In Search of the Gentilshommes Campagnards: Noble Diversity and Social Structure in Burgundy, 1682-1789
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In Search of the gentilshommes campagnards: Noble Diversity and Social Structure in Burgundy, 1682-1789 Susan Carr St Andrews Studies in French History and Culture ST ANDREWS STUDIES IN FRENCH HISTORY AND CULTURE The history and historical culture of the French-speaking world is a major field of interest among English-speaking scholars. The purpose of this series is to publish a range of shorter monographs and studies, between 25,000 and 50,000 words long, which illuminate the history of this community of peoples between the later Middle Ages and the late twentieth century. The series covers the full span of historical themes relating to France: from political history, through military/naval, diplomatic, religious, social, financial, gender, cultural and intellectual history, art and architectural history, to historical literary culture. Titles in the series are rigorously peer-reviewed through the editorial board and external assessors, and are published as both e-books and paperbacks. Editorial Board Professor Guy Rowlands, University of St Andrews (Editor-in-Chief) Professor Andrew Pettegree, University of St Andrews Professor Andrew Williams, University of St Andrews Dr Sarah Easterby-Smith, University of St Andrews Dr David Evans, University of St Andrews Dr Justine Firnhaber-Baker, University of St Andrews Dr Linda Goddard, University of St Andrews Dr Julia Prest, University of St Andrews Dr Bernhard Struck, University of St Andrews Dr Stephen Tyre, University of St Andrews Dr Akhila Yechury, University of St Andrews Professor Peter Jackson, University of Glasgow Dr David Parrott, University of Oxford Dr Alexander Marr, University of Cambridge Dr Malcolm Walsby, Université Rennes II Dr Sandy Wilkinson, University College Dublin Dr Michael Rapport, University of Glasgow Dr Peter Hicks, Fondation Napoléon, Paris/University of Bath Professor Rafe Blaufarb, Florida State University Professor Darrin McMahon, Dartmouth College Professor Eric Nelson, Missouri State University Professor Simon Kitson, University of Auckland In Search of the gentilshommes campagnards: Noble Diversity and Social Structure in Burgundy, 1682-1789 by SUSAN CARR St Andrews Studies in French History and Culture PUBLISHED BY THE CENTRE FOR FRENCH HISTORY AND CULTURE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS School of History, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom This series is a collaboration between the following institutions: Centre for French History and Culture, University of St Andrews http://cfhc.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution, Florida State University http://www.fsu.edu/napoleon/ Fondation Napoléon, Paris http://www.napoleon.org/fr/home.asp Digital Research Repository, University of St Andrews Library http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ © Susan Carr 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. First published 2017 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University of St Andrews ISBN 978-1-907548-14-7 paperback ISBN 978-1-907548-15-4 e-book Front cover: Edouard Dupont, Paysan et gentilhomme (19th century). Bibliothèque Nationale de France (RC_A_93123, Département des Estampes et de la Photographie, BNF Banque d’images). For Amy and Alf Contents Note on the Appendix page ii List of abbreviations iii List of figures iii Notes on the author iv Acknowledgements iv Preface v Introduction 1 1 Burgundy at the turn of the eighteenth century: the 13 noble world 2 The condition of the Burgundian noble population 26 in the late seventeenth century and first half of the eighteenth century 3 Defining the Burgundian gentilhomme 52 campagnard 4 The robe gentilhomme 83 5 1789: noble numbers, noble views, noble demands 113 Conclusion 131 Bibliography 137 Index 147 Notes on the Appendix: Recorded Burgundian nobles and gentilshommes, 1682-1789 The Appendix to this publication is published in electronic form only and can be found alongside the e-book files for this publication on the website of the University of St Andrews. The key to the Appendix is as follows:- KEY: NOBLE / SEIGNEURIE / CLASSIFICATION / LISTING A Convocation du ban et arrière-ban, 1691-96 B1 Capitation: gentilshommes et autres possedans fief, 1697 B2 Capitation: officiers militaires de la Chambre des Comptes, 1697 B3 Capitation: officiers du Parlement de Dijon, titulaires et veterans, 1701 B4 Capitation: officiers militaires du Parlement de Dijon, titulaires et veterans, 1701 B5 Capitation: officiers des estats, 1701 C Ferrand’s survey of Burgundian seigneurs and fief-holders, c. 1698 D Noblemen convoked to the Estates of Burgundy, 1682 onwards, including