Under the Ancien Régime , the Kingdom of France was subdivided in multiple different ways (judicial, military, ecclesiastical, etc.) into several administrative units, until the National Constituent Assembly adopted a more uniform division into departments ( départements ) and districts in late 1789. The provinces continued to exist administratively until 21 September 1791.
55-771: Auxerrois is a historical province of France. Named after the city of Auxerre in Burgundy, it gives its name to several grape varieties: Auxerrois Blanc , a white wine grape that is widely grown in Alsace, and also in Lorraine, Germany and Luxembourg Malbec (or Côt), a red wine grape grown in the Cahors region of France, where it is known as Auxerrois Pinot gris , sometimes called Auxerrois Gris in France Valdiguié , known as Gros Auxerrois in
110-436: A court, a university, a military post, a bishopric, a stock exchange, a fair, a hospital, etc. The protests of the towns which had always fulfilled one of these functions and which were thus deprived of their court of appeal, their arsenal, their university or their fair, prevented this plan from being completely implemented. In some cases, modern regions share names with the historic provinces; their borders may cover roughly
165-562: A cultural province, since the general governments often used the names and borders of a province. It was not always the case, which causes confusion as to the borders of some provinces. Today, the term "province" is used to name the resulting regional areas, which retain a cultural and linguistic identity. Borrowed from the institutions of the Roman Empire , the word first appeared in the 15th century and has continued to spread, both in official documents and in popular or common usage. Whatever
220-628: A different city from the capital. Areas that were not part of the Kingdom of France, though they are currently parts of Metropolitan France : Partial display of historical provincial arms: Abolition of feudalism in France One of the central events of the French Revolution was the abolition of feudalism , and the old rules, taxes, and privileges left over from the ancien régime . The National Constituent Assembly , after deliberating on
275-446: A hundred individual peoples (300 according to Flavius Josephus), some with very different customs. Julius Caesar called each of these independent states civitas (city, without the word in this case referring to the idea of town or village), some of which were subdivided into pagi . Many of the smaller Gallic peoples were clients of their neighbors, and therefore dependent on them, sometimes paying them tribute. These confederations,
330-410: A last sacrifice. In the course of a few hours, France abolished game-laws, manorial courts, venal offices (especially judgeships), the purchase and sale of pecuniary immunities, favoritism in taxation, of surplice money, first-fruits , pluralities, and unmerited pensions. Towns, provinces, companies, and cities also sacrificed their special privileges. A medal was struck to commemorate the day, and
385-404: A precise legal definition, clearly defined boundaries and codified administrative structures. The number of provinces, their organization and boundaries varied widely over the course of five centuries, and each was headed by a proconsul or propraetor . In addition to Provincia (Provence), which was already Roman, Caesar divided Gaul into three provinces: Aquitanica , Celtica and Belgica . Over
440-510: A price the Assembly fixed. No dues were to be created in the future that were irredeemable. Article 7 – The sale of judicial and municipal offices was abolished. Justice should be dispensed freely. However, all such magistrates were to do their duty until further instructions from the Assembly. Article 8 – As soon as the portion congrue was increased, the fees of all parish priests and curates were abolished. Article 9 – Fiscal privileges in
495-435: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Provinces of France The country was subdivided ecclesiastically into dioceses, judicially into généralités , militarily into general governments. None of these entities was called "province" by their contemporaries. However, later interpretations confused the term of "general government" (a military division) with that of
550-601: The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen . Originally, the peasants were supposed to pay for the release of seigneurial dues; these dues affected more than a quarter of the farmland in France and provided most of the income of the large landowners. The majority refused to pay and in 1793 the obligation was cancelled. Thus the peasants got their land free, and also no longer paid
605-698: The Duke of Aiguillon proposed in the Club Breton the abolition of feudal rights and the suppression of personal servitude. On the evening of 4 August, the Viscount de Noailles proposed to abolish the privileges of the nobility to restore calm in French provinces. Members of the First Estate were at first reluctant to enter into the patriotic fervour of the night but eventually Anne Louis Henri de La Fare (then Bishop of Nancy) and
