Introduction

In the XIV-XV centuries. European kings, increasingly concentrating power over their countries in their hands, had to rely on certain classes to achieve their goals. However, in XVI-XVII centuries the power of monarchs becomes centralized, almost uncontrolled and independent of any representative bodies. IN Western Europe arises new type government system- absolute monarchy. In the 17th century it will experience the time of its greatest prosperity, but already in the 18th century it will enter an era of crisis.

Absolute monarchy (from the Latin absolutus - unconditional) is a type of monarchical form of government in which the entirety of state (legislative, executive, judicial), and sometimes spiritual (religious) power is legally and actually in the hands of the monarch.

It is believed that the French kings were the most consistent in building an absolute monarchy, and French philosophers made the greatest contribution to the theory of absolutism. Therefore, the French version of absolutism is considered the most typical, classic.

The emergence of absolutism as a new form of monarchy in France was caused by profound changes that occurred in the class and legal structure of the country. These changes were caused primarily by the emergence of capitalist relations. A serious obstacle to the emergence of an absolute monarchy was the archaic state, which conflicted with the needs of capitalist development. class system. By the 16th century, the French monarchy had lost its previous representative institutions, but retained its class-based nature.

The purpose of this work is to get acquainted with the absolute monarchy in France and to identify changes in the legal status of the estates in the 16th - 18th centuries.

The task is to identify the prerequisites for the formation, formation and development of absolutism in France.

This course work is presented on 26 pages and consists of an introduction, four sections, a conclusion and a list of sources used.

The first section reflects changes in the legal status of estates in the 16th - 18th centuries. The second section, “The Emergence and Development of the Absolute Monarchy in France,” reveals the reasons for the formation and development of absolutism and includes three subsections. The third section of this work shows the development of the financial system and economic policy during the period of absolutism and contains two subsections. The fourth section reflects changes in the judicial system, army and police and includes two subsections.

.Changes in the legal status of estates in the XVI-XVIII centuries.

The emergence of absolutism as a new form of monarchy in France was caused by profound changes that occurred in the class and legal structure of the country. These changes were caused primarily by the emergence of capitalist relations. The development of capitalism proceeded faster in industry and trade, in agriculture For him, feudal ownership of land became an increasing obstacle. The archaic class system, which conflicted with the needs of capitalist development, became a serious obstacle to social progress. By the 16th century, the French monarchy had lost its previously existing representative institutions, but retained its class nature.

As before, the first estate in the state was the clergy, numbering about 130 thousand people (out of 15 million of the country's population) and holding 1/5 of all lands in their hands. The clergy, while fully maintaining their traditional hierarchy, was distinguished by great heterogeneity. Conflicts intensified between the top of the church and the parish priests. The clergy showed unity only in their zealous desire to maintain class and feudal privileges (collection of tithes, etc.).

The connection between the clergy and the royal power and nobility became closer. According to the concordat concluded in 1516 by Francis I and the Pope, the king received the right of appointment to church positions. All high church positions associated with great wealth and honors were granted to the noble nobility. Many younger sons of nobles sought to receive one or another clergy. In turn, representatives of the clergy occupied important and sometimes key positions in government (Richelieu, Mazarin, etc.). Thus, between the first and second estates, which previously had deep contradictions, stronger political and personal bonds developed.

The dominant place in public and state life French society was occupied by the class of nobles, numbering approximately 400 thousand people. Only nobles could own feudal estates, and therefore most (3/5) of the land in the state was in their hands. In general, secular feudal lords (together with the king and members of his family) held 4/5 of the lands in France. The nobility finally became a purely personal status, acquired mainly by birth. It was necessary to prove one's noble origin up to the third or fourth generation. In the 12th century, due to the increasing frequency of forgeries of noble documents, a special administration was established that controlled noble origin.

Nobility was also granted as a result of a grant by a special royal act. This was, as a rule, associated with the purchase of positions in the state apparatus by the rich bourgeoisie, in which the royal power, which was constantly in need of money, was interested. Such persons were usually called nobles of the robes, in contrast to nobles of the sword (hereditary nobles). The old family nobility (the court and titled nobility, the top of the provincial nobility) treated with contempt the “upstarts” who received the title of nobleman thanks to their official robes. By the middle of the 18th century there were approximately 4 thousand nobles in robes. Their children had to perform military service, but then, after appropriate length of service (25 years), became nobles of the sword.

Despite the differences in birth and positions, the nobles had a number of important privileges: the right to a title, to wear certain clothes and weapons, including at the king’s court, etc. The nobles were exempt from paying taxes and from all personal duties. They had the preferential right of appointment to court, state and church positions. Some court positions, which gave the right to receive high salaries and were not burdened with any official duties, were reserved for the noble nobility. The nobles had a preferential right to study at universities and at the royal military school. At the same time, during the period of absolutism, the nobles lost some of their old and numerous feudal privileges: the right to independent management, the right to a duel.

The overwhelming majority of the population in France in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. constituted the third estate, which became increasingly heterogeneous. Social and property differentiation has intensified. At the very bottom of the third estate were peasants, artisans, laborers, and the unemployed. At its upper levels stood the individuals from whom the bourgeois class was formed: financiers, merchants, guild foremen, notaries, lawyers.

Despite the growth of the urban population and its increasing weight in the social life of France, a significant part of the third estate was the peasantry. In connection with the development of capitalist relations, changes have occurred in its legal status. With the penetration of commodity-money relations into the countryside, wealthy farmers, capitalist tenants, and agricultural workers emerge from the peasantry. However, the overwhelming majority of peasants were censitaries, i.e. holders of seigneurial land with the ensuing traditional feudal duties and obligations. By this time, the censitaries were almost completely freed from corvee labor, but the nobility constantly sought to increase the qualifications and other land taxes. Additional burdens for the peasants were banalities, as well as the right of the lord to hunt on peasant land.

The system of direct and indirect taxes was difficult and ruinous for the peasantry. Royal collectors collected them, often resorting to direct violence. Often the royal power farmed out the collection of taxes to bankers and moneylenders.

The emergence and development of absolute monarchy in France

The inevitable result of the formation of the capitalist system and the beginning of the decomposition of feudalism was the emergence of absolutism. The transition to absolutism, although it was accompanied by a further strengthening of the king’s autocracy, was of interest to the broadest strata of French society in the 16th and 17th centuries. Absolutism was necessary for the nobility and clergy, because for them, due to growing economic difficulties and political pressure from the third estate, strengthening and centralization state power became the only opportunity to preserve their extensive class privileges for some time.

The growing bourgeoisie was also interested in absolutism, which could not yet lay claim to political power, but needed royal protection from the feudal freemen, which again stirred up in the 16th century in connection with the Reformation and religious wars. The establishment of peace, justice and public order was cherished dream the bulk of the French peasantry, pinning their hopes for a better future on a strong and merciful royal power.

When internal and external opposition to the king (including from the church) was overcome, and a single spiritual and national identity united the broad masses of the French around the throne, the royal power was able to significantly strengthen its position in society and the state. Having received broad public support and relying on increased state power, royal power acquired, in the conditions of the transition to absolutism, great political weight and even relative independence in relation to the society that gave birth to it.