new nobles admitted to the chambre de la noblesse E Antoine Garreau’s survey of Burgundian landowners, 1734 F Voting assemblies: gentilshommes and nobles convoked, 1789 G Noble office-holders of the Chancellerie and Parlement de Bourgogne H Noble office-holders of the Chambre des Comptes of Dijon I Noble office-holders of the Estates of Burgundy ii List of abbreviations ADCO Archives départementales De la Côte d’Or, Dijon BMD Bibliothèque Municipale de Dijon List of figures 2.1 Ban et arrière-ban, Bourgogne and Bresse, page 29 1691-92 2.2 Arrière-ban, Dijon, 1693-96 31 2.3 Ferrand’s survey of Burgundian landowners, 34-5 1697-99 2.4 Burgundian capitation, 1695-97 and 1701 39-40 2.5 Garreau’s survey: breakdown of landowners, 1734 45 2.6 Numbers of nobles in attendance at the meetings of the chambre de la noblesse of the Estates of Burgundy 47 5.1 Noblemen convoked to the Burgundian voting 114 assemblies, 1789 5.2 Ferrand’s survey, 1697; Garreau’s survey, 1734; 115 Voting Assemblies, 1789 5.3 Burgundian noble population type by percentage: 118 1697, 1734, 1789 iii Notes on the author Susan Carr is Executive Secretary of the Royal Historical Society. She is also the author of ‘Whatever happened to the gentilshommes campagnards?: Counting Nobles in Burgundy, c. 1682-1701’ in Annales de Bourgogne 86:4 (octobre-decembre 2014). Acknowledgements My thanks must above all go to Julian Swann for first introducing me to the subject of the gentilshommes campagnards while I was a Masters student, and for guiding me towards the largely unresearched minor Burgundian nobility and the wealth of material in the Burgundian archives of the Côte d’Or, wherein lay the foundation stones of my doctoral thesis, and this volume. I benefitted immensely from his authoritative knowledge of Burgundy and its noble population and governing structures, and from his continued interest in and encouragement of my research over the last twenty years, not to mention his critical reading of the early drafts of this volume. My other thanks go to the circle of French historians who have helped me with specialist subject advice, and with whom I have enjoyed many a dinner and lively discussion over the years – Joël Félix, Jérôme Loiseau, Colin Jones, Roger Mettam – and, of course, Guy Rowlands who has patiently guided the development of this book. As my entire original research was conducted in Dijon I would like to commend the friendly and knowledgeable staff of the Dijon archives who were happy to guide me around the archive catalogues and on occasion even helped me decipher some wretched scrap of a nobleman’s illegible handwriting. iv Preface The fate of the French nobility in the last century of the ancien régime continues to interest historians, and over the years has given rise to numerous theories and conjecture concerning their history. The decline of the aristocratic population and its apparently diminishing influence in French social and political life have been extensively researched, together with contributing factors such as royal absolutism, governmental centralisation of functions that were traditional noble activity, and venal ennoblement. These are significant themes, yet when focussing on the aristocracy we are dealing with a comparatively small percentage of the noble population – the sword and robe elites. The majority of the noble population was minor and predominantly rural, and of these rural populations, relatively few have been researched making it quite difficult to build up an accurate overall picture of the fate of the minor nobility during the social and economic changes of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The provincial gentry were affected to a much greater extent than the aristocracy by noble poverty, by government centralisation of the seigneurial system which questioned not only their role in rural society but also their value to the French state, and by the effects of two centuries of venal ennoblement, which reshaped their traditional social hierarchy and spheres of activity. Notions of what it meant to be ‘noble’ and how the older military nobility of the provinces validated its existence alongside a professional robe population must be considered in the context of the so-called ‘aristocratic reaction’ of the late eighteenth century and the parallel rash of ‘seigneurial reaction’ which stirred up feelings of distrust between noble landowners and their tenantry and fuelled the fire of future social unrest, and ultimately a revolution. This study of the gentilshommes campagnards of Burgundy re-examines these themes within the context of the Burgundian nobility, a hitherto under-researched noble population, and challenges the concept of a population in decline, whether numerically or in terms of declining influence and value