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#1732847672998660-449: The night of 4 August , decided to establish a uniform division of the territory, the départements , and that this division would be the same for the different functions of the State: military, religious, fiscal, administrative, university, judicial, etc. The town chosen as the capital of each department would have to be the seat of each of these functions, and at the same time have a prefecture,
715-487: The "former provinces of France". The list below shows the major provinces of France at the time of their dissolution during the French Revolution. Capital cities are shown in parentheses. Bold indicates a city that was also the seat of a judicial and quasi-legislative body called either a parlement (not to be confused with a parliament ) or a conseil souverain (sovereign council). In some cases, this body met in
770-544: The 90 départements and their capital cities, although their ethnonyms have been replaced by names related to physical geography: rivers, mountains, coasts. Depending on their laws, customs and languages, the territory of the kingdom is divided into countries of written law (roughly south of a line from La Rochelle to Geneva) and countries of customary law (north of the same line). Each of these groups includes several parliaments, which are appeal courts whose jurisdictions form as many judicial provinces, and to which belong all
825-411: The Assembly declared Louis XVI the "Restorer of French Liberty". François Furet emphasizes that the decisions of August 1789 survived and became an integral part of the founding texts of modern France. They destroyed aristocratic society from top to bottom, along with its structure of dependencies and privileges. For this structure they substituted the modern, autonomous individual, free to do whatever
880-664: The Bastille on 14 July 1789 was followed by a mass uproar spreading from Paris to the countryside. Noble families were attacked and many aristocratic manors were burned. Abbeys and castles were also attacked and destroyed. The season of La Grande Peur – the Great Fear – was characterised by social hysteria and anxiety over who was going to be the next victim. In many cases, the violence was begun not by homeless people or hunger-driven peasants but by settled countrymen who took this opportunity to further their own cause. The Great Fear opened up
935-573: The Bishop of Chartres sacrificed their titles. Guy Le Guen de Kerangal, the Viscount de Beauharnais , Jean-Baptiste-Joseph de Lubersac, and de La Fare proposed to suppress the banalités , seigneurial jurisdictions, game-laws and ecclesiastic privileges. The August Decrees were nineteen decrees made on 4–11 August 1789 by the National Constituent Assembly during the French Revolution . There were 18 decrees or articles adopted concerning
990-529: The Duchy of Gascony disappeared in the 11th century, and the Duchy of Normandy was divided into two military governments. In modern times, the "thirty-six governments" corresponded to the provinces on which all the fiefs and arrière-fiefs depended, providing territorial districts for defense and marshaling, the raising of men-at-arms, the construction of squares, arsenals and castles, judges-at-arms, and therefore also all questions of nobility, armorial bearings, etc. At
1045-456: The Order of Malta and other religious and military orders), as well as those devoted to the maintenance of churches, those impropriated to lay persons, and those substituted for the portion congrue (this expression refers to the minimum remuneration fixed for the priests), are abolished, on condition, however, that some other method be devised to provide for the expenses of divine worship, the support of
1100-506: The South of France Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Auxerrois . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Auxerrois&oldid=897832532 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
1155-553: The abolition of feudalism, other privileges of the nobility, and seigneurial rights. There were nineteen decrees in all, with a revised list published on 11 August. Article 1 – The Assembly declared the feudal system abolished thereafter. Within the "existing rights and dues, both feudal and censuel (this refers to the cens, a perpetual due similar to the payments made by English copyholders ), all those originating in or representing real or personal serfdom shall be abolished without indemnification". All other dues were redeemable, but
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#17328476729981210-400: The benefits of several pensions at the same time, if the pensions that he already enjoyed was more than three thousand livres. Article 15 – The King and the Assembly would together consider all the reports that were to be presented with regards to pensions, favors and salaries, and would have a right to suppress or reduce that which was undeserved. Article 16 – A medal was to be struck in
