and business leaders in Britain as well
as Holland, Prussia and South Africa. 4000 went to the
American colonies.[11]
The English welcomed the French refugees, providing
money from both government and private agencies to aid
their relocation. Those Huguenots who stayed in France
became Catholics and were called new converts. Only
a few Protestant villages remained in isolated areas.[11]
By the 1780s, Protestants comprised about 700,000 people, or 2% of the population. Theirs was no longer a favorite religion of the elite; most Protestants were peasants. To be a Protestant was still illegal. Although the
law was seldom enforced it could be a threat or a nuisance to Protestants. Calvinist lived primarily in the
Midi; about 200,000 Lutherans lived in Alsace, where
the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia still protected them.[12]
In addition, there were about 40,000 to 50,000 Jews in
France, chiey centered in Bordeaux, Metz and a few
other cities. They had very limited rights and opportunities, apart from the money-lending business, but their
status was not illegal.[13]

Downfall

NOSTALGIA

the French Revolution. Although France in 1785 faced


economic diculties, mostly concerning the equitability
of taxation, it was one of the richest and most powerful nations of Europe.[14] The French people also enjoyed
more political freedom and 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. This
was a consequence of the fact that peasants and, to a
lesser extent, the bourgeoisie, were burdened with ruinously high taxes levied to support wealthy aristocrats
and their sumptuous lifestyles.
Historians explain the sudden collapse of the Ancien
Rgime in part, on its own rigidity. Aristocrats were confronted by the rising ambitions of the merchants, tradesmen and prosperous farmers, who were allied with aggrieved peasants, wage-earners and intellectuals inuenced by the ideas of Enlightenment philosophers. As the
revolution proceeded, power devolved from the monarchy and the privileged-by-birth to more-representative
political bodies, like legislative assemblies, but conicts
among the formerly allied republican groups became the
source of considerable discord and bloodshed.
A growing number of the French citizenry had absorbed
the ideas of equality and freedom of the individual
as presented by Voltaire, Denis Diderot, Turgot, and
other philosophers and social theorists of the Enlightenment. The American Revolution had demonstrated that
it was possible for Enlightenment ideas about how governance should be organized to actually be put into practice. Some American diplomats, like Benjamin Franklin
and Thomas Jeerson, had lived in Paris where they consorted freely with members of the French intellectual
class. Furthermore, contact between American revolutionaries and the French troops who served as anti-British
mercenaries in North America helped spread revolutionary ideals to the French people. After a time, many of the
French began to attack the undemocratic nature of their
own government, push for freedom of speech, challenge
the Roman Catholic Church, and decry the prerogatives
of the nobles.[15]

Main article: Causes of the French Revolution


In 1789, the Ancien Rgime was violently overthrown by Revolution was not due to a single event but to a series of
events, that together irreversibly changed the organization
of political power, the nature of society, and the exercise
of individual freedoms.

8 Nostalgia
For some observers the term came to denote a certain
nostalgia. Talleyrand famously quipped:

One of the assistants of Sanson shows the head of Louis XVI.

The reason for this aection was the perceived decline


in culture and values following the Revolution, where the
aristocracy lost much of its economic and political power
to what was seen as a rich, but coarse and materialistic
bourgeoisie. The theme recurs throughout nineteenth-

11
century French literature, with Balzac and Flaubert alike
attacking the mores of the new upper classes. To this
mindset, the Ancien Rgime expressed a bygone era of
renement and grace, before the Revolution and its associated changes disrupted the aristocratic tradition and
ushered in a crude, uncertain modernity.
The historian Alexis de Tocqueville argued against this
dening narrative in his classic study, L'Ancien Rgime et
la Rvolution, highlighting the continuities between preand post-revolutionary French institutions.

concourait la satisfaction des apptits physiques, intellectuels et mme moraux, au ranement de toutes les
volupts, de toutes les lgances et de tous les plaisirs.
L'existence tait si bien remplie qui si le dix-septime sicle a t le Grand Sicle des gloires, le dix-huitime a t
celui des indigestions. Charles-Maurice de TalleyrandPrigord: Mmoires du Prince de Talleyrand: La Confession de Talleyrand, V. 1-5 Chapter: La jeunesse Le
cercle de Madame du Barry.