The formation of absolutism in the 16th century. was progressive in nature, since royal power contributed to the completion of the territorial unification of France, the formation of a single French nation, the more rapid development of industry and trade, and the rationalization of the administrative management system. However, with the increasing decline of the feudal system in the XVII-XVIII centuries. an absolute monarchy, including due to the self-development of its power structures themselves, rising more and more above society, breaks away from it, and enters into insoluble contradictions with it. Thus, in the policy of absolutism, reactionary and authoritarian features inevitably appear and acquire primary importance, including open disregard for the dignity and rights of the individual, for the interests and welfare of the French nation as a whole. Although the royal power, using in its for selfish purposes the policy of mercantilism and protectionism inevitably spurred capitalist development; absolutism never set as its goal the protection of the interests of the bourgeoisie. On the contrary, he used all his power feudal state in order to save the feudal system, doomed by history, along with the class and estate privileges of the nobility and clergy.

The historical doom of absolutism became especially obvious in the middle of the 18th century, when a deep crisis of the feudal system led to the decline and disintegration of all links of the feudal state. Judicial and administrative arbitrariness has reached its extreme limit. The royal court itself, which was called the grave of the nation .

2 Strengthening royal power

Supreme political power under an absolute monarchy, everything goes to the king and is not shared with any government bodies. To do this, the kings needed to overcome the political opposition of the feudal oligarchy and the Catholic Church, eliminate class-representative institutions, create a centralized bureaucratic apparatus, a standing army, and police.

Already in the 16th century, the Estates General practically ceased to function. In 1614 they convened for the last time, were soon dissolved and did not meet again until 1789. For some time, the king gathered notables (feudal nobility) to consider projects of important reforms and resolve financial issues. In the 16th century (according to the Bologna Concordat of 1516 and the Edict of Nantes of 1598), the king completely subjugated Catholic Church in France.

As a kind of political opposition to royal power in the 16th-17th centuries. The Parisian Parliament spoke, which by this time had become a stronghold of the feudal nobility and repeatedly used its right of remonstration and rejected royal acts. A Royal Ordinance in 1667 established that restoration could only be declared within certain period after the king issues an order, and repeated reconstruction is not allowed. In 1668, King Louis XIV, appearing at the Paris Parliament, personally removed from its archives all the protocols relating to the Fronde period, i.e. to the anti-absolutist protests of the mid-17th century. In 1673, he also decided that parliament did not have the right to refuse registration of royal acts, and remonstration could only be declared separately. In practice, this deprived Parliament of its most important prerogative - to protest and reject royal legislation.

Changed and general idea about the power of the king and the nature of his specific powers. In 1614, at the proposal of the Estates General, the French monarchy was declared divine, and the power of the king began to be considered sacred. A new official title for the king was introduced: “king by the grace of God.” The ideas about the sovereignty and unlimited power of the king are finally established. Increasingly, the state begins to be identified with the personality of the king, which found its extreme expression in the statement attributed to Louis XIV: “The state is me!”

The idea that absolutism was based on divine right did not mean the perception of the idea of ​​​​the personal power of the king, much less identifying it with despotism. Royal prerogatives did not go beyond the legal order, and it was believed that “the king works for the State.”

In general, French absolutism was based on the concept of an inextricable connection between the king and the state, the absorption of the former by the latter. It was believed that the king himself, his property, his family belonged to the French state and nation. Legally, the king was recognized as the source of any power that was not subject to any control. This, in particular, led to the consolidation of the king’s complete freedom in the field of legislation. Under absolutism, legislative power belongs to him alone according to the principle: “one king, one law.” The king had the right of appointment to any state and church office, although this right could be delegated to lower officials. He was the final authority in all matters of public administration. The king made the most important foreign policy decisions, determined the economic policy of the state, established taxes, and acted as the highest manager of public funds. Judicial power was exercised on his behalf.

3 Creation of a centralized management apparatus

Under absolutism, the central organs grew and became more complex. However, the feudal methods of governance themselves prevented the creation of a stable and clear state administration. Often the royal power created new ones at its own discretion. government bodies, but then they caused her displeasure, were reorganized or abolished.

In the sixteenth century. the positions of secretaries of state appear, one of whom, especially in cases where the king was a minor, actually performed the functions of the first minister. Formally, there was no such position, but Richelieu, for example, combined 32 government posts and titles in one person. But under Henry IV, Louis XIV, and also under Louis XV (after 1743), the king himself led the government of the state, removing from his entourage persons who could have great political influence on him.

Old government positions are eliminated (for example, constable in 1627) or lose all significance and turn into mere sinecures. Only the chancellor retains his former weight, who becomes the second person in public administration after the king.

The need for a specialized central administration led at the end of the 16th century. to the increasing role of secretaries of state, who are entrusted with certain areas of government (foreign affairs, military affairs, maritime affairs and colonies, internal affairs). Under Louis XIV, secretaries of state, who initially (especially under Richelieu) played a purely auxiliary role, became closer to the king and acted as his personal officials.

Expanding the range of functions of secretaries of state leads to rapid growth central office, to its bureaucratization. In the 18th century the position of deputy secretaries of state is introduced, with them significant bureaus are created, which in turn are divided into sections with strict specialization and hierarchy of officials.

Big role in central administration played first by the Superintendent of Finance (under Louis XIV he was replaced by the Council of Finance), and then by the General Controller of Finance. This post acquired enormous importance, starting with Colbert (1665), who not only compiled the state budget and directly supervised the entire economic policy France, but practically controlled the activities of the administration, organized work on the drafting of royal laws. Under the Comptroller General of Finance, over time, a large apparatus also emerged, consisting of 29 different services and numerous bureaus.

The system of royal councils, which performed advisory functions, was also subjected to repeated restructuring. Louis XIV in 1661 created the Grand Council, which included the dukes and other peers of France, ministers, secretaries of state, the chancellor, who presided over it in the absence of the king, as well as specially appointed state advisers (mainly from the nobles of the robe). This council considered the most important state issues (relations with the church, etc.), discussed draft laws, in some cases adopted administrative acts and decided the most important court cases. To discuss foreign policy affairs, a narrower Upper Council was convened, to which secretaries of state for foreign and military affairs and several state advisers were usually invited. The Council of Dispatches discussed issues of internal management and made decisions related to the activities of the administration. The Finance Council developed financial policies and sought new sources of funds for the state treasury.

At the beginning of the sixteenth century. Governors were the body that carried out the policies of the center locally. They were appointed and removed by the king, but over time these positions ended up in the hands of noble noble families. By the end of the sixteenth century. the actions of governors in a number of cases became independent of central government, which contradicted the general direction of royal policy. Therefore, the rabbits are gradually reducing their powers to the sphere of purely military control.

To strengthen their positions in the provinces, starting from 1535, kings sent commissioners there with various temporary assignments, but soon the latter became permanent officials inspecting the court, city administration, and finances. In the second half of the 16th century. they are given the title of intendants. They no longer acted simply as controllers, but as real administrators. Their power began to acquire an authoritarian character. The Estates General in 1614, and then assemblies of notables protested against the actions of the intendants. In the first half of the seventeenth century. the powers of the latter were somewhat limited, and during the period of the Fronde, the post of intendant was generally abolished.

