2.2- Reforms To The Church 1789-91 Flashcards
What happened in August 1789?
The National Assembly banned tithes, annates, pluralism, and abolished the right of the church to decide how much tax it paid
What were annates?
Payments made by the church to the pope
Why were priests worried about the abolition of tithes?
They were paid out of tithes
How were priests allayed of their fears?
The assembly promised that the state would pay them
What happened in November 1789?
The National Assembly nationalised all land belonging to the church
Why did the National Assembly nationalise all church land?
To raise funds for the financial crisis
What was the estimated value of the church’s lands?
2000 million livres
What did the National Assembly issue to raise funds?
Bonds called assignats
What did the National Assembly do for the lower clergy?
Increased their salaries
What happened in July 1790?
The National assembly passed the civil constitution of the clergy
What did the civil constitution of the clergy do?
-made dioceses coincide with departments
-introduced the principle that priests and bishops were to be elected
-pope would no longer have any say in appointments to the French church
-monastic orders that didn’t provide education or charitable work were to be suppressed
What did making diocese coincide with departments do?
Reduced the number of bishoprics from 135 to 83
What happened in November 1790?
-The National Assembly ordered all clergy to swear an oath of loyalty (clerical oath) to the constitution
-the National Assembly banned the synod of the French church from discussing the civil constitution of the clergy
Why did the National Assembly ban the synod of the French church from discussing the civil constitution of the clergy?
They felt that would effectively put them above law, and the pope was still making his mind up about it
What happened in March and April 1791?
The pope condemned the civil constitution of the clergy and the clerical oath
