Provincial Power and Absolute Monarchy: The Estates General of Burgundy, 1661-1790

ISBN-13: 9780521827676 / Angielski / Twarda / 2003 / 478 str.

Julian Swann

Opis

Julian Swann analyzes the organization, membership and powers of the Estates General of Burgundy during the classic period of absolute monarchy. Swann explores the activities of their administration and their struggles for power with rival institutions as well as their relationships with the crown and with the Burgundian people. His study reveals much about the government of Louis XIV, the history of Burgundy and the wider political history of eighteenth-century France, including the origins of the French Revolution.

Recenzje

'Based on careful archival research, gracefully written, and cogently argued, Swann's book is a welcome addition to the literature on the role of institutions in the old regime and the coming of the French Revolution. Those who wish to gain a better understanding of the often obscure mechanisms of power in eighteenth-century France will find this book well worth reading.' European History Quarterly

Spis treści

List of illustrations; List of figures; List of appendices; List of map; Preface; List of abbreviations; Map: the duchy of Burgundy in the eighteenth century; 1. Historians, absolute monarchy and the provincial estates; 2. Ancien régime Burgundy; 3. The Estates General of Burgundy; 4. Nosseigneurs les élus and the officers of the Estates; 5. The provincial administration: authority and enforcement; 6. 'It's raining taxes': paying for the Sun King, 1661–1715; 7. Provincial administration in an age of iron, 1661–1715; 8. The limits of absolutism: crown, governor and the Estates in the eighteenth century; 9. Provincial rivalries: the Estates and the Parlement of Dijon in the eighteenth century; 10. Tax, borrow and lend: crown, Estates and finance, 1715–89; 11. An enlightened administration?; 12. The coming of the French revolution in Burgundy, 1787–9; Conclusion; Appendices; Bibliography; Index.