France Under The Old Regime (Choices) PDF

The French Revolution 7 assumed most responsibility for administering France was a complex maze of jurisdic­ and governing the regions of France...

The French Revolution 7 assumed most responsibility for administering France was a complex maze of jurisdic­ and governing the regions of France, including tions and inconsistent rules that the privileged the essential function of collecting taxes. and powerful used to benefit themselves. The king claimed absolute authority Some historians have called the government of throughout France, but the regions farthest pre-revolutionary France a plutocracy (gov­ from the site of his rule in Paris often ex­ ernment for and by the wealthy). The king ercised some autonomy. For example, the depended on a minority of the French people, regions in southern France established their who were in the nobility or clergy, to preserve own rates of taxation in consultation with the his rule. This small minority depended on and king's ministers. used the system he headed for wealth, status, and power. Although the peoples of France were uni­ fied by the fact that Louis XVI was their ruler, there were in fact great variations throughout What was the role of the the kingdom. For example, in the provinces Roman Catholic Church? around Paris French was the language spoken. France was primarily a country of Roman But there were other dialects and languages Catholics. The Roman Catholic Church was spoken in other provinces, including Basque, both wealthy and politically powerful. By Breton, and German. Taxes were also adminis­ law and tradition, clergy were considered the tered differently. For example, salt was taxed most important group in France, ahead of the at different rates throughout France. In some nobility. All of the king's subjects were legally areas people were taxed, in other areas, only designated as Catholics and no one was per­ land was taxed. mitted to practice any other religion publicly. Protestants, who numbered about 550,000, had no civil rights and were not tolerated except in How was the king able to rule France? the province of Alsace. About thirty thousand Although the king claimed absolute power Jews lived in France and their rights were and final say over all decisions and policies of similarly curtailed. France, he depended on the nobility and of­ ficials to carry out his policies. Many of them The Catholic Church played an impor­ did this simply because it benefitted them. tant role in the lives of ordinary people. The For example, the tens of thousands of officials who had purchased "offices" and paid taxes so that they could pass the office on to their offspring wanted to preserve the source of their income. It served their personal interests ::, z to perpetuate the system E of government. After all, E 0 u if it had not made them m wealthy, it at least made them financially secure. They were free from the fear of hunger, something that the vast majority struggled with daily. This photograph shows the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Notre Dame in present-day Paris. The cathedral was built between 1163 and 1345 CE. WWW.CHOICES.EDU WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY foUCATION PROGRAM s I The Fcench Re,olufoc church was responsible for most of the educa­ order to get support for new taxes. By the time tion system and provided aid and charity to King Louis XVI came to the throne, the Estates the poor. It ran almost all of the hospitals and General had not met since 1614. orphanages as well. For the many poor people of France, the church provided vital services What were parlements? that they would not otherwise be able to af­ France had thirteen parlements that served ford. as the highest courts of law in the land. The When life was filled with hardship, death, king registered all new laws and edicts with and uncertainty, the church also provided the parlements; the parlements had the right hope to peasants in the countryside. Priests to criticize these edicts, but ultimately could blessed crops and animals. Church bells were not overrule the king. rung in the belief that they could prevent The jurisdiction of these courts was geo­ thunderstorms, which would spoil a harvest. graphic and often covered multiple provinces The church also had an important admin­ and generalites. These overlapping adminis­ istrative role. It kept records of births, deaths, trative boundaries often led to disputes over and marriages. It had the power to censor or which laws should apply. The fact that the suppress publications of which it did not ap­ laws and legal code varied throughout the prove. Government decrees or warnings were provinces complicated the situation further. often issued through the church. The northern provinces of France relied on The church owned about 10 percent of the customary law (unwritten law established by land in France and earned revenue from the being used over a long period of time). The tithes it collected. While many French people southern provinces used laws with their ori­ loved their parish priests, they resented the gins in the Roman empire. wealth collected from the tithes by higher­ ranking clergymen, for example, bishops and France and the Age of cardinals. These higher-ranking clergy were appointed by the king and were often members Enlightenment There were many problems in France, of the nobility as well. including widespread poverty. In spite of The church and clergy paid no taxes of this, the king was still a popular and exalted their own, but regularly gave the crown a gift figure. For example, many wept with joy at of cash. Positions of power in the church were his coronation or even fainted in his presence. usually controlled by nobles, many of whom The idea of the "divine right of kings" was still saw the church as way to increase their own widely accepted in the eighteenth century. family wealth. During the reign of Louis XVI, about one-third of the French people were liter- What was the Estates General? ate, and one in fifty-two boys would attend France did not have a representative body a high school. Only the well-off could afford like a parliament or Congress when Louis XVI to purchase journals or books or have time to came to power. The king could convene what read. Yet France was changing. Education and was known as the Estates General, which was literacy rates had increased even among the meant to be a representative body. The Es­ poor. Newspapers and journals grew in impor­ tates General was made of three groups: the tance. The number of libraries increased as did First Estate, which was the clergy; the Sec­ the places where political discussions could ond Estate, the nobility; and the Third Estate, take place. For example, people gathered in which included everyone else. King Philip