Monarchy

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joël Félix
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Reform Initiatives ◽  
Old Regime ◽  
Political Crises ◽  
The Social ◽  
Major Reform ◽  
Louis Xvi ◽  
Louis Xv

This chapter examines the social and political structures of the absolute monarchy. It explores the extent to which tensions and conflicts in the mid-eighteenth century, in particular disputes between government and parlements, divided the elites over reform and policy, and opened up the realm of politics to public opinion. Reviewing the fate of major reform initiatives through the reigns of both Louis XV and his grandson Louis XVI, it argues that political crises paralysed the ability of royal institutions to enforce authority and generate consensus, thus making the transition from the old regime to the modern world necessary and inevitable.

‹ Rococo › : du jargon à la catégorie de style

2017 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 474-487
Author(s):  
Marie-Pauline Martin
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
History Of ◽  
Louis Xvi ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Louis Xv ◽  
Objective Existence

Abstract Today there is a consensus on the definition of the term ‘rococo’: it designates a style both particular and homogeneous, artistically related to the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI. But we must not forget that in its primitive formulations, the rococo has no objective existence. As a witty, sneering, and impertinent word, it can adapt itself to the most varied discourses and needs, far beyond references to the eighteenth century. Its malleability guarantees its sparkling success in different languages, but also its highly contradictory uses. By tracing the genealogy of the word ‘rococo’, this article will show that the association of the term with the century of Louis XV is a form of historical discrimination that still prevails widely in the history of the art of the Enlightenment.

From Servant of the King to ‘Idol of the Nation’

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Swann
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Public Welfare ◽  
The Political ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Louis Xiv ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Louis Xvi ◽  
The Revolution

The absolute monarchy was a personal monarchy and during the reign of Louis XIV, the king established a tradition that the king should act as his ‘own first minister’, coordinating the work of his ministerial servants. In the course of the eighteenth century that tradition was undermined by a series of social, administrative, and cultural changes to such an extent that by the 1780s ministers were increasingly behaving as independent political figures, courting public opinion and claiming to act in the name of public welfare or even the nation. By examining these changes, this chapter argues that the political culture of the absolute monarchy was in constant transition and that the failure of Louis XVI, in particular, to manage its effects was one of the principal causes of his loss of authority in the period preceding the Revolution of 1789.

Bourgeoisie

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Maza
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Social History ◽  
French Revolution ◽  
Historical Narratives ◽  
French History ◽  
Old Regime ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

The concept of a group called “the bourgeoisie” is unusual in being both central to early modern and modern European history, and at the same time highly controversial. In old regime France, people frequently used the words “bourgeois” or “bourgeoisie” but what they meant by them was very different from the meaning historians later assigned to those terms. In the nineteenth century the idea of a “bourgeoisie” became closely associated with Marxian historical narratives of capitalist ascendancy. Does it still make sense to speak of a “bourgeoisie”? This article attempts to lay out and clarify the terms of the problem by posing a series of questions about this aspect of the social history of Ancien Régime France, with a brief look across the Channel for comparison. It considers first the problem of definition: what was and is meant by “the bourgeoisie” in the context of early modern French history? Second, what is the link between eighteenth-century economic change and the existence and nature of such a group, and can we still connect the origins of the French Revolution to the “rise” of a bourgeoisie? And finally, can the history of perceptions and representations of a bourgeoisie or middle class help us to understand why the concept has been so problematic in the longer run of French history?

Of Secrets and Supper Parties

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Swann
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Political Crises ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
Louis Xv ◽  
As If

The court of Louis XV has been depicted as if it was a dusty museum, re-enacting the rituals and ceremonies of the Sun King, but without any vitality as cultural pre-eminence passed to Paris. Using the perspective of disgrace, this chapter takes a fresh look at the court in the eighteenth century, and argues that Louis XV showed dexterity in managing his court using intermediaries and access to his person in intimate settings such as his famous supper parties. Versailles was not immune to change, and in the course of the king’s reign the court experienced a form of ‘politicization’ resulting from changing patterns of ministerial recruitment and the influence of the political crises in the parlements. The infamous Revolution of 1771 demonstrates how Louis XV used his power to divide the opposition to his policies and to uphold his position as the head of the House of Bourbon.

scholarly journals Mademoiselle Bonafon and the Private Life of Louis XV: Communication Circuits in Eighteenth-Century France

2004 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERT DARNTON
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Print Culture ◽  
Private Life ◽  
Communication Circuits ◽  
History Of ◽  
Louis Xv

ABSTRACT In 1745 a chambermaid in Versailles was shut up in the Bastille for publishing a roman àà clef about the sex life of Louis XV. In attempting to get to the bottom of the case, the police uncovered some remarkable information about how oral media and print culture intersected. Their investigation opens up some broad issues related to the history of women, authorship, reading, and public opinion.