In 1653, the intendant system was again restored, and they began to be appointed to special financial districts. The intendants had direct connections with the central government, primarily with the Comptroller General of Finance. The functions of the intendants were extremely broad and were not limited to financial activities. They exercised control over factories, banks, roads, shipping, etc., and collected various statistical information related to industry and agriculture. They were entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining public order, monitoring the poor and vagabonds, and fighting heresy. The quartermasters monitored the recruitment of recruits into the army, the quartering of troops, providing them with food, etc. Finally, they could intervene in any judicial process, conduct investigations on behalf of the king, and preside over the courts of the bailage or seneschalship.

Centralization also affected city government. Municipal councilors (eshwens) and mayors were no longer elected, but were appointed by the royal administration (usually for an appropriate fee). There was no permanent royal administration in the villages, and lower administrative and judicial functions were assigned to peasant communities and community councils. However, in the conditions of the omnipotence of intendants, rural self-government already at the end of the 17th century. is falling into disrepair.

3. Financial system and economic policy during the period of absolutism

1 Public finance

absolute monarchy france financial

Financial system of France XVII - XVIII centuries. was based primarily on direct taxes on the population. The amount of tax revenues was never determined with any precision, and their collection gave rise to enormous abuses. Periodically, tax collection was transferred to farming, which was then canceled due to violent protests and arrears, and then just as regularly revived.

The main state tax was the historical tag (real and personal). It was paid exclusively by persons of the third estate, although among them there were those exempt from the tax: those who served in the navy, students, civil officials, etc. In different districts the tax was determined and collected differently: in some, the main object of taxation was land, in others - collected from “smoke” (a special conventional unit); in the province they counted 6 thousand conventional “smoke”.

The general tax was the capitation (originally introduced by Louis XIV from 1695). It was paid by persons of all classes, even members royal family. It was believed that this was a special tax for the maintenance of a standing army. Capitation was one of the first historical types of income tax. To calculate it, all payers were divided into 22 classes depending on their income: from 1 livre to 9 thousand (in the 22nd class there was one heir to the throne). Special income taxes were also universal: 10th share and 20th share (1710). Moreover, the concept of “twenty” was conditional. Thus, in the context of a growing financial crisis in 1756, the so-called the second twenty, in 1760 the third (together turned into 1/7).

In addition to direct taxes, there were also indirect taxes on sold goods and food products. The most burdensome among the latter was the tax on salt - gabelle (it varied by province, and its amounts varied incredibly). Customs revenues played an important role - from internal, mainly customs, and from foreign trade. In practical terms, taxes also had the effect of forced royal loans from the clergy and cities.

The total tax burden was colossal, reaching 55-60% of the income of persons of the third estate, somewhat less for the privileged. The distribution of taxes was indiscriminate and depended mainly on the local financial administration, mainly on the intendants.

Despite the increased revenues, the state budget ran a huge deficit, which was caused not only by large expenditures on a standing army and a swollen bureaucracy. Huge funds were spent on the maintenance of the king himself and his family, on holding royal hunts, magnificent receptions, balls and other entertainment.

2 Economic policy of absolutism

The peasant uprisings of the 90s of the 16th century reminded the government that the exploitation of the peasantry had a limit. The noble government needed money, just as the nobility itself needed it. Absolutism maintained the army and the apparatus of state power, supported the nobility, provided subsidies to large manufacturers through taxes and loans, and the peasantry - the main taxpayer - was ruined.

Henry IV understood that the peasantry must recover somewhat in order to become solvent again. Despite the desire attributed to him by legend to see “chicken soup in a peasant’s pot every Sunday,” the most he could do to alleviate the situation of the peasantry was to slightly reduce government spending. This made it possible to reduce the direct tax on peasants, freeing them from paying the accumulated taxes over time. civil wars arrears and prohibit the sale of farmers' livestock and tools for debts. However, at the same time, indirect taxes were significantly increased (mainly on salt and wine), which fell heavily on the rural and urban working masses.

The streamlining of public finances was facilitated by the fact that the Minister of Finance Sully reduced the willfulness of tax farmers and “financiers”, forcing them to accept conditions that were unfavorable for them when paying off previous debts and when registering new farm-outs. Easing the burden of direct taxes, Sully, being an outspoken apologist for the old way of life of the nobility, cared not so much about the peasants as about the nobles and the treasury, wanting to put agriculture in conditions under which it could provide the nobles and the state with a large income.

Henry IV's economic policy was aimed primarily at supporting industry and trade. In accordance with the wishes of the bourgeoisie and the recommendations of some economists who came from the bourgeoisie, for example Laffem, the government of Henry IV pursued a protectionist policy and patronized the development of industry. Large state-owned manufactories were created and the establishment of private ones was encouraged (silk and velvet fabrics, tapestries, gilded leather for wallpaper, morocco, glass, earthenware and other products). On the advice of agronomist Olivier de Serres, the government promoted and encouraged sericulture, gave manufacturers privileges for establishing enterprises and helped them with subsidies.

Under Henry IV, a significant number of privileged manufactories appeared for the first time, receiving the title of royal, many of which were very large at that time. For example, the linen manufactory in Saint-Sever, near Rouen, had 350 machines, and the gold yarn manufactory in Paris had 200 workers. The government gave the first of them a loan of 150 thousand livres, the second - 430 thousand livres.

The government organized road and bridge work and canal construction; establishing overseas companies, encouraged trade and colonial activities of French entrepreneurs in America, concluded trade agreements with other powers, increased tariffs on imported products, fought for Better conditions export of French products. In 1599, the import of foreign fabrics and the export of raw materials - silk and wool - was prohibited (though not for long), “in order to universally favor the profitable pursuits of our subjects in various types of industries.”

4. Courts. Army and police

1 Judicial system

The organization of justice in an absolute monarchy was somewhat separate from the administration as a whole; such independence of the courts became a feature of France (which, however, did not at all affect the legal quality of this justice). The division of courts into criminal and civil courts was maintained; What united them, these two systems, was only the existence of parliaments with universal jurisdiction.

In civil justice, the main role was played by local courts: seigneurial, city and royal (in cities there were even private courts for neighborhoods, special objects, etc. - for example, in Paris in the 18th century there were up to 20 jurisdictions). Royal courts existed in the form of historical institutions and officials: lords, seneschals, governors; then special lieutenants for civil and criminal cases (separately) appeared. From 1551 the brunt of civil justice shifted to tribunals, up to 60 per country. In them, minor matters were finally decided (up to 250 livres) and more significant ones were dealt with in the first instance (since 1774 - over 2 thousand livres).

In criminal justice, a more or less subordinate system of institutions has developed: district courts (seneschalships) consisting of 34 judges - appeal commissions of three judges - parliaments. Above the parliaments stood only the court of cassation - the Privy Council (since 1738) consisting of 30 members.

In addition to general justice - both criminal and civil, there was special and privileged justice. Special courts were formed historically according to the type of cases being tried: salt, fiscal, control chambers, forestry, coinage, military courts of the admiral or constable. Privileged courts considered any cases concerning a circle of persons of special status or class affiliation: university, religious, palace.

