FRENCH MILITARY OCCUPATIONS OF LORRAINE AND SAVOIE, 1670-1714 McCluskey A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St. Andrews 2009 Full metadata for this item is available in the St Andrews Digital Research Repository at: https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/712 This item is protected by original copyright This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License FRENCH MILITARY OCCUPATIONS OF LORRAINE AND SAVOIE, 1670-1714 Phil McCluskey Ph.D., Modern History Date of Submission: 19th March 2009 ii Thesis Abstract Lorraine and Savoie were both occupied twice by French armies during the personal rule of Louis XIV. Lorraine was initially invaded and occupied in 1670 to support the French strategic and logistic position in the Dutch War, yet due to political expediency this developed into a policy of outright annexation. The French relinquished Lorraine due to international pressures in 1697, but partially reoccupied it from 1702 to 1714, again as a result of strategic and logistical necessity. Savoie was occupied from 1690 to 1696 and again from 1703 to 1713 as a response to successive breakdowns in Franco-Savoyard relations, and to guarantee the south- eastern frontier of the kingdom. There was no pre-conceived or uniform policy practiced by the French when it came to the occupations of these territories, and these instead developed on the basis of events and pressures that were often beyond the control of the French government. In essence, the principal French approach to occupied territories was paternalistic, their main priority being to uphold Louis’s newly-asserted sovereignty and pay the costs of the occupation while impressing upon the local elites the benefits of collaboration and the pitfalls of continued loyalty to their old ruler. The French became more sophisticated generally towards occupied territories as the reign progressed, at least as far as circumstances allowed. In sum, the key variables that influenced how the French handled these lands, other than time and place, were security issues, local loyalties, and the expectation of either retention by France or restitution to the original sovereign. iii I, Phil McCluskey, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 80,000 words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in September 2005 and as a candidate for the degree of PhD in June 2006; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2005 and 2009. date ………… signature of candidate ……………… I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of PhD in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. date ………… signature of supervisor ……………… In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews we understand that we are giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. We also understand that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. We have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo below. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the electronic publication of this thesis: Access to Printed copy and electronic publication of thesis through the University of St Andrews. date ………… signature of candidate …………… signature of supervisor ……………… iv Contents List of maps, figures & tables v Acknowledgements vi Abbreviations vii General Introduction 1 PART ONE: The Dynamics of Invasion & Occupation Chapter I – Prelude to Occupation: Savoie, Lorraine & the Frontiers of France 14 Chapter II – French Occupations of Lorraine, 1670-1698 & 1702-1714 52 Chapter III – French Occupations of Savoie, 1690-1696 & 1703-1713 94 Conclusions to Part One 127 PART TWO: French Rule in Occupied Lorraine & Savoie Chapter IV – Administering the Occupied Territories: Structures & Burdens 132 Chapter V – Working with the Occupied Elites 170 Conclusions to Part Two 229 General Conclusions 234 Bibliography 236 v Maps I: The Lorraine region 11 II: Political boundaries of Lorraine in the seventeenth century 12 III: The Savoyard State, c. 1713 13 Figures I: ‘Aux Bons Savoyars’ 224 Tables I: Officers of the Sovereign Companies of Savoie 225 vi Acknowledgements My thanks are due first and foremost to my supervisor Guy Rowlands, whose enthusiasm convinced me to embark on this doctorate three and a half years ago, and from whom I have learnt a great deal. I am also grateful to Steve Murdoch for supervising me during my third year, for his guidance, and for introducing me to marathon running. I would also like to extend my thanks to Mme Corinne Towley, at the departmental archives in Chambéry, and to Mme Son Bernard at the war archives in Vincennes, both of whom went out of their way to make my time in the France more profitable. On a personal level, my Ph.D. experience would not have been as enjoyable or rewarding had it not been for the people I was lucky enough to meet over the past few years in St Andrews and Paris, and my friends in Edinburgh, Durham and York. Last, but not least, I would like to acknowledge my thanks to my parents who have given me their unquestioning support, for which I will always be grateful. vii Abbreviations AAE CP Archives des Affaires Etrangères, Correspondance Politique ADMM Archives Départementales de Meurthe-et-Moselle ADS Archives Départementales de Savoie AMC Archives Municipales de Chambéry AMN Ord. Archives Municipales de Nancy, collection of royal ordonnances AN Archives Nationales BMN Bibliothèque Municipale de Nancy BN Bibliothèque Nationale de France Col. Lorr. Collection Lorraine Mél. Col. Mélanges Colbert Man. Fr. Manuscrits Françaises SHDT Service Historique de la Défense, Fonds de l’Armée de Terre 1 General Introduction Until recently, few historians attempted to write the history of early modern military occupations, making them an untapped source for the social and political history of the period.1 As well as offering new information on civil-military relations, such studies can also show how rulers used occupations to attain their war objectives. Military occupation was a new concept to the early modern period and its definition was imprecise. After 1500, it became widely accepted that rulers could further their war aims through the temporary domination of foreign territory. Prior to this, during the High Middle Ages, conquest alone made a change of ruler lawful and lasting. The term occupatio bellica appeared in the seventeenth century as part of the evolution from the medieval theory of just war (bellum iustum) to the theory of legal war (bellum legale publicum), which was occurring in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.2 The conqueror’s rights to dispose of the territory were upheld by theorists such as Grotius. The rationale was that the conqueror was allowed to reap his just military rewards during the prosecution of war itself. Grotius conceded far-reaching rights and powers to the conqueror over the lives and the freedom of the people, and over the movable goods of the population of the conquered territory.3 He nevertheless advised moderation in the treatment of conquered populations, and argued that it was better to leave the conquered to govern themselves as far as this did not interfere with the interests of the conqueror, as this would be beneficial to both parties in the long-term.4 1 Over the last few years, a new research agenda in the field has emerged, beginning with a conference held in September 2001 at the Martin-Luther-Universität Halle- Wittenberg, and the related publication under the editorship of Markus Meumann and Jörge Rogge of Die besetzte Res publica: zum Verhältnis von ziviler Obrigkeit und militärischer Herrschaft in besetzten Gebieten vom Spätmittelalter bis zum 18. Jahrhundert (Berlin, 2006). More recently, a research group dedicated to the study of military occupations from the end of the Middle Ages to the late twentieth century has been active at Université Lille III since 2007, directed by Jean-François Chanet. 2 H. Steiger, ‘“Occupatio bellica” in der Literatur des Völkerrechts der Christenheit (Spätmittelalter bis 18. Jahrhundert), in M. Meumann et al. (eds.), Die besetzte res publica, pp. 201-240. 3 H. Grotius, The Rights of War and Peace, ed. R. Tuck (3 vols., Indianapolis, IN, 2005), iii. pp. 1375-1377. 4 Ibid., iii. pp. 1507-1510. 2 As so few studies of societies under occupation in the early modern period have been undertaken in any depth, it is necessary to draw on some of the methodological questions that have arisen in the study of military occupations in more recent eras.5 A great many of the historiographical advances in this field have come from the study of France during the Second World War. One particularly useful development in the historiography of Vichy France is the ambition to open up a comparative study of territories under occupation.