II. The Social Origins of French and English Bishops in the Eighteenth Century

1965 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman Ravitch
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Social Origins ◽  
Old Regime ◽  
The Social ◽  
French And English ◽  
Membership Organization

The increasing emphasis of historians of the eighteenth century on the role of aristocracy under the old régime justifies looking once again, more carefully, at the upper clergy of the established religious cults. The leaders of the established churches were ex officio, if not also by birth, always members of the aristocracy. No comprehension of the membership, organization, or objectives of the eighteenth-century aristocracy is possible without consideration of its ecclesiastical wing—in the case of episcopal churches, of its bishops.

“A Very Dangerous Talent”: Wit for Women in Hannah Webster Foster's The Boarding School

2019 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-74
Author(s):  
Yvette R. Piggush
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Boarding School ◽  
Social Effects ◽  
Conduct Literature ◽  
Gender Expectations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Women's Humor

Hannah Webster Foster's eighteenth-century novel The Boarding School shows how conduct literature and the republican culture of politeness create gender expectations for women's humor in the early United States. Foster teaches readers about the social effects of wit and guides them in using satire and irony to influence public opinion.

A Model of Conduct from the Age of Chivalry? Honour, International Decline and the End of the Bourbon Monarchy

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamish Scott
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
French Revolution ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Central Objective ◽  
Louis Xvi ◽  
Louis Xv ◽  
Century Development ◽  
Honour Code

The decline of France as a European power is an established eighteenth-century development and one that was laid at the Bourbon monarchy's door by its critics during the ancien régime. Within a worldview shaped by the aristocratic honour code, Louis XV and Louis XVI were seen as having dishonoured themselves and the country they ruled, by their political failures and especially the Austrian alliance concluded in 1756. These arguments were then adopted in the early stages of the French Revolution. Restoring that same honour, now increasingly attached to the nation and not the Bourbon dynasty, was a central objective of the members of both the National and Legislative Assemblies, and was integral to the Brissotin campaign for war against Austria, declared in spring 1792. This chapter reinforces the importance of continuities in political culture after 1789 and demonstrates the ways in which foreign policy was more central to the early Revolution than sometimes appreciated, contributing to the ‘nationalisation of honour’ (Hampson), as the nation and not the monarchy, became its focus.

Conclusion

2018 ◽  
pp. 280-322
Author(s):  
Ahmad S. Dallal
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Primary Site ◽  
Legal Tradition ◽  
Political Crises ◽  
The Social ◽  
Religious Law ◽  
The Law ◽  
Historical Writings

Whether through a deliberate and conscious reconfiguring of choice juristic symbols and idioms, or through an academic attempt to order and classify the cumulative outcomes of a gradually emerging legal tradition, the legal writings of eighteenth century reformers were also historical writings that reflected on the historical contexts in which the law was articulated, and commented on the social and political crises of their times. As such, the legal writings of eighteenth-century reformers were sites in which traditional notions of authority were assessed, contested and restructured. This Chapter focuses on this aspect of eighteenth century legacy. It underscores the fact that the primary site of eighteenth century reform was in the fields of usul (theoretical principles). It also outlines the systematic arguments generated in the eighteenth century that limited the scope of religious law rather than extending it endlessly through legal analogy.

Idol of the Nation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Swann
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Louis Xiv ◽  
Intellectual Foundations ◽  
Louis Xvi ◽  
Louis Xv

Absolute monarchy as practiced since the time of Louis XIV involved the king acting as his own first minister, the royal master directing ministerial servants whose office was to be treated almost as vocation. Louis XV had struggled to fulfil that role, but he had nevertheless maintained at least the appearance of deciding ministerial destinies. Under Louis XVI existing fissures would break open, and increasingly independent-minded ministers, sceptical about the intellectual foundations of absolute monarchy and inspired by ideas from across the channel, developed a habit of resigning on principle, putting public opinion, the nation or their own interests before their obligation to serve the king. By taking a close look at ministerial disgrace, notably through the careers of Necker and Calonne, this chapter discusses the breakdown of a model of Bourbon government that would do much to bring about the collapse of the king’s authority in 1789.

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