From the Ancien Regime to the Popular Front: Essays in the History of Modern France in Honor of Shepard B. Clough.

For Americans, long accustomed to judicial review of the law, the traditional absence of a similar system of constitutional control in France comes as a surprise. Closer examination however, reveals that the French politico-historico-judicial tradition inherited from the Ancien Régime and the Revolution of 1789 is deeply opposed to the development of "government by the judges." Why did the Revolution react against the judiciary? How has the idea of constitutional control evolved in modern France? What are the possible sources of legitimacy for an institution (the Conseil constitutionnel) and a concept (judicial review) cut off from the sanction of tradition? What is the future of the Conseil?

Download Full-text

Constitutional Justice in France

The Max Planck Handbooks in European Public Law ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198726418.003.0006 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 223-278

Author(s):

Olivier Jouanjan

Keyword(s):

Legal Order ◽

The Other ◽

Ancien Regime ◽

Fifth Republic ◽

History Of ◽

Constitutional Justice ◽

Ancien Régime

This chapter examines the concept of ‘constitutional justice’ (justice constitutionnelle) as it is understood within the French legal order. Afterward, the chapter examines the history of French constitutional justice from the Ancien Régime to the Fifth Republic. Here, the constitutional jurisdiction of the Fifth Republic—that is, the Constitutional—and, in a broader sense, the system of constitutional justice as it exists in the Fifth Republic—are given particular attention. But an analysis of the Constitutional Council is not enough, however. The chapter also allows for a larger picture that takes into account the interactions between constitutional jurisdiction and all the other judicial actors.

Download Full-text

Biblical Criticism and Censorship in Ancien Régime France: the Case of Richard Simon

Harvard Theological Review ◽

10.1017/s0017816000027425 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 78 (1-2) ◽

pp. 149-177 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Patrick J. Lambe

Keyword(s):

Church And State ◽

Political History ◽

Book Trade ◽

Point Of View ◽

Ancien Regime ◽

Louis Xiv ◽

The Social ◽

History Of ◽

Ancien Régime ◽

Vital Element

The case of Richard Simon and the suppression of his book, Histoire critique du Vieux Testament in 1678 stands at a point where the interests of both Church and State in maintaining control of the book trade intersected. As such, the case is of interest in two important areas: first, from the point of view of the social and political history of the ancien régime in France, this case exhibits the intense concern for maintenance or extension of the powers of jurisdiction of the authorities which is so characteristic of the reign of Louis XIV. In some instances this preoccupation with autorité and droit led to an unseemly public jockeying for power, and it is interesting to see how the book trade is seen as a vital element in this struggle.

Download Full-text

LA CATTEDRALE, CUORE RELIGIOSO DELLA CITTA'

Istituto Lombardo - Accademia di Scienze e Lettere - Incontri di Studio ◽

10.4081/incontri.2007.39 ◽

1970 ◽

pp. 11-30

Author(s):

Paola Vismara

Keyword(s):

Religious Life ◽

Ancien Regime ◽

Long Period ◽

The Past ◽

History Of ◽

Ancien Régime ◽

The City

Riassunto.–Si ripercorrono alcune tappe del ruolo del Duomo di Milano nella storia della città, per grandissime linee. In tale sede, almeno sino alla fine dell’ancien régime, avevano luogo i grandi eventi della vita politica e civile, seppur non senza tensioni. La cattedrale era il cuore della città, in primo luogo il cuore liturgico e pastorale della vita religiosa. Si segnala lo sfarzo delle cerimonie straordinarie che vi si svolgevano, il ruolo della musica e, in particolare, la funzione del luogo e delle sue cerimonie nel contesto dell’azione degli arcivescovi. Seppur in forme diverse rispetto alpassato, alcuni aspetti della ritualità e della centralità del Duomo giungono sino ai nostri giorni.***Abstract.–The article offers an overview of the history of the cathedral of Milanin the context of the city. For a long period - at least until the end of the ancien régime - the Duomo housed the most important events of the city and was often thetheatre of tensions between ecclesiastical and political authorities. The cathedral wasthe heart of the city and the center of pastoral activities and of religious life. Splendid ceremonies, often accompanied by music, took place in the Duomo, highlighting the importance of the bishops in the city. Even thouh in a different way compared to the past, some aspects of the rituality and centrality of the Duomo are stillrelevant today.

Download Full-text

A Lawyer's Defense of a Wine Merchant against a Carpenter's Deposition: A Story about Friendship and Betrayal

Law and History Review ◽

10.2307/744017 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 365-384

Author(s):

Santo L. Aricò

Keyword(s):

Eighteenth Century ◽

Family Law ◽

Ancien Regime ◽

History Of ◽

Parlement Of Paris ◽

Ancien Régime ◽

Sacred Laws

In 1770, Antoine-Louis Séguier, the avocat général (king's advocate) of the Parlement of Paris, defended Jean-Baptiste Dubarle, a Parisian wine merchant, against charges of theft, seduction, kidnapping, and adultery initiated by a carpenter, Eustache Chefdeville. For all of the offenses, Chefdeville demanded monetary reparation.The case, summarized in a mémoire, connects the history of family law in France under the ancien régime to the skillful use of lawyerly forensics. But it also relates to literary portrayals of social scapegraces who betray the esteemed values of friendship and gratitude: in fact, this member of Paris's menu peuple emerges from the pages of the case abstract as a dissembling traitor. Séguier's legal brief, viewed as a work of fiction, projects Chefdeville as an ungrateful betrayer who feigns comradery. In Séguier's telling, this disfigured pariah, albeit socially inferior, takes his place next to the deceptive worldlings described in many eighteenth-century novels. Like them, he violates the sacred laws of sincerity, turning himself into a moral pervert. Séguier's mémoire is rich precisely because it demonstrates how a skilled lawyer attempting to win his case adopts the form of a story characterized by all the literary qualities of the day—love, friendship, avarice, and betrayal. It illustrates a classic legal approach and also reads like a novel from beginning to end.

Download Full-text