4 - The Aristocratic Revolt

Causes of economic crisis

• Foreign war debt

• No national economy

• Lavish royal spending

February 22 - May 25, 1789

The Assembly of Notables

The Assembly of Notables

• Calonne convened A.O.N - 144 handpicked kingdom members

• Gaining back clergy & nobility - Calonne could secure loans & pass reforms through Parlement of Paris without resistance

• Reforms failed to pass

• Notables pushed on liiting Louis’ power

• Replaced by Brienne in April

• Calling for an Estates-General - direct attack on absolutism

• A.O.N dissolved in May

Lafayette quote about the Aristocratic Revolt

“We were not the representatives of the Nation but… we declared that although we had no right to impede, it was our right not to advise unless we though that the measures were proper and we could not think of new taxes unless we knew he returns of the economy.”

Jul 2, 1787

Brienne submittd reform to Parlement of Paris

True or False

The Magistrates rejected Brienne’s reforms on July 2, 1787

True

“taxes should be consented to by those who had to bear them”

August 6, 1787

• Louis attempted to use a lit de justice to register reforms (forcing Parlement to register decrees)

• Parlement declared it invalid and were exiled - seen as champions of the people

  Compromised was reached but Louis claimed “it’s legal because I will it” - led Parlement to refuse registration

William Doyle - Historian Interpretation

“The King’s word turned what seemed destined to be a government triumph into a disaster.”

June 10, 1788

The Day of Tiles

Cause of the Day of Tiles

• Magistrates viewed as defender’s of people’s rights

• Royal troops came to banish magistrates from Parlement of Grenoble for opposition to Louis

Effects of the Day of Tiles

• Troops met with violence - tiles hurled at their heads

• Second regiment of soldiers open fire - kill 2 people

• Riots in Paris fuelled by high price of food following crop failures

• Over 500 pamphlets published attacking ministers

• Clergy joined protests - refused to pay don gratuit

July 5, 1788

Brienne announced Louis would welcome submissions on the composition of and Estate-General

Schama - Historian Interpretation

“(The Day of Tiles) was a three-fold revolution. It signalled the breakdown of royal authority and the helplessness of military force in the face of sustained urban disorder. It warned the urban elite… that there was an unpredictable price to be paid for their encouragement of riot and one that might very easily be turned against themselves. And most important of all, it delivered the initiative for further political action into the hands of a younger, more radical group.”

August 8, 1788

Louis calls for Estate-General – effort to restore public confidence in gov

Bankruptcy

• Only 400k livre in treasury

• Tax revenue from peasants would be lower in year to come due to natural disasters destroying crops

August 16, 1788

Louis suspended all payments & called for foreign countries to pay any debt owed to France

August 24, 1788

Brienne resigned - called for Necker to be restored

Schama - Historian Interpretation

“enough money for the government to function for one afternoon”