10 Further reading
9

References

[1] Major 1994, pp. xxxxi


[2] Schama, Simon (1989). Citizens: A Chronicle of the
French Revolution. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 184.
[3] Bly 1994, p. 21. In 1492, roughly 450,000 km versus
550,000 km today.
[4] Salmon 1975, p. 77
[5] Despite being called a prvt, the prvt of Paris was
eectively a bailliage. See Salmon 1975, p. 73
[6] Salmon 1975, p. 67
[7] Bly 1994, p. 50
[8] Viguerie 1995, p. 280
[9] John Wolf, Louis XIV, 38892
[10] Elizabeth Rapley and Robert Rapley, An Image of Religious Women in the 'Ancien Regime': the 'Etats Des
Religieuses of 17901791. French History 1997 11(4):
387410
[11] John Wolf, Louis XIV, ch 24; Bertrand Van Ruymbeke,
Escape from Babylon. Christian History 2001 20(3):
3842. Issn: 0891-9666 Fulltext: Ebsco
[12] Nigel Aston, Religion and Revolution in France, 17801804 (2000) pp 61-72
[13] Aston, Religion and Revolution in France, 1780-1804
(2000) pp 72-89
[14] Norman Gash, Reections on the revolution French
Revolution, National Review, July 14, 1790: Yet in 1789
France was the largest, wealthiest, and most powerful state
in Western Europe.
[15] The Origins of the French Revolution. Historyguide.org
(2006-10-30). Retrieved on 2011-11-18.
[16] Celui qui n'a pas vcu au dix-huitime sicle avant la
Rvolution ne connat pas la douceur de vivre et ne peut
imaginer ce qu'il peut y avoir de bonheur dans la vie.
C'est le sicle qui a forg toutes les armes victorieuses
contre cet insaisissable adversaire qu'on appelle l'ennui.
L'Amour, la Posie, la Musique, le Thtre, la Peinture,
l'Architecture, la Cour, les Salons, les Parcs et les Jardins,
la Gastronomie, les Lettres, les Arts, les Sciences, tout

Baker, Keith Michael (1987). The French Revolution and the creation of modern political culture. Volume 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)
Brockliss, Laurence and Colin Jones. The Medical
World of Early Modern France (1997) 984pp; highly
detailed survey, 16001790s excerpt and text search
Doyle, William, ed. Old Regime France: 1648
1788 (2001) excerpt and text search
Doyle, William, ed. The Oxford Handbook of
the Ancien Rgime (2012) 656pp excerpt and text
search; 32 topical chapters by experts
Goubert, Pierre. Louis XIV and Twenty Million
Frenchmen (1972), social history from Annales
School
Goubert, Pierre. The French Peasantry in the Seventeenth Century (1986) excerpt and text search
Holt, Mack P. Renaissance and Reformation France:
15001648 (2002) excerpt and text search
Jones, Colin. The Great Nation: France from Louis
XV to Napoleon, 1715-99 (2002). excerpt and text
search
--- Scholarly bibliography by Colin Jones (2002)
Kendall, Paul Murray. Louis XI: The Universal Spider. (1971). ISBN 0-393-30260-1
Kors, Alan Charles. Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment (4 vol. 1990; 2nd ed. 2003), 1984pp excerpt
and text search
Knecht, R.J. The Rise and Fall of Renaissance
France. (1996). ISBN 0-00-686167-9
Le Roy Ladurie, Emmanuel. The Ancien Regime: A
History of France 16101774 (1999), political survey excerpt and text search

12

10 FURTHER READING

Lynn, John A. The Wars of Louis XIV, 16671714


(1999) excerpt and text search
Major, J. Russell (1994). From Renaissance Monarchy to Absolute Monarchy: French Kings, Nobles &
Estates. ISBN 0-8018-5631-0.
Mayer, Arno (2010) [1981]. The Persistence of the
Old Regime: Europe to the Great War. London &
Brooklyn, NY: Verso. ISBN 978-1-844-67636-1.

