Richard Bonney

The French Civil War, 1649-53

Moote’s view of the Fronde is oriented almost exclusively towards Paris and the Parlement of Paris in particular. He considers that the Parlement of Paris played a moderating role during the Fronde as a result of almost accidental compromises between conservative and less conservative members of that court. The history of the Fronde, in Moote’s view, was in large measure the history of political reforms obtained under duress in 1648 and the defence of those measures by the office-holders. He believes that the Fronde

Before Copyright: The French Book-Privilege System, 1498-1526.

List of illustrations Preface Acknowledgements note on transcription Note on proper names Sigla and abbreviations 1. Origins and development of book-privileges in Europe 2. Privilege-granting authorities in France 3. Seeking and granting privileges: forms, conditions and procedures 4. Grounds for seeking and granting privileges 5. Grant of privilege and permission to print 6. Dating and duration of privileges 7. Display and advertisement of privileges 8. The range of interests reflected in privileged books: analysis by subject 9. Ownership, enforcement and efficacy of privileges Conclusion Select bibliography Index of publishers, printers and booksellers General index.

The Chief Minister: Policies and Critics

The greatest problem faced by any government in early modern Europe was how to mobilise the resources of the state in time of war without arousing excessive discontent among the population at large. The two Cardinal ministers faced this problem throughout their period in office. One fact stands out as of supreme importance: the duration of the war against Spain (1635–59). There were several other significant wars, too.1 Richelieu’s ministry began in the last phase of Louis XIII’s struggle against the military power of the Huguenots, which led to further fighting in 1625–6 and 1627–9. In short, there were only two years of real peace during the entire ministries of Richelieu and Mazarin (1660–1).

The Ministerial Team

The dominance of the central government by a chief minister encompassed several distinct phases: a period of personal rule by Louis XIII (15 December 1621–14 May 1643), a period of Regency (18 May 1643–7 September 1651), and a period when Louis XIV was declared to have come of age but did not govern (7 September 1651–9 March 1661). It ended only when Louis XIV expressed the wish, on the death of Mazarin, to rule without a chief minister. Clearly the real power enjoyed by the chief minister varied considerably between one period and another and within each period significant changes could occur. Previous powerful influences upon the government had tried to exploit the position of royal favourite to dominate the ministers. Concino Concini, the favourite of Marie de Medicis, had tried to do this from 1610 until 1617. Luynes, the favourite of Louis XIII, had achieved this from 1617 until 1621: his ascendancy had been so all-encompassing that he had held the posts both of Constable of France and Keeper of the Seals.

Administrative Innovation and the Reaction of the Office-Holders

The French administrative system had developed in a piecemeal way, and important political forces ensured the continuation of regional diversity. Certain provinces had been acquired relatively late by the French monarchy — Normandy, Guyenne, Burgundy, Provence and Brittany were gained only in the fifteenth century — and had retained some of their former customs and privileges. By the seventeenth century, the estates (or representative institutions) of Guyenne were in abeyance, while those of Normandy and Provence were under threat or succumbed during Richelieu’s ministry (Map 1). However, the provincial estates of one province acquired much earlier — Languedoc — remained strong, despite an attempt by the government in 1632 to ensure greater compliance by imposing the edict of Beziers. The estates of Languedoc regained their full independence in 1649, when the government needed to retain the loyalty of institutions during the Fronde. The Chancellor commented that all the pays d’etats might seek comparable concessions (doc. 157). The government greatly feared local alliances between institutions such as the provincial estates and the regional lawcourts or Parlements. These rarely occurred, since rivalry between them was the norm.

Aristocratic Grievances and Rebellion

French society at the time of Richelieu and Mazarin was divided in many ways, but two categories appear particularly important. The first was the great gulf between privileged and unprivileged, basically between rich and poor, with the upper levels of the clergy, the old nobility of the sword and the new nobility of the robe (those ennobled through office) falling within the group of the privileged. The second was a less easily perceived, but still fundamental, subdivision within the privileged group. Thus, for example, the clergy stood apart from the rest of society, although the bishops might form a common interest with the nobility at a moment of crisis such as 1651 (cf. doc. 232), not least because most of the bishops were recruited from the sons of the nobility. It was observed in Chapter 3 that the office-holders were divided, some enjoying much greater privileges than others, some co-operating with the monarchy and its fiscal demands in time of war, while others tended to resist. The nobles, like the office-holders, lacked group cohesion. Magnates such as princes of the blood, provincial governors and other great nobles had little in common with lesser nobility or gentry. The experience of the Fronde demonstrated that the old nobility was too divided against itself to resist the encroachment of the new nobility of the robe.