Historical parliaments nominally retained a central place in the judicial system. With the dissolution in the second half of the 17th century. In many provincial states, as if to compensate for class rights, the number of parliaments increased to 14. The largest judicial district was subject to the competence of the Paris Parliament; its jurisdiction included 1/3 of the country with 1/2 of the population, which at the same time played the role of a national model. In the 18th century The Paris Parliament became more complex and included 10 departments (civil, criminal chamber, 5 investigative, 2 appeal, Grand Chamber). Other parliaments had a similar, but less extensive structure. The Paris Parliament consisted of 210 judge-councillors. In addition, there were advisers-lawyers, as well as the posts of prosecutor general and advocate general (with 12 assistants). The parliamentary court was considered a delegated royal court, therefore the king always retained the right of the so-called. retained jurisdiction (the right at any time to take any case for its own consideration in the Council). Since the reign of Richelieu, the previously significant parliamentary right to make remonstrations (submissions to royal decrees about their contradiction with other laws) has been reduced. According to the edict of 1641, parliament could make representations only on those cases that were sent to it, and was obliged to register all decrees relating to the government and public administration. The king had the right to dismiss parliamentary advisers by forcibly purchasing positions from them. By the Edict of 1673, the controlling powers of Parliament were further reduced. The general lack of regulation of jurisdiction led to the middle of the 18th century. to major disputes between parliaments and spiritual justice, between parliaments and chambers of accounts. In reality, the role of parliaments as a once existing legal counterweight to royal power has come to almost nothing.

4.2 Army and police

During the period of absolutism, the creation of a centrally built standing army, which was one of the largest in Europe, as well as a regular royal fleet, was completed.

Under Louis XIV, an important military reform was carried out, the essence of which was the refusal to hire foreigners and the transition to recruiting recruits from the local population (sailors from the coastal provinces). Soldiers were recruited from the lower strata of the third estate, often from declassed elements, from “superfluous people,” the rapid growth of whose numbers in connection with the process of primitive accumulation of capital created an explosive situation. Since the conditions of soldier service were extremely difficult, recruiters often resorted to deception and tricks. Cane discipline flourished in the army. Soldiers were brought up in the spirit of unconditionally following the orders of officers, which made it possible to use military units to suppress peasant uprisings and movements of the urban poor.

The highest command posts in the army were assigned exclusively to representatives of the titled nobility. When filling officer posts, sharp contradictions often arose between the hereditary and service nobility. In 1781, the family nobility secured its exclusive right to occupy officer positions. This procedure for recruiting officers had a negative impact on the combat training of the army and was the reason for the incompetence of a significant part of the command staff.

Under absolutism, a branched police force is created: in the provinces, in cities, on major roads, etc. In 1667, the post of Lieutenant General of Police was created, who was charged with maintaining order throughout the kingdom. At his disposal were specialized police units, mounted police guards, and judicial police who carried out the preliminary investigation.

Particular attention was paid to strengthening the police service in Paris. The capital was divided into quarters, in each of which there were special police groups headed by commissioners and police sergeants. The functions of the police, along with maintaining order and searching for criminals, included monitoring morals, in particular monitoring religious manifestations, supervising fairs, theaters, cabarets, taverns, brothels, etc. The lieutenant general, along with the general police (security police), also headed the political police with an extensive system of secret investigation. Unofficial control was established over opponents of the king and the Catholic Church, over all persons showing free-thinking.

Conclusion

To summarize, we can say that the socio-economic changes that took place in France in the 16th-17th centuries, and the associated intensification of the class struggle, forced the ruling class to look for a new form of state, more suitable to the conditions of that time. This became the absolute monarchy, which somewhat later took on its most complete form in France.

The formation of absolutism in the 16th century. was progressive in nature, since royal power contributed to the completion of the territorial unification of France, the formation of a single French nation, the more rapid development of industry and trade, and the rationalization of the administrative management system. However, with the increasing decline of the feudal system in the 17th-18th centuries. an absolute monarchy, including due to the self-development of its power structures themselves, rising more and more above society, breaks away from it, and enters into insoluble contradictions with it. The autonomy of cities is gradually coming to an end. The Estates General ceases to be convened. Seigneurial justice ceases to operate.

At the beginning of the 16th century complete dependence The church also comes from the king: all appointments to church positions come from the king.

Thus, in the policy of absolutism, reactionary and authoritarian features inevitably appear and acquire primary importance, including open disregard for the dignity and rights of the individual, for the interests and welfare of the French nation as a whole. Although the royal power, implementing such a policy, inevitably spurred capitalist development, absolutism never set as its goal the protection of the interests of the bourgeoisie. On the contrary, he used the full power of the feudal state in order to save the feudal system, doomed by history, along with the class and estate privileges of the nobility and clergy.

The historical doom of absolutism became especially obvious in mid-18th century c., when there is a deep crisis<#"justify">List of sources used

Grafsky V.G. General history of law and state. - M.. 2000.

Korsunsky A.R. "The formation of an early feudal state in Western Europe." -M.: 1999.

Lyublinskaya A.D. French absolutism in the first third of the 17th century. - M, 2005.

Rakhmatullina E.G. "Absolutism in France". - St. Petersburg: 2000.

The emergence of absolutism as a new form of monarchy in France was caused by profound changes in the estate-legal structure of the country, which in turn were caused by the emergence of capitalist relations. The formation of capitalism proceeded more and more quickly in industry and trade; in agriculture, feudal ownership of land became an ever greater obstacle for it. The archaic class system, which conflicted with the needs of capitalist development, became a serious obstacle to social progress. By the 16th century Fr. The monarchy lost the representative institutions it had previously, but retained its class nature.

First Estate- clergy(approx. 130 thousand people), holding 1/5 of all lands, was distinguished by great heterogeneity. Between the top of the church and the parish priests, contradictions intensified. The clergy sought to maintain class, purely feudal privileges (collection of tithes). The connection between the spirit and the royal power and nobility became closer. According to the concordat of 1516, the king received the right of appointment to church positions. All the highest church positions, associated with great wealth and honors, were granted to the noble nobility. Representatives of the spirit occupied important government posts.

The dominant class nobles(400 thousand people), holding 3/5 of the land. Court-personal status acquired by birth. A special administration was created that controlled noble origin. The yard was provided as a result of special awards. royal act (purchase of positions in the state apparatus by the rich bourgeois). These are the nobles of the robes. A number of important social class privileges for the court: the right to a title, to wear certain clothes, etc., exemption from taxes and duties, the preferential right of appointment to court, state and church positions, the right to study at universities, royal military school. They lost the right to independent governance, to a duel.

3rd estate; Bottom - peasants, unemployed, artisans, laborers. Top financiers, traders, craftsmen, notaries, lawyers. A significant part of the 3rd estate are peasants. Servage, formariage, and the “right of the first night” have almost disappeared. Menmort was rarely used. Prosperous farmers, capitalist tenants, and agricultural workers are distinguished from the cross. workers. Most peasants are censitarii (holders of seigneurial land with traditional duties and obligations). By this time they were almost freed from corvee. The burdens of the peasants are banalities and the right of the lord to hunt on the peasant land.

The widest sections of the population were interested in the transition to absolutism:

1) yard and spirit, because For them, the strengthening and centralization of state power is another opportunity to preserve extensive class privileges.;

2) the growing bourgeoisie, because needed royal protection from feudal freemen;

3) the peasantry, who dreamed of establishing peace, justice and social order, royal power acquired great political weight and authority.