McManners, John.
Church and Society in
Eighteenth-Century France. Vol. 1: The Clerical Establishment and Its Social Ramications; Vol.
2: The Religion of the People and the Politics of
Religion(1999)
Palmer, R.R. Catholics and Unbelievers in
Eighteenth-Century France (Princeton U.P. 1939)
Van Kley, Dale. The Religious Origins of the French
Revolution: From Calvin to the Civil Constitution,
15601791 (1996)

O'Gorman, Frank. Eighteenth-Century England as


an Ancien Regime, in Stephen Taylor, ed. Hanove Ward, W. R. Christianity under the Ancien Rgime,
rian Britain and Empire (1998) argues that a close
16481789 (1999).
comparison with England shows that France did
have an Ancien Rgime and England did not (an attack on Jonathan Clark. English Society, 16881832 10.2 Other
(1985))
Important persons mentioned in this article put on a
Perkins, James Breck. France under Louis XV (2
timeline
vol 1897) online vol 1; online vol 2
Henry, Lucien Edward (1882). The Royal Family
of France : twelve lectures on curren French history.
Potter, David. A History of France, 14601560:
Europe in 1882: Out of the shadow. Paris: Librairie
The Emergence of a Nation-State (1995)
Galignani.
Riley, James C. French Finances, 1727-1768,
Journal of Modern History (1987) 59#2 pp. 209
10.3 In French
243 in JSTOR
Roche, Daniel. France in the Enlightenment (1998),
wide-ranging history 17001789 excerpt and text
search

Bly, Lucien (1994). La France moderne: 1498


1789. Collection: Premier Cycle (in French). Paris:
PUF. ISBN 2-13-047406-3.

Salmon, J.H.M. (1975). Society in Crisis: France


in the Sixteenth Century. University paperbacks, v.
681. London: Methuen. ISBN 0-416-73050-7.

(French) Bluche, Franois. L'Ancien Rgime: Institutions et socit. Collection: Livre de poche. Paris:
Fallois, 1993. ISBN 2-253-06423-8

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) 62#1 pp. 124 in JSTOR
Tocqueville, Alexis de. Ancien Regime and the
French Revolution (1856; 2008 edition) excerpt and
text search
Wolf, John B. Louis XIV (1968), the standard scholarly biography online edition

10.1

Religion

Aston, Nigel. Religion and Revolution in France,


1780-1804 (2000) comprehensive overview

(French) Jouanna, Arlette and Philippe Hamon, Dominique Biloghi, Guy Thiec. La France de la
Renaissance; Histoire et dictionnaire. Collection:
Bouquins. Paris: Laont, 2001. ISBN 2-22107426-2
(French) Jouanna, Arlette and Jacqueline Boucher,
Dominique Biloghi, Guy Thiec. Histoire et dictionnaire des Guerres de religion. Collection: Bouquins.
Paris: Laont, 1998. ISBN 2-221-07425-4
(French) Pillorget, Ren and Suzanne Pillorget.
France Baroque, France Classique 15891715. Collection: Bouquins. Paris: Laont, 1995. ISBN 2221-08110-2
Viguerie, Jean de (1995). Histoire et dictionnaire
du temps des Lumires 17151789. Collection:
Bouquins (in French). Paris: Laont. ISBN 2-22104810-5.

13

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11.1

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses


Text

Ancien Rgime Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancien_Rgime?oldid=623890938 Contributors: Heron, JASpencer, Charles


Matthews, Wetman, Jmabel, Xyzzyva, Bkonrad, Wiki Wikardo, OwenBlacker, Metron, Rich Farmbrough, Dbachmann, Anthony Appleyard, Wtmitchell, BDD, Ghirlandajo, Galaxiaad, Mike riversdale, Woohookitty, RHaworth, BD2412, Himasaram, Funnyhat, Sharkface217,
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Corvus Park, The violinist 007, Tdaniela95 and Anonymous: 69

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