III public coffee houses to discuss issues. Private had established the Estates General in 1302 to gatherings known as salons, often sponsored provide counsel in times of crisis. Normally by wealthy women, were another place for the French kings convened the Estates General in airing of new ideas. CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY WWW.CHOICES.EDU  The French Revolution g It was in this environment that writers and philosophers introduced new ideas and ways of thinking about society and government. This period came to be known as the Age of Enlightenment and it occurred not only in France, but in all of Europe. The beginning of this period in France can be traced to King Louis XIV's decision to eliminate the rights of French Protestants in 1685. Hundreds of thousands fled France to E E 0 neighboring countries where some were able u to publish works that criticized France's Old E :_;;; Regime. Changes in scientific understanding also contributed to the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment. The scientific revolution of the seventeenth century, with its emphasis on observation, measurement, and rationality as a means to understand the physical world, influenced the philosophers of the Enlighten­ ment. Philosophers tried to address questions of government and society using the same Denis Diderot. approach. Although their goal was to improve society and increase human happiness through the public. Many of the philosophers were criticism and reform, they were not advocates exiled from France and their writings banned. for revolution. Who was Voltaire? ,we will speak against senseless laws Voltaire was the pen name of Frenchman until they are reformed; and while Frarn;:ois-Marie Arouet who lived from 1694 we wait, we will abide by them." to 1778. Early in his life Voltaire was exiled to -Denis Diderot, Enlightenment England. There he published Letters Concern­ philosopher ing the English Nation, in which he compared Britain's constitutional monarchy and par­ What was the object of the Enlightenment? liamentary government to France's absolute Not all of the writers of the Enlighten­ monarchy. Voltaire admired the British Bill of ment agreed with each other or made the same Rights, which was written in 1689, because arguments. What the philosophers and writers it made freedom of speech a right and gave did share was the idea that society could be Protestants freedom of religion. (He did not improved by using the principles of rationality mention the fact that Roman Catholics did not and reason. have rights in Britain.) Although this book The ideas of the Enlightenment challenged was banned in France, it nevertheless became the fundamental principles of French soci- a best seller. Voltaire spoke out frequently ety, including the authority of the king and against the Catholic Church and religious the Catholic Church. Enlightenment writers persecution. believed that rationality, not merely tradition or religious ideas, should be the driving force , ,1J this world were as good as it seems behind all decisions. Philosophers sought to it could be, if everywhere man could shape the opinions of educated members of find a livelihood that was easy and WWW.CHOICES.EDU WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY CHOICES FOR THE 21 ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM 1Q The French Revolution I assure a climate suitable to his thousand copies had been sold in France and nature, it is clear that it would be in other countries. impossible for one man to enslave another.... If all men were without , ,ram a man, and I have 110 other pure, needs, they would thus be necessarily inalienable natural rights than those equal. It is the poverty that is a part of humanity...the laws should be of our species that subordinates one made for everyone, and not for one man to another. It is not inequality, person [the king]." it is dependence that is the real -Denis Diderot, Encyclopedia, 1755 misfortune. It matters very little that this man calls himself 'His Highness,' or 'His Holiness.' What is hard is to Who was Rousseau? serve him." Jean-Jacques Rousseau lived from 1712 to 1778. He was also a philosopher of the En­ -Voltaire, Philosophical Dictionary, 1765 lightenment, but he disagreed with many of the arguments made by others of the era. For Who was Montesquieu? example, he believed that progress in arts and The Baron de Montesquieu was the science had hurt rather than helped humanity. noble title of the Frenchman Charles-Louis One of his most important works was The So­ de Secondat who lived from 1689 to 1755. cial Contract. Rousseau set out the ways that Montesquieu's most famous contribution to he thought government could legitimately es­ political thinking was his work The Spirit of tablish authority while protecting the liberty of Laws. In this work he outlined the principal citizens. The Social Contract was condemned of the separation of governmental power into for its attacks on the church and priests and three branches of government: the executive, Rousseau fled France for eight years. the judicial, and the legislative. This form of government, he argued, was the best way Rousseau's political ideas were radical for to encourage political liberty. Montesquieu's the time. He argued that all adult male citizens ideas were important in France, and also influ­ had the same innate rights, and that govern­ enced the authors of the U.S. Constitution. ments could only gain legitimacy by protecting the rights of each citizen. Rousseau also placed great importance on the "general will" of the , ,111 order that power be not abused, populace as a guide for establishing political things should be so disposed that authority. He claimed that the king received power checks power." his authority from the "general will" not from -Baron de Montesquieu, God. The Spirit of Laws, 1748 Who was Diderot? , ,The Sovereign [king], having 110 force Denis Diderot lived between 1713 and other than the legislative power, acts 1784. He helped author and publish a multi­ only by means of the laws; and the volume collection of knowledge. It was called laws being solely the authentic acts Encyclopedia, but its purpose was more than of the general will, the Sovereign simply summarizing what was already known. cannot act save when the people is Diderot intended to promote an understand­ assembled." ing of the world based on rationality, and also -Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social a critical attitude towards all things, particu­ Contract, 1762 larly the church and the authority of the state. Although both church and crown tried to sup­ press publication, by 1789 about twenty-five a CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM a WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY a WWW.CHOICES.EDU