Origins of the Revolution Flashcards
What were Louis’ characteristics?
- Devout
- Introvert
- Weak willed- lacked his grandfather’s charm.
How did Louis curb some of the excesses of his grandfather?
He kept expenses down, he didn’t take a string of mistresses and his grandfather had. However this only made him look weak and defensive rather than the proud figure of authority that people at court wanted to be able to look up to.
How long did it take four Louis and Marie to have a child?
How was Marie a powerful figure
8 years, causing lots of court gossip.
She was much more decisive than Louis, and he increasingly came to rely on her for political decisions.
What royal favours did court factions compete for?
Pensions: Regular sums of money granted by the king as a sign of favour.
Sinecures: Incomes attached to affixes that were either honourably or required very little input from the individual.
Contracts: Favours to undertake a project giving the recipient the opportunity to make money.
Gratuities: free gifts
Patronage: offices and the granting of privelages
How did Marie make herself unpopular at court?
She was incredibly frivolous in her spendings
She granted patronage to her Austrian clique, people namedher l’Autrichienne
How were traditions at Versailles ridiculous?
- One look or word from the King could ruin a career.
- Failure to acknowledge a superior in a corridor was a serious offence.
- The traditions of the Levée which led to the creation of formalities such as the Petit lever du roi and the grand lever du roi.
What was ruling ‘by the law?’
It limited Louis’ absolutism, and sought to avoid despotism. It meant he had to have the support of noble elites to be able to rule effectively.
It meant he had to uphold christian morality and respect the rights, privileges and customs of both his subjects and of the provinces and regions that made up us kingdom.
He took this very seriously and was very dutiful as a monarch in this regard.
Under the ancien regime what were citizens viewed as?
They were citizens of the king rather than citizens of france.
What was the king in council?
it was essentially the decision of the king once having taken advise from chosen councillors. There were multiple councils, with overlapping functions
What were the functions of each of the royal councils?
Council of state (Conseil d’Etat): Dealt with major issues of state and foreign affairs.
Conseil des Dépêches: dealt with dispatches from the King’s officials in the provinces and dealt with church affairs.
Conceil Royal des Finances: Managed state finances and household costs as well as economic policy from 1787 which had previously been run by another council.
What was the role of Intendant?
Maintenance of rule in the provinces.
- Ensuring tax was paid
- Ensuring Edicts were carried out.
- Presiding over local courts.
- Coordinating the actions of the police force, they could request a letter de cachet
- Raising troops.
Why was the Intendants’ role hard?
they were understaffed, over worked and they couldn’t act on their own accord, having to appeal to central government each time they wanted to take legislative action.
The administrative set up was also a hinderance, their roles overlapped with others making the system ineffective. This was due to the coming together of france at the end of the 16th century and as kings of France adopted new lands they made agreements to uphold and protect practisesa nd traditions, making for a confusing and ineffective system.
What were Provincial governors
Presided over generalities.
They had become entrenched in families, like provincial dynasties. They exercised a lot of independence, hence why the intendants were introduced.
what were pays d’états?
6 areas in france where they were given some freedom over the taxation, then paying a lump sum to the king. This led to a lot of corruption.
How was the AR gov corrupt?
- Venality meant that wealthy people had bought positions and were fiercely defensive of their rights.
- Seigneurs (land holding nobles) exercised considerable influence, some viewing themselves as superior to the intendants.
How many venal offices were there by the 18th century?
80,000
How many courts were there in the AR?
-Over 400. Ranging from Prévôtés through 430 Baillage and 13 Parlaments.
What was the role of the Parlements?
To hear and both civil and criminal cases that local courts could not solve.
They controlled guilds, corporations and markets as well as local government finances and law and order- meaning they too could come into conflict with the intendants.
What had Louis XV tried to do in 1771?
He tried to abolish parlements altogether.
How did law in france differ?
The southern third of france operated on the written law adapted from the Roman legal system with very clear and rigid rules. The rest of france operated on a system of common law, based on customary practise they varied significantly from one region to the next.
How many people made up the first estate? What tax was paid to the church? what tax were they exempt from? How did they pay their own form of tax? How much land in France did they own?
- 150,000 members
- The Tithe
- The Taille
- They offered a lump sum to the king which they decided called the don gratuit.
- Owned around 10% of the land of France.
- How many members made up the second estate?
- What did the majority of their wealth come from?
- How much land did they occupy?
- What types of nobility were there?
- 200,000-400,000
- Unearned wealth: money coming from rents and investments.