1265-648: The best-known of which are those of the Arverni , Aedui and Armoricans , formed a kind of province before Roman reorganization. The Gallic cities, with their territory and the name given to their chief town, became dioceses under the Lower Empire; their status as "mainmorte", having escaped the division of patrimonial domains, explains why they remained almost intact until the end of the Ancien Régime. These divisions were subsequently taken over and partly regrouped to form
1320-418: The century or dictionary consulted, the definition of the word often remains vague, due to the coexistence of several territorial division systems under the Ancien Régime. Some geographers, even some of the most famous, such as Onésime Reclus , have widely criticised the idea of provinces and provincial identity, sometimes denying that the word covers any tangible reality. In fact, the many lists and maps showing
1375-428: The concept of province with that of generality. The concepts do occasionally coincide, when the extent of a generality more or less overlaps that of an older territorial entity, but they are not synonymous. These are the fiefs that depend directly on the crown (duchies, counties and marches) and owe it military aid. In addition to the Duchy of France, which became part of the royal domain, the first six major fiefs have
1430-515: The course of four centuries of Roman control, the number of provinces increased from three to eleven, due to both the expansion of the empire and the reduction in size of the original provinces: 1st and 2nd Germania , 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Lugdunensis , 1st and 2nd Aquitanica , 1st and 2nd Belgica , 1st and 2nd Narbonensis , Novempopulanie , Sequanorum , Viennensis , Alpes Cottiarum , Alpes Maritimae , Alpes Graiae et Poeninae . These provinces were subdivided into cities (civitas or civitates in
1485-435: The court of Rome, the vice legation at Avignon, or to the nunciature at Lucerne". The clergy should apply to their bishops for financial donations and benefits, which shall be given free to any church of France. Article 13 – Various ecclesiastical dues were thereby abolished by the Assembly. Article 14 – The revenue limited to the clergies were restricted to the sum of three thousand livres. Any individual could not enjoy
1540-466: The despoliation of my clergy and my nobility ... I will never give my sanction to the decrees that despoil them, for then the French people one day could accuse me of injustice or weakness". What Louis was concerned with was not with the loss of position of the French nobility and clergy, but with adequate reparation for this loss. Meanwhile, the August Decrees paved the way for the Assembly to make
1595-466: The end of the Ancien Régime, not counting overseas territories such as the French islands of America, Pondicherry, Mauritius or New France (a province from 1663 to 1763, when it was ceded to Great Britain and Spain), there were thirty-six regions with a governor in charge of defense, called governments. Each had its own nobility. Together with the regions attached to France since 1791, these thirty-six governments correspond to what are usually known today as
1650-524: The generalités, then the départements, but replacing their former ethnic names (e.g. Poitou for the country of Pictons, Auvergne for the country of Arverni, Rouergue for the country of Ruteni , Périgord for country of Pétrocores, etc.) with a physical geographic name (giving respectively the départements of Vienne , Puy-de-Dôme , Aveyron , Dordogne , etc.). The Latin etymology of the term provincia gives us an idea of its original meaning: pro vincere , conquered in advance. Each of Gaul's Roman provinces had
1705-467: The king. Article 19 – As soon as possible, the Assembly was to give grave consideration to the drawing up of the laws that would help carry out these decrees. Historian Georges Lefebvre summarizes the night's work: Without debate the Assembly enthusiastically adopted equality of taxation and redemption of all manorial rights except for those involving personal servitude – which were to be abolished without indemnification. Other proposals followed with
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1760-479: The laws. The real product of the night was not formalised until the Feudal Committee reported back on 5 March 1790. The Committee reintroduced the mainmorte (explicitly outlawed by the original decrees) and set a rate of redemption for rights related to land that was impossible for the majority of peasants to pay (30 times the annual rent). The Russian anarchist Prince Peter Kropotkin wrote: The Assembly
1815-462: The memory of the important deliberations for the welfare of France, and "…a Te Deum shall be chanted in gratitude in all the parishes and the churches of France". Article 17 – King Louis XVI was proclaimed the Restorer of French Liberty. Article 18 – The Assembly was to present itself as a body before the king and submit this important set of decrees, and Te Deum was to be sung in the chapel of