Royal power contributed to the completion of the territorial unification of France, the formation of a single French nation, the more rapid development of industry and trade, the rationalization of the administrative management system; supreme political power passes entirely to the king and is not shared with other state bodies and bodies.

In the 16th century The States General ceases to function. For some time, the king gathered notables (feudal nobility) to consider projects of important reforms. At the same time, the king completely subjugated the Catholic Church. The Parisian parliament acted as a political opposition to the royal power, but the king issues regulations according to which the parliament cannot protest and reject royal legislation.

In 1614 royal power was declared sacred, and fr. monarchy is divine. The king's power is not limited, but does not go beyond the law. The king, his property, his family belong to the French. state and nation, the political freedom of the king in the field of legislation is enshrined. Central government bodies have grown and become more complex. Feudal methods of management prevented the creation of a stable and clear state administration.

In the 16th century The positions of state secretaries appear, one of the cats served as the first minister. Old government positions are eliminated (constable) or lose importance. The position of chancellor retains its former weight. The role of state secretaries is increasing, and they are entrusted with certain areas of management (foreign affairs, military, maritime affairs and colonies, internal affairs). => Rapid growth of the centralized apparatus, its bureaucratization. A major role in the central administration was played by the Superintendent of Finance, then by the General Controller of Finance (compiled the state budget, supervised all economic policy, controlled the activities of the administration, organized work on the drafting of royal laws). In 1661 A Grand Council was created consisting of dukes, ministers, secretaries of state, chancellor and state councilors). He considered important state issues, discussed draft laws, adopted administrative acts and decided important court cases. The Upper Council was convened to discuss foreign policy affairs (secretaries of state for foreign and military affairs, state advisers). The Deiesh Council discussed issues of internal governance. The Finance Council developed financial policy. Numerous specialized local services have appeared: judicial management, financial management, road supervision, etc. In the H.XVI century. governors were the local policy authority. Gradually their powers were reduced to the military. Since 1535 kings send commissioners to the provinces, they are soon given the title of intendants (administrators); municipal councilors and mayors are no longer elected, they are appointed by the royal administration. There was no permanent royal administration in the villages, only lower administrations. And judicial functions were assigned to peasant communities and community councils.

The main source of funds for the treasury was taxes, especially the taga and capitation (poll tax to cover military expenses). All taxes were distributed among representatives of the 3 estates. The judicial system is complex. Seigneurial justice has been preserved in some places. An independent system - church courts. There were specialized tribunals: commercial, banking, admiralty. The system of royal courts is confusing. The lower courts in the prevotships were liquidated. The courthouses have been preserved. The Parisian Parliament played an important role. To relieve parliaments from growing appeals, a royal edict in 1552. provided for the creation of special courts of appeal in a number of the largest courts for the consideration of criminal and civil cases.

Regular strong army. Under Louis XIV6. An important military reform was carried out, the essence of which was a refusal to hire foreigners and a shift to recruiting recruits from the local population. In 1781 the family nobility secured for him the exclusive right to occupy officer positions. An extensive police force is being created: in provinces, cities, and on major roads. In 1667 the post of Lieutenant General of Police was established, who was entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining order throughout the kingdom
The formation of the capitalist structure began with the decomposition of feudalism ~ the formation of absolutism. Broad sections of society are interested in this:

In the 15th-17th centuries, the nobility and the spirit: to preserve class privileges, because economic difficulties+ political pressure from the 3rd estate + strengthening and centralization of state power.

The big bourgeoisie needed royal protection from the feudal freemen, because no political

Peasants: establishing peace, justice and social order.

Characteristic features of the transition to absolutism: 1st power was absolute in nature, all power was in the hands of one person; 2nd - the creation of a powerful bureaucratic apparatus, consisting of many departments and officials; 3rd—the presence of a well-organized and numerous army.

Absolutism "+":

1) completion of the territorial unification of France,

2) the formation of a single French nation,

3) faster growth of industry and trade, because policies of protectionism and mercantelism,

4) rationalization of the administrative management system.

Absolutism “-”: royal power is divorced from society and comes into conflict with it, authoritarian and reactionary features.

The main goal of absolutism is to save the feudal system + class and estate privileges of the nobility. Special features: judicial-administrative arbitrariness and wastefulness of the royal court.

Absolutism in France in the 15th–18th centuries.

The term "absolutism" was established in France only in the era Great Revolution, but the term "absolute power" was used already in the Middle Ages. Absolutism can be understood as a system of unlimited power of the monarch. Under such a system, the monarch is recognized as the only source of power in the state. This does not mean that at any given moment the monarch has full power: he can delegate it to another body or official. Absolutism is manifested in the fact that the sovereign can return the delegated power back to himself whenever he wishes. For the emergence of this system in France, it was necessary to subordinate the feudal hierarchy to royal power, place the nobility at the service of the king, weaken the independence of the church and cities, and strengthen the royal administration and court. The strengthening of the position of the monarch in the state was facilitated by the reforms carried out by King Charles VII (1422–1461). Under him, a permanent direct tax was established - royal waist(1439), detachments of the standing royal army (mounted gendarmes and foot free riflemen) were created (according to the ordinances of 1445 and 1448). Was accepted Pragmatic sanction 1438, which weakened the dependence of the French Gallican Church on the Roman Curia and increased the influence of royal power on the clergy. These reforms laid the foundations of absolutism in France. Charles VII's heir, Louis XI (1461–1483), was able to suppress aristocratic opposition and effectively unite the country's territory under his rule. This king can be considered the first absolute monarch in France.

Legal status absolute monarch. In France, the prevailing idea was that kings received their power only from God. Associated with this important feature French absolutism: the monarch is subject to Divine laws, but should not obey human laws. As legalists recognized back in the 14th century: “Rex solutus legibus est” - “The king is not bound by laws.” The monarch himself has external and internal sovereignty, he is the source of justice, he “can grant favors and exemptions, regardless of common law.” The absolute monarch in France had legislative and judicial powers, the right to declare and wage war, appoint officials, collect taxes and duties, and the right to mint coins. The king has independence from other ecclesiastical and secular authorities, primarily from the Pope and the German Emperor. He is recognized as the "emperor" of his kingdom.

While not subject to ordinary laws, the king, however, had to observe fundamental laws - laws that underlie the French state. They were never precisely fixed and were a legal custom. These laws imposed certain restrictions on the powers of the king. They, in particular, introduced the principle of inalienability of the royal domain. The domain was considered the property of the crown (state), but not the king personally. Therefore, the monarch did not have the right to sell domain lands, but could pledge them. Another limitation of royal power was the procedure for transferring the throne strictly according to the law: the monarch could not dispose of it at his own discretion. At the same time, in France it was observed salic principle. He assumed that the throne passed in a straight line or in a lateral line only to male persons. Women could not claim the crown. Bastards and heretics were also deprived of this right (“The most Christian king” of France must be a true Catholic). In the 15th century Interregnums (periods between the death of one monarch and the coronation of his successor) were abolished: the new king assumed his rights immediately after the death of his predecessor. Hence another provision of the fundamental law: “the king of France never dies.” However, until the king reached adulthood (in the 15th century - 14 years, starting from the 16th century - 13 years), a regency regime was established in the country. Typically, regency powers were vested in relatives of the monarch, and not necessarily men. The king also did not have the right to abdicate the throne: having received power from the Lord, he no longer had the right to refuse it.

