French Revolution- State reforms to the Catholic Church/The Civil Constitution of the Clergy 1789-1791

Why did the NCA reform the church?

Critcisms from the philosophes, the close associated of the church with the monarchy/Ancien Regime, the need for the church's wealth to stabilise state finances

What were the main church reforms?

Protestants (and late Jews) were given full citizenship, pluralism was abolished (ending absenteeism), tithe and church tax was abolished, the Church's right to choose the tax they pay as Don Gratuit was abolished, all church property was nationalised

What did the state do with the Church's wealth?

Sold it off- From February 1790 church property/wealth was sold off, from June 1790 church land and possessions were sold

What was the Civil Constitution of the Clergy?

Reduced the number of Bishoprics (bishop positions/regions led by one Pope) from 135 to 83, made clergymen state paid officials, all Bishops and Priests were to be elected by the public

When was the Civil Constitution of the Clergy decreed?

12th July 1790

What were the reactions to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy?

The Pope withheld his opposition because he wanted the Avignon (a piece of religious land in France), Louis XVI was reluctant to agree (forced), Conservative and higher ranking clergy were very critical of it

What were positive reactions to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy?

Enlightened priests such as Talleyrand supported the nationalisation of the church's property

When was the Oath of the Civil Constitution decreed?

27th November 1790

What was the Oath of the Civil Constitution?

Decreed that all clergy should swear an oath to follow the guidelines of the Civil Constitution- it was essentially the question of whether loyalties of the clergy laid with the Church or with the Revolution

How much of the clergy accepted the oath?

55% of parish (lower) clergy accepted it, only 7 of the 160 bishops swore it

The Papal Bull of April 1791

The Pope outwardly criticises the Civil Constitution- further retracts support for the Civil Constitution from clergymen

'Jurors' and 'Non-jurors'/'refractionary priests'

'Jurors' were priests who took the oath, 'refractionary priests' were priests who did not take the oath, they were seen as counter revolutionary

How did the NCA react to opposition to the Oath/Civil Constitution?

Stating that all non-jurors were no longer French citizens, revoking the salaries of their wages, banning them from using religious buildings, banning religious dress publicly

Refractionary priests as counter-revolutionary

They outwardly preached against the revolution, many non-jurors fled France and continued to preach against the revolution abroad

When was church land nationalised?

2nd November 1789