1870-423: The name of a province, without covering the same geographical area. For example, the jurisdiction of the parlement d'Artois did not correspond to the same territory as the gouvernement d'Artois or the intendance d'Artois. The Constituent Assembly of 1789 , having abolished all the rights and customs specific to the different regions (also known as privileges, such as those of the classes, nobility and clergy) during
1925-483: The name of an ancient Gallic people, also given to the diocesan capital. Dioceses were made up of parishes , groups of inhabitants who could gather in the same church, whose names and boundaries have been preserved in the 36,000 French communes. Ecclesiastical districts, by virtue of their mainmortal status, are the oldest and most stable territorial circumscriptions, from late antiquity to the general reorganization of 1802. Today, these 130 or so districts are grouped into
1980-409: The next two years. King Louis XVI , in a letter, on the one hand expressed deep satisfaction with "the noble and generous demarche of the first two orders of the state" who, according to him had "made great sacrifices for the general reconciliation, for their patrie and for their king". On the other hand, he went on to say that though the "sacrifices were fine, I cannot admire it; I will never consent to
2035-611: The night of 4 August 1789, announced, "The National Assembly abolishes the feudal system entirely." It abolished both the seigneurial rights of the Second Estate (the nobility) and the tithes gathered by the First Estate (the Catholic clergy). The old judicial system, founded on the 13 regional parlements , was suspended in November 1789, and finally abolished in 1790. The fall of
2090-501: The officiating clergy, for the assistance of the poor, for repairs and rebuilding of churches and parsonages, and for the maintenance of all institutions, seminaries, schools, academies, asylums, and organizations to which the present funds are devoted". Until these provisions were made, the Assembly allowed the priests to collect the tithes. All the other tithes, which were not abolished under this law, were to be collected as usual. Article 6 – All sorts of ground rents were redeemable at
2145-430: The other historians: "The historic legend is lovingly used to embellish this night, and the majority of historians, copying the story as it has been given by a few contemporaries, represent it as a night full of enthusiasm and saintly abnegation." The August Decrees were declared with the idea of calming the populace and encouraging them towards civility. However, the August Decrees revised itself over and over again during
2200-630: The payment of taxes were abolished forever. Taxes were to be collected from all the citizens, in exactly the same manner, and plans were to be considered to set up a new method of tax collection. Article 10 – All particular privileges given to certain provinces, district, cities, cantons and communes, financial or otherwise, were abolished because under the new rules, every part of France was equal. Article 11 – All citizens, no matter what class or birth he might be, were eligible for any office in civil and military service. Article 12 – No allowances were to be made for "…annates or for any other purpose to
2255-542: The plural), the number of which rose from 33 to 113. Metropolises are territories under the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop , also known as provinces because they originate from the Roman provinces administered by the first bishops after the fall of the Roman Empire. They are made up of the dioceses which, by the same process, succeeded the ancient civitas or romanized Gallic cities, and which almost always retained
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2310-647: The provinces of France are neither perfectly superimposable nor exactly comparable. The fact remains, however, that the names of many of the territorial subdivisions of the Ancien Régime refer to Gallic civitates . Before the French Revolution, France was made up of territorial divisions resulting from history, geography and settlement, which differed according to the different powers that were exercised there, with different categories such as metropolises, dioceses , duchies , baronies, governments, states, elections, generalities, intendances, parliaments, countries, bailliages, seneschaussées, etc. Each of these categories took
2365-638: The return to the crown of a former fiefdom, such as the Duchy of Burgundy , which had been held by Hugues Capet's brother. Others, such as the Duchy of Savoy , Corsica , Comtat-Vénessin and the County of Nice , were acquired from the Empire or the Holy See. Unlike the ecclesiastical provinces, their extent varies over the course of history according to the possessions of their holders, or to political reorganizations. For example,
2420-451: The rights to destroy all kinds of game in their own land. However, public safety regulations must be maintained by them. All hunting spaces, including the royal forest, and all hunting rights were similarly abolished as well. There were provisions made for the king's hunting, however, for his personal pleasure in it. The president of the Assembly was commissioned to ask of the king the release of those people who were sent to prison or exiled for
