The institutions of France under the absolute monarchy, 1598-1789, volume II: the organs of state and society

715 Pages·1984·30.801 MB·English

by  Roland Mousnier

Roland E. Mousnier
The Institutions of France
under the Absolute Monarchy
1598-1789
Volume II
The Organs of State and Society
Translated by Arthur Goldhammer
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2019 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/institutionsoffrOOOOmous
The Institutions of France under the
Absolute Monarchy: 1598-1789
VOLUME II
The Organs of State and Society
Roland E. Mousnier
Translated by Arthur Goldhammer
The Institutions of
France under the
Absolute Monarchy
1598-1789
VOLUME II
The Organs of State
and Society
The University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
Roland E. Mousnier is professor emeritus of modern history
at the University of Paris-Sorbonne. Volume I of The Institu¬
tions of France under the Absolute Monarchy, 1598-1789. was
published by The University of Chicago Press in 1979.
This work originally appeared in French as Les Institutions de
la France sous la monarchic absolue. 1598—1789, volume 2:
Les Organes de I'Etat et la Societe, © 1980 by Presses Univer-
sitaires de France.
Publication of this work was made possible in part by a grant
from the Publication Program of the National Endow ment for
the Humanities, an independent federal agency.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 1984 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 1984
Printed in the United States of America
91 90 89 88 87 86 85 84 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
(Revised for volume 2)
Mousnier. Roland E.
The institutions of France under the absolute monarchy.
1598-1789.
Vol. 2 translated by Arthur Goldhammer.
Translation of: Les institutions de la France sous la
monarchic absolue. 1598-1789.
Includes bibliographies and index.
Contents: v. 1. Society and the state—v. 2. The
organs of state and society.
1. France—Social conditions. 2. Social classes—
France—History. 3. France—Politics and government—
1598-1789. I. Title.
HN425.M6813 306.0944 78-26857
ISBN 0-226-54327-7 (v. I)
ISBN 0-226-54328-5 (v. 2)
To all the historians and scholars
—the salt of the earth—
without whose work this attempt at
synthesis and explanation would
have been impossible
Contents
Note on the Guides to Further Reading xiii
Introduction xv
The King
The Education of the King 3
Role and Qualities of the King 3
The Dauphin and the Children of France 4
The Education of the Dauphin from Birth to Age Seven 4
From Seven to Fourteen Years of Age 6
The Education of Kings in the Seventeenth Century 8
Flenri IV 8
Louis XIII 9
Louis XIV 10
The Education of Kings in the Eighteenth Century 13
Louis XV 13
Louis XVI 14
The King's Work 16
Louis XV 19
Louis XVI 20
Public Office
Officeholders 27
The Sale of Offices 28
The Categories of Offices 29
VII
Contents
Nomination to Offices 30
Provision of Offices 32
Reception into Offices 33
Installation in Offices 35
The Paulette, or Annual Dues 36
Offices at the Disposal of Subjects of the King 52
Officeholders 53
The Apanages and Engagistes 54
The Seigneurs and the Cities 56
Consequences 57
6. The Commissaires 60
7. The Fermiers 65
8. The Functionaries 74
Conclusion to Part 2. The Rivalry between the Officeholders
and the Commissaires: The “Three-Hundred-Year Process” 76
Government “par Grand Conseil"
9. The Royal Family: The Princes of the Blood, the Appanages,
the Regencies 85
The Royal Family 85
The Appanages 94
The Regencies 97
10. The Dukes-and-Peers, the High Crown Officers, the King’s
Household 101
The Dukes-and-Peers 101
The High Crown Officers 103
The King’s Household 112
11. Chancellors, Councils, and Ministers from 1598 to 1661 130
The Personnel of the Royal Councils 133
The Chancellor of France and His Assistants 134
The Chancellery of France 136
The Maitres des Requetes de I'Hotel du Roi 140
The Secretaries of State 143
The Surintendant des Finances: His Departments and
Assistants 146
The Conseillers d'Etat 146
From 1598 to 1661 148
From 1661 to 1715 151
Contents IX
Polysynody, 1715, 1718, 1723 160
The Councils, 1723 to 1789 163
Conclusion: Ambivalence 178
12. The Surintendant des Finances, the Contrdleur General des
Finances, and Their Departments 180
From 1598 to 1661 180
From 1661 to 1715 192
Polysynody and the Reign of Louis XV, 1715-74 199
The End of the Reign of Louis XV and the Age of
Louis XVI, 1771 to 1789 201
13. Government by Grand Conseil: The Estates General 215
The Estates General of 1614-15 215
Conflicts between the Orders: Venality of Office and the
Paulette 221
The Conflict between the Orders: The King’s Sovereignty 223
The Triumph of Royal Absolutism 226
14. Government by Grand Conseil: The Assemblies of Notables 229
15. The Force of Royal Orders 235
Written Orders Cleared by the Chancellery 236
Grandes Lettres Patentes 236
Petites Lettres Patentes 238
Mixed Documents: Council Decrees 239
Direct Orders from the King 240
The Sovereign and Lower Courts of Law and Administration
16. The Judicial Hierarchy and the Competence of the Courts 251
Distribution of Jurisdiction: By Geography or by Type of
Case 251
The Judicial Hierarchy and the Territorial Distribution of the
Courts 253
Ordinary Tribunals and Their Competence 255
The Extraordinary Tribunals and Tribunals of Attribution 276
17. Professional and Social Status in the Courts and Administration 302
The Professional Hierarchy 302
The Social Hierarchy 323
18. Procedures in the Sovereign and Lower Courts 375
Calendar and Agenda 375
Initiation and Conclusion of Proceedings 378
X Contents
Registration Procedures 383
Civil and Criminal Procedures 388
Control over Proceedings by the King's Council 408
The Influence of the Social Status of Magistrates on
Procedures 410
The United General Farms of the King’s Domains
and Rights
19. Tax Farming 423
The Gabelles 423
The Trades 425
The Aides 430
The Domains 435
20. The Concentration of the Farms before 1726 441
21. The Fermes Generates from 1726 to 1791 446
The Importance of the fermes generates for the Revenues
of the Monarchy 446
The Influence of the Farmers General 447
The Gradual Extension of Centralized, Hierarchical
Administration by the General Farms 450
The King’s Commissaires
22. Governors 469
23. Commissaires 481
24. The “Chambres de Justice” 485
25. The “Grands Jours” 491
26. The Intendants des Provinces 502
From the Origins to 1661 502
From 1661 to 1715 519
From the Death of Louis XIV to the Seven Years’ War 542
From the Seven Years’ War until 1789 551