In addition to the restrictions established by fundamental laws, there were restrictions resulting from the delegation of the king's power to other bodies, with the fact that the monarch did not have all the power at a particular point in time. This, in particular, was related to right of restoration, which belonged to the highest courts of the kingdom, primarily the Parisian Parliament. This right arose from the power of parliament to register royal regulations (from the 14th century). Without parliamentary registration, they were not accepted for consideration by the lower courts of the kingdom, i.e. did not receive the actual force of law. Parliament could refuse to register a royal act if it contradicts previously published laws of the kingdom, the customs of France, or is “contrary to reason.” In this case, he was obliged to submit to the king his “objection” outlining the reasons for the refusal, the so-called remonstration. The right of remonstration was overcome by the personal presence of the king at a meeting of parliament (the so-called procedure lit de justice– “bed of justice”: referring to the royal seat in parliament). It was believed that in this case the king assumes all delegated power,
and, having no power of its own, Parliament is obliged to register any act of the monarch. However, it was not always possible for the monarch to come to parliament in person, so in the hands of parliament the right of remonstrance turned into a powerful means of putting pressure on royal power. The monarchs sought to limit it. Under Louis XIV, a royal patent was issued in 1673, by which Parliament was obliged to register all acts emanating from the monarch, and if it has objections, then the remonstration must be filed separately, after registration. Thus, the king effectively deprived the high court of its suspensive veto power over its laws. However, after the death of the king, in 1715, the old right of remonstration was completely restored.

The power of the absolute monarch was also restrained by the remaining bodies of class representation. The Estates General, however, lose their former importance and are convened extremely rarely. The exception was the period of religious wars (1562–1594), when the country was engulfed in feudal anarchy and royal absolutism actually lost its significance. During this period, the Estates General was convened quite often and, as a rule, represented the interests of the Catholic opposition to royal power. After the restoration of absolutism under the new Bourbon dynasty, all-French meetings of class representatives are practically no longer convened (rare exceptions are the Estates General of 1614–1615 and 1789). States continue to operate at the local level, in particular provincial states, which determined taxation in their region. The royal authorities had to reckon with their activities.

As we see, the unlimited monarch was not so “unlimited” at all. Some scientists therefore generally doubt the existence of absolutism in France. It is obvious that absolutism should not be understood as the regime of the arbitrariness of one person. In the case of French absolutism, the sole power of the monarch was placed within a strictly legal framework and its unlimitedness was understood only within the limits established by law.

Royal administration. Absolutism had an extensive bureaucratic apparatus. Officials in France were divided into two main groups: 1) officiers and 2) commissioners. Office bought their positions from the state, so they could dispose of them, assign them to another person and pass them on by inheritance. For the right to dispose of the position they paid a tax - lettu, amounting to 1/60 of the annual income generated by the position. To remove an official from a position, the treasury had to buy it from the employee. Despite the one-time benefits from selling positions, this practice was burdensome for the state budget, as it often forced annual payments for positions that were completely unnecessary for the state (created only for sale). On the other hand, the official could feel more independent from the king, which was not always convenient for the ruling power.

Supreme and central authorities and management. The highest authority was Royal Council. He played the role of the main coordinating center of the French government, combining legislative, administrative and judicial functions. In the XV–XVIII centuries. The council underwent a complex evolution: from a “narrow” council - a meeting of major lords and dignitaries of the monarch to an administrative institution consisting of several sections. TO end of XVI V. four sections were formed within it: two governmental and two administrative. The government councils were chaired by the king himself; matters that required his personal participation were considered here. This Business advice to resolve political (primarily foreign policy) issues and Financial advice for general financial management of the state. The administrative councils were usually chaired by the Chancellor - the “chief” of the Royal Council. Of them State Finance Council met to resolve current administrative, judicial-administrative and financial issues, Litigation Council carried out the court on appeals and evocations ( evocation– transfer of a case from one court to another) in cases of private individuals. To organize the work of the councils, there were permanent bureaus and temporary commissions. State advisers and petition speakers sat in them. In the 17th century The Business Council began to be called Council at the top(or the Supreme Council, sometimes the Council of State), and under Louis XIV (1643–1715) another government section arose - Council of dispatches to consider internal political issues requiring royal decision.

Collegial leadership in the sections of the Royal Council was combined with individual management. It was carried out by ministers, when a separate official headed a sectoral department (ministry or department). Each such ministry had its own bureaus and staff of employees (clerks). The ministerial system in France originated in the 16th century. The ministers were the chancellor, the surintendent (superintendent) of finance and the secretaries of state. Chancellor was considered the head of justice in the state, being, in fact, the Minister of Justice, Superintendent of Finance headed the finance department. The latter position existed until 1661. After its abolition, financial management was concentrated in the corresponding section of the Royal Council, and from 1665 the role of Minister of Finance was assigned to the position Comptroller General of Finance. However, his powers were not limited to the purely financial sphere, but extended to all economic issues related to the development of the French economy. The intendants of finance and their commissions were subordinate to him. Almost the entire provincial administration was also under the supervision of the Comptroller General. Secretaries of State initially they were simple secretaries of the monarch. Their role increased sharply during the religious wars, when they began to report to the monarch about important matters and carry out diplomatic missions. Gradually, industry specialization appears among them. Thus, according to the Regulations of 1626, the departments of foreign affairs and war were allocated. By the beginning of the Great Revolution, six ministerial positions had been established in France: chancellor, controller general of finance, four secretaries of state - military and maritime ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Royal Household.

Special mention should be made about the position prime minister(or chief minister). The Prime Minister was the leading member of the Council at the top, he coordinated the work of the ministries and actually led the country. The concentration of power in his hands was called ministry The Ministeriat, as a rule, was established in cases where the monarch deliberately avoided active interference in the daily work of the government (for example, the Ministeriat of Cardinal Richelieu under Louis XIII) or was too young (the Ministeriat of Cardinal Mazarin under the young Louis XIV). Officially, the office of prime minister was finally abolished in absolutist France during the reign of Louis XV.

Local control. France in the era of absolutism did not have a clear administrative-territorial division. Even the external borders of the state were sometimes devoid of solid outlines. The country was divided into districts according to various branches of government, and the boundaries of the districts did not coincide with each other. In general political terms, this was a division into provinces. The provinces were headed by governors, traditionally appointed by the king from among the highest nobility, who had administrative, judicial and military powers. They were replaced general lieutenants(general governors). There was also a division into judicial-administrative districts - baileys and seneschals (led by bailiffs and seneschals), which in turn were divided into small units - prevotages, chatellenies, etc. Financial districts - generalite(“generalships”). They acted finance generals And treasurers France, tax collectors were subordinate to them ( ale). Their activities were controlled by periodically sent government commissioners - quartermasters. Beginning in the 1630s, intendants became permanent local officials, replacing the former financial officers. New financial districts are gradually emerging - commissariat. They are divided into areas headed by subdelegates subordinate to the intendant. The powers of the quartermasters were broader than financial ones: they began to consider administrative and judicial issues and could make decisions, including in criminal cases. Therefore they began to be called intendants of justice, police and finance. (At the end of the reign of Louis XIV there were 31 local intendants in France.) They acquired such a strong influence that all other local services were made dependent on them. In general, bureaucratic features prevailed in local government under absolutism, and self-government bodies were mostly eliminated. Thus, in 1692, all elective positions in cities were abolished.

