Open with a paradox: the eye-witness testimony of Arthur Young to the wretched poverty of rural life, against the background of long-term and possibly accelerating growth in population. Between Hufton’s ‘economy of makeshifts’, evidence of polarising patterns of land-ownership and access, and overall statistical indications of bare subsistence existence, the question of why there were several million more peasants in the 1780s than a generation or two before. (more…)
Seventh Chapter Outline
Begin with the notion of old-regime noble supremacy, literally embodied in the ideals of courtly behaviour and martial leadership – e.g. as Bell opens First Total War with discussion of Lauzun/Biron. Shift to ideas about ‘aristocratic reaction’, and then into subtler accounts by Smith, Blaufarb, etc of noble insecurities and efforts to reform while remaining distinctive. This opens up the question of what nobility was through what are now some well-worn paths – the Coyer/d’Arc exchanges, for example. (more…)
Sixth Chapter Outline
Open with the folklore of militia conscription, reflect on that vs. evidence for the origins of serving soldiers by the 1780s – Bertaud, Forrest – the urban/rural differentials, social origins, etc. The parade of structural innovations of the 1790s, from the idea of short-service volunteering, through the catastrophe of the levy of 300,000, to the implicitly and effectively unlimited service demanded in the levée en masse. With conscription then formalised in 1798, consider the cultural and political shifts necessary for one of the most divisive issues of the 1790s to become a focus of national unity under Bonaparte. (more…)
Fifth Chapter Outline
Opening on the rites of coronation, the marker of Catholicism’s place at the heart of state ideology – at least until 1830, when Louis Philippe neglected to hold such a ritual. This, coming relatively soon after Charles X’s unapologetic Reims spectacle of 1825, marking in itself the conflict around the Church’s place in the politics and society of this era. (more…)
Fourth Chapter Outline
Slightly briefer than previous outings, and also with a bit of an organisational conundrum – I’m starting to think that chapters 2-4 might work better in reverse order: comments welcome.
Chapter 4: Being French…
Third Chapter Outline
Chapter 3, Subjects and Citizens:
The classic ‘picture’ of old-regime administration provided by the idea of the intendants – administrative, centralised, unaccountable – and its contradiction by what we now know about patronage-networks, provincial autonomy and bargaining. The significance of venality of office in tying elites to the crown, while complicating the administrative picture. Taxation and its collection as a particular example of complexity. The role of the parlements in these elite tangles, and their relative lack of success in providing more than rhetorical opposition. (more…)
Second Chapter Outline
Once again a classic opener, the séance de la flagellation of 1766 and its robust definition of absolute monarchy – opening the way for discussion of the nature of ‘absolutism’ as ideology rather than system, claim rather than structure. Considering whether there had been any significant change since the heyday of Louis XIV, and whether absolutist claims still had life, or rested like a dead hand on politics. The opposing discourses, rooted variously in forms of aristocratic particularism and Jansenist/Gallican conciliarism, reveal the contested truth of the absolutist claim; while the vexed question of exactly how far parlementaires could thwart the royal will in these decades exposes the complexity of any thorough appreciation of monarchic power under the old regime. (more…)
First Chapter Outline
At last, slightly later than I’d hoped, an expanded outline of chapter 1, Transitions. Critical comment, as ever, most welcome:
Opening with a classic, Sièyes’s views on the essential harm done to society by privileged orders; a powerful viewpoint, but one which reflects a largely static view of the social and political arena. Moving backwards into the Old Regime, we want to pick up on some of the ways it was already changing, and had changed, and how these were reflected on. One important aspect is the disaster of 1763 itself, and the loss of empire in North America and India – how this challenged definitions of the French place in the world that had been emerging during that imperial ascent. (more…)
Starting out…
Welcome to my blog. Check out About the Project on the right for some idea of why it’s here, and Draft Introduction for my first stab at covering the ground involved. Draft Outline gives you an idea of where I hope it’s going. Over the next few weeks, the first stage of the project I’ll be tackling online will be to develop the one-paragraph chapter-outlines into something with some more detail and (at least implicit) argument, so that there should soon be some more meat for reflection about whether I’m doing it right. Comments, as ever, welcome, here or on the pages themselves.