2475-418: The royal jurisdictions, baillages (bailiwicks) and seneschaussées (seneschalties) . They are made up of several countries , each corresponding to a general custom, or even a particular custom corresponding to former vici that have retained local customs. For example, the seneschalty of Quercy is made up of five secondary bailiwicks, corresponding to five former vigueries . Some authors attempt to equate
2530-479: The same success: the equality of legal punishment, admission of all to public office, abolition of venality in office [the purchase of an office], conversion of the tithe into payments subject to redemption, freedom of worship, prohibition of plural holding of benefices, suppression of annates (the year's worth of income owed the Pope and the bishop upon investiture). ... Privileges of provinces and towns were offered as
2585-526: The same territory. It's worth noting that the old Gallic states retained their names, their boundaries and a kind of moral existence in people's memories and affections until very recently. Neither the Romans, nor the Germans, nor feudalism, nor monarchy destroyed these enduring units; they can still be found in the provinces and countries of present-day France. Gaul was occupied by fifty-four main peoples and more than
2640-402: The social pattern of the country in order to pacify the outraged peasants and encourage them towards peace and harmony. The discussion continued through the night of the fourth of August, and on the morning of the fifth the Assembly abolished the feudal system , and eliminated many clerical and noble rights and privileges. The August decrees were finally completed a week later. On 4 August 1789,
2695-585: The terms and mode of redemption was to be fixed by the Assembly. Those dues that were not removed by this decree were to be collected as usual until indemnification took place. Article 2 – The exclusive right of fuies (allowing birds to graze) and dovecotes is abolished. The pigeons will be locked up during times determined by the communities. During these periods, they will be considered prey, and anyone will be allowed to kill them on their properties. Article 3 – The exclusive rights of keeping unenclosed warrens were abolished as well. Every landowner shall have
2750-520: The tithe to the church. D. M. G. Sutherland has examined the results for peasants and landlords. The peasants no longer had to pay the tithe to the Church. The landowners, however, were now allowed to raise rents by the same amount as the former tithe. The national government then taxed away the new income to owners by raising land taxes. Sutherland concludes that the peasants effectively paid twice, in terms of higher rents and heavier taxes. Many tried to evade
2805-500: The title of peerage: Their holders were considered electors of the King of France, along with six other ecclesiastical peers: The number of grand fiefs varies with history (inheritances, confiscations, conquests, losses, treaties) and increases with the definitive attachment of the County of Provence , the Duchy of Anjou , the Duchy of Burgundy , the Duchy of Brittany , the Duchy of Lorraine , and so on. Some of these provinces were simply
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#17328476729982860-518: The violation of the previously existing hunting rights. Article 4 – All the Manorial Courts were suppressed, but the judges and other officials of justice were allowed to continue with their duties until further instructions from the Assembly. Article 5 – Any kind of tithes , as well as any substitution for them were abolished. Whosoever possessed them,"…secular or regular congregations, by holders of benefices, members of corporations (including
2915-409: The vulnerability of the French government – there was a lack of authority at the very center of it. The prolonged riots and massacres led to a general anxiety that things might get out of control, and they did. It was an experience that the country had never undergone before. By late July 1789, as the peasant revolt reports poured into Paris from every part of the country, the Assembly decided to reform
2970-448: Was carried away by its enthusiasm, and in this enthusiasm nobody remarked the clause for redeeming the feudal rights and tithes, which the two nobles and the two bishops had introduced into their speeches – a clause terrible even in its vagueness, since it might mean all or nothing, and did, in fact, postpone ... the abolition of feudal rights for five years – until August 1793. Kropotkin concludes "The Feudal rights remain" and scorns
3025-415: Was not prohibited by law. ... The Revolution thus distinguished itself quite early by its radical individualism. This " Saint Bartholomew of abuses", as François Mignet calls it, has often been the subject of hyperbole in the analyses of contemporaries and historians. The atmosphere inside the Assembly was so heady that confusion reigned in the provinces for months afterwards as to the true meaning of
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