Royal justice. Absolutism sought to strengthen its judicial and police control over society. In the context of the existence of competing jurisdiction of seigneurial, ecclesiastical, and city courts, the scope of action of royal justice was expanded. The Villiers-Cottreis Ordinance of 1539 prohibited ecclesiastical courts from judging the laity in matters related to secular life. Then the Orleans Ordinance of 1560 and the Moulins Ordinance of 1566 transferred the bulk of criminal and civil cases to the competence of the royal courts.

Many of the organs of royal justice were inherited from earlier times. On lowest level these were the medieval courts of provosts, bailiffs and seneschals. The provost's courts heard civil cases of commoners (roturiers), but in the 18th century. they disappear. The courts of the bailiffs and seneschals are preserved, which finally decided cases with a claim amount of up to 40 livres. In 1552, the middle level of the judicial system was created - presidential courts. They made a final decision in cases with a claim amount of up to 250 livres. In France there was a fairly extensive system of superior courts. It consisted primarily of the Paris Parliament and 12 provincial parliaments and had a similar meaning to them 4 supreme council(in Roussillon, Artois, Alsace and Corsica). They were, however, not directly related to each other, and the metropolitan parliament was neither an appellate nor a supervisory body in relation to the provincial parliaments. The highest courts also included the Court of Accounts, the Tax Chamber and the Grand Council. Big tip separated from the Royal Council and was established as an independent judicial body in 1498. It took over cases of evocations from the Paris Parliament when the king wished to personally consider them. Subsequently, cases related to the right to church benefits were mainly dealt with here. The highest courts were also sections of the Royal Council vested with judicial powers. Such a cumbersome system of higher justice was obviously aimed at weakening the political role and influence of the Paris Parliament, which in the 17th–18th centuries. was often in opposition to the monarch. It should be borne in mind that in France, judicial power was not yet separated from administrative power. Therefore, administrative institutions also had their own judicial powers.

Royal judges in France were irremovable : the king could dismiss a judge only for a criminal offense proven in court (according to the edict of Louis XI, issued in 1467). This provision distinguished French justice from the courts of other countries, where such a guarantee of an independent court did not yet exist. However, France was a country where personal freedom and the safety of its subjects from police brutality were not guaranteed. In practice, the so-called lettres de cachet– written orders for arrest without trial or investigation. The order form was blank, it was possible to enter the name of any person on it and arrest him without bringing charges against him. The prisoner could then sit in prison indefinitely, without knowing why he was put there. In 1648, during the period of open conflict between the highest courts and the royal government (Fronde), the Parisian Parliament insisted on the introduction of guarantees of personal security in the country: none of the king’s subjects “could henceforth be subject to criminal prosecution except in the forms prescribed by the laws and ordinances of our kingdom, and not through commissioners and appointed judges." A ban was also introduced on the use of lettres de cachet orders, but it only applied to the offices of judicial institutions. These provisions were enshrined in Art. 15 Declaration of October 22, 1648, approved by regent Anne of Austria, mother of King Louis XIV. In fact, this meant guarantees of immunity only for judicial officials, but even such an attempt to limit police arbitrariness spoke of awareness in society of the need to provide citizens with broader rights and freedoms.

Social structure during the period of absolute monarchy

In the 16th century in France began to take shape absolute monarchy. The emergence of this new form of monarchy is due to the fact that from the end of the 15th century the country began formation of the capitalist system in industry and agriculture:

♦ manufacture appeared in industry, and with it, hired labor
a force recruited from bankrupt small artisans, apprentices and peasants;

♦ foreign trade with other European countries, with the East, and, through Spain, with America has increased;

♦ capitalist and semi-capitalist relations in agriculture took the form of fixed-term leases.

The development of the capitalist system accelerated the decomposition of feudal relations, but did not destroy them:

◊ in the cities, crafts, small guilds and free artisans, and traders existed in all industries where there were no manufactories;

◊ The lord's ownership of peasant lands and, as a consequence, feudal payments, church tithes, etc. were preserved.

By the 16th century the French monarchy lost its previously existing representative institutions, but retained its class nature. The first two classes - the clergy and the nobility - completely retained their privileged position. With 15 million people. population of the country in the 16th - 17th centuries. The clergy included approximately 130 thousand people, and the nobility - about 400 thousand people, that is, the overwhelming majority of the population in France was the third estate (which included the peasantry).

Clergy, with its traditional hierarchy, it was distinguished by great heterogeneity and showed unity only in its desire to maintain class and feudal privileges. Conflicts intensified between the top of the Church and the parish priests. Nobility occupied a dominant place in the social and state life of French society, but important changes occurred in its composition. A significant part of the noble “sword nobility” went bankrupt; Their place in land ownership and in all levels of the royal apparatus was taken by people from the city elite, who bought judicial-administrative positions (which gave noble privileges) on the basis of property rights, passed them on by inheritance and became the so-called “nobility of the robe.” Noble status was also granted as a result of an award by a special royal act.

Inside third estate social and property differentiation intensified:

~ at the top - those from whom the bourgeois class was formed: financiers, traders, guild foremen, notaries, lawyers;

~ at its lower levels there were peasants, artisans, unskilled workers, and the unemployed.

Public administration during the period of absolutism

During the period of independent rule of Louis XIV (1661 - 1715), French absolutism reached the highest stage of its development. The peculiarity of absolutism in France was that king - the next head of state - possessed all the fullness of the legislative, executingnative, military and judicial authorities. The entire centralized state mechanism, the administrative and financial apparatus, the army, the police, and the court were subordinate to him. All residents of the country were subjects of the king, obliged to obey him unquestioningly. From the 16th century to the first half of the 17th century. absolute monarchy played progressive role:

She fought against the division of the country, thereby creating favorable conditions for its subsequent socio-economic development;

Needing new additional funds, she promoted the growth of capitalist industry and trade - she encouraged the construction of new manufactories, introduced high customs duties on foreign goods, waged wars against foreign powers - competitors in trade, founded colonies - new markets.

In the second half of the 17th century, when capitalism reached such a level that its further favorable development in the depths of feudalism became impossible, absolute monarchy lost everything previously inherent in it is limited progressive features. The further development of the productive forces was hampered by the persisting absolutism:

› privileges of the clergy and nobility;

› feudal order in the village;

› high export duties on goods, etc.

With the strengthening of absolutism, all state power was concentrated in the hands of the king.

Activity States General practically ceased, they met very rarely (the last time in 1614).

From the beginning of the 16th century. secular power in the person of the king strengthened its control over the church .

The bureaucratic apparatus grew, its influence intensified. Central government bodies during the period under review were divided into two categories:

. institutions inherited from the estate-representative monarchy, positions in which they were sold. They were partially controlled by the nobility and were gradually pushed into the secondary sphere of government;

. institutions created by absolutism, in which positions were not sold, but were replaced by officials appointed by the government. Over time, they formed the basis of management.

