France, 1774-1814: The Ancien Régime and the Outbreak of Revolution

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, social structures, and political groups during the early stages of the French Revolution (1774-1792).

Ancien Régime

A term used in the revolutionary period from $1789$ to describe the old type of political system in France, often used to show disrespect for the monarchy.

Enlightenment

The growth of scholarly and intellectual writing in the eighteenth century that questioned established religion, the monarchy, and social inequality.

Louis XVI

The grandson of Louis XV who came to the throne in $1774$; though personally kind, he was seen as indecisive and unable to manage financial crises or reform.

Parlements

Courts of law whose members acted as judges and were required to officially record royal edicts to turn them into laws.

Lit de justice

A special ceremony where the king appeared in person to declare an edict legal, overriding any opposition from the parlements.

Controller General of Finance

The most important ministerial post in the French royal government, responsible for managing the state's economy and debt.

Intendant

A professional administrator appointed by the king to conduct local government in the royal provinces.

Tax Farmers

Private individuals or groups who bought the right to collect taxes on behalf of the king.

Estates General

A body consisting of representatives from France's three official classes (clergy, nobility, and commoners) that had not met since $1614$ until being summoned in $1789$.

Noblesse d'épée

Literally "nobles of the sword"; the hereditary aristocracy who earned their titles through military service to the king.

Noblesse de robe

Literally "nobles of the robe"; individuals who obtained their titles through public service, such as acting as judges.

First Estate

The class comprised of churchmen and nuns, making up approximately $0.5$ to $1$ per cent of the population and owning $10$ per cent of the land.

Second Estate

The nobility, comprising less than $1.5$ per cent of the population, who enjoyed tax exemptions and held most leading government and military positions.

Third Estate

The majority of the population ($98$ per cent), including peasants, urban workers, and the middle class, who lacked the privileges of the first two estates.

Feudal dues

Payments made to lords by peasants based on traditional privileges, including champart, corvée, and banalités.

Champart

A type of feudal due where a portion of the grain or produce was paid to the landlord.

Corvée

An unpopular feudal obligation requiring peasants to work on public roads or the king's highways.

Banalités

Fees charged to peasants for using the landlord's equipment, such as flour mills, bakers' ovens, or grape presses.

The Social Contract

A book written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in $1762$ suggesting that citizens obey laws as part of an unwritten agreement with those in power.

Bread riots

Riots by the poor to seize corn or take bread from bakers, common during times of food shortages and high prices.

Compte rendu

A report to the king published by Jacques Necker in $1781$ that made the national accounts public for the first time.

Taille

The key land tax in France; Charles de Calonne proposed ending tax privileges associated with this tax in $1787$.

Assembly of Notables

A group of leading figures, mainly aristocrats and clergy, summoned in $1787$ to discuss financial reforms, which ultimately failed to agree on a plan.

Day of Tiles

A protest on June $7$, $1788$ at Grenoble where crowds threw roof tiles at royal troops in defense of the exiled parlement judges.

Cahiers de doléances

Registers or lists of grievances drawn up by each estate across France in preparation for the meeting of the Estates General.

National Assembly

The name adopted by the Third Estate on June $17$, $1789$, declaring that they represented the people of France and held sovereign power.

Tennis Court Oath

An oath taken on June $20$, $1789$ by members of the Third Estate vowing not to disperse until France had a written constitution.

Bastille

A fortress and prison in Paris that symbolized royal power; it was stormed by crowds searching for gunpowder on July $14$, $1789$.

National Guard

An armed force of citizens formed in July $1789$ to maintain order in Paris and protect the interests of the propertied classes.

The Great Fear

A period of rural unrest in the summer of $1789$ where peasants, fearing noble-hired brigands, attacked grain stores and burned châteaux.

August Decrees

A series of laws passed between August $5$ and $11$, $1789$, which abolished the feudal system, tithes, and tax exemptions.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

A document issued on August $26$, $1789$, stating that all men are born free and equal in rights and that sovereignty resides in the nation.

Constituent Assembly

The name taken by the National Assembly while its primary task was to draw up a new constitution for France.

Constitutional monarchy

A system of government where a monarch shares power with an elected assembly and is bound by a written set of rules.

Cordeliers Club

The "Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen," a radical group founded in $1790$ that encouraged working-class involvement.

Jacobin Club

A political club established in $1789$ that eventually became the center for radical revolutionary thought under leaders like Maximilien Robespierre.

Feuillants

A political club formed by moderate Jacobins who split from the main group in July $1791$ to support the constitutional monarchy.

Girondins

A group of moderate republicans, many from the Gironde region, who were known for supporting the war policy against Austria in $1792$.

Enragés

Meaning "the angry ones"; extreme radical groups in Paris that called for popular democracy and the sharing of wealth with the poor.

The Friend of the People

A radical revolutionary newspaper organized by Jean-Paul Marat which often advocated violence against the nobility.