State Council actually turned into the highest advisory body under the king.

Part State Council included both the “nobility of the sword” and the “nobility of the robe” - representatives of both old and new institutions. The old governing bodies, in which positions were occupied by nobility and which practically did not function, included special councils - the Privy Council, the Chancellor's Office, the Council of Dispatches, etc. The bodies created during absolutism were headed by generalfinancial controller(essentially the first minister) and four state-new secretary- on military affairs, foreign affairs, maritime affairs and court affairs.

Indirect tax farmers were of great importance in financial management; they were also state creditors.

In local government, as in central authorities, two categories coexisted:

* lords, provosts, governors who lost a significant part of their real powers, whose positions were rooted in the past and were replaced by the nobility;

* the intendants of justice, police and finance, who actually led the local administrative department and court, were special representatives of the royal government in the localities, to whose posts persons of humble origin were usually appointed.

The commissaries were divided into districts, the real power in which was vested in subdelegates appointed by the intendant and subordinate to him.

Judicial system France during the period of absolute monarchy

Judicial system was headed by the king, who could accept for his personal consideration or entrust to his authorized representative any matter of any court. The following coexisted in the proceedings:

› royal courts;

› seigneurial courts;

› city ​​courts;

› church courts, etc.

During the period of absolute monarchy, the strengthening continued royal su-Dov. In accordance with the Orleans Ordinance (1560) and the Moulins Ordinance (1566), most criminal and civil cases became their jurisdiction.

Seigneurial The edict of 1788 left the courts in the field of criminal proceedings only with the functions of preliminary inquiry bodies. In the field of civil proceedings, they had jurisdiction only over cases with a small amount of claim, but these cases could, at the discretion of the parties, be immediately transferred to the royal courts.

Are common royal the courts consisted of three instances: courts prevotal, balyage and ships parliaments.

The courts were functioning special, where cases involving departmental interests were considered: the Accounts Chamber, the Chamber of Indirect Taxes, and the Mint Department had their own courts; there were maritime and customs courts. Military courts were of particular importance.

Creating a permanent army under absolutism it was completed. They gradually abandoned the recruitment of foreign mercenaries and moved on to staffing the armed forces by recruiting soldiers from the lower strata of the “third estate,” including criminal elements. Officer positions were still held only by the nobility, which gave the army a pronounced class character.

Social system. The emergence of absolutism in France was caused by deep processes taking place in the socio-economic sphere. XVI-XVII centuries became the period of formation and approval of capitalist relations in the country. In the 16th century manufacturing arose in France, and further development commodity-money relations led to the formation of a national market. The royal power was the guarantor of the country's unity. During the period under review, the French monarchy lost its representative institutions, but retained its class nature.
The first estate remained the clergy, numbering 130 thousand people (out of 15 million population of the entire country) and holding 1/5 of the entire state land fund. Internally this class was not homogeneous. The only unifying factor was clergy and the desire to preserve class privileges. By the beginning of the 16th century. The dependence of the clergy on the king increased and its connection with the nobility strengthened. By the Concordat of 1516 with the Pope, the French king achieved the right of appointment to all the highest church positions in his kingdom. Often such posts were given to nobles. In turn, important positions in the state apparatus were occupied by priests (Richelieu, Mazarin, etc.)

The dominant position in French society was occupied by the nobles, who retained almost all their privileges. 400 thousand French nobles owned (together with members of the royal family) 4/5 of all the lands in the state. During the period of absolutism, the nobility consolidated. The ranks of the nobles were replenished by people from the ranks of the urban bourgeoisie. In order to replenish the treasury, the government resorted to a very profitable system of selling positions providing hereditary noble title. Gradually, along with the old noble nobility - the nobility of the sword - a new official one appears - the nobility of the mantle. By the middle of the 18th century. There were already about 4 thousand noblemen in France.
The bulk of the population was the third estate, the property and social differentiation of which was especially evident during this period. Within the framework of the third estate, a layer of rich and influential townspeople was clearly identified, engaged in usury, trade, and manufacturing. From among them a bourgeois class gradually formed. At the very bottom of the social ladder of the third estate were peasants, artisans, and hired workers. The legal position of the French peasantry, the bulk of which were still censitaries, changed little. Their main feudal duty remained the payment of a monetary qualification to the feudal lord, the size of which was constantly increasing. The third estate remained the only tax-paying estate in the country. The clergy and nobility retained their tax immunity.
Political system. The foundations of the new form of government were laid back in the 15th century, during the reigns of Charles VII and Louis XI. However, the development of absolutism was hindered by the religious split in society. Under the influence of the ideas of the Reformation, the Huguenot movement (French Calvinists) developed in France, uniting in its ranks primarily those dissatisfied with the strengthening of royal power. The leaders of the Huguenots were representatives of the most distinguished noble families (Bourbons, Condés). The confrontation between Catholics and Protestants caused religious wars, which lasted intermittently for more than 30 years (1562-1593) and were accompanied by terrible cruelties. Political reconciliation in the country was achieved with the beginning of the reign of Henry Urbon, the leader of French Protestants, who changed his religious beliefs four times. The Edict of Nantes in 1598 declared the Catholic Church the official religion, and the Huguenots were granted religious and political rights. As a guarantee of their freedoms, the Huguenots retained the right to their fortresses and garrisons.

During the reign of Louis XIII (1610-1643), when Cardinal Richelieu played the main role in the state, and during the reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715), reforms were carried out that finally formalized the political system of an absolute monarchy.
The absolute monarchy played a progressive role. Royal power contributed to the completion of the territorial and political unification of the country, being the main unifying force and guarantor of the preservation of the integrity of the state. It provided favorable conditions for subsequent socio-economic development of the country. Needing additional funds, the monarchy stimulated the development of industry and trade, encouraging the construction of manufactories and imposing high customs duties on foreign goods. Using the policy of mercantilism and protectionism in its own interests, the royal power did not provide legal guarantees to the emerging bourgeois class, on the contrary, by all means it preserved the previous feudal order and class privileges. Therefore, from the second half XVII c., when the further development of capitalist relations in the depths of feudalism became impossible, the absolute monarchy lost its progressive features.
During the period of absolutism, the general idea of ​​the king's power and the nature of his specific powers changed. In 1614, at the proposal of the Estates General, a new official title for the king was introduced - “king by the grace of God.” The French monarchy was declared divine, and the power of the king was perceived as sacred. The king was the hereditary head of state, who had full legislative, executive and judicial power. The justification for the exclusive legislative power of the king was based on the principle: “one king, one law.” In the sphere of executive power, the entire centralized state apparatus was subordinate to him. He had the right to establish and liquidate government posts, appointment to any state and church position, and the final decision on all major domestic and foreign policy issues. He set taxes and acted as the highest manager of public funds. The army, police and court were subordinate to the king. Having achieved the right of appointment to the highest church posts, the royal power also subjugated the Catholic Church in France.
With the strengthening of absolutism, the need for estate representative institutions disappeared. The Estates General practically ceased to be convened. In 1614 they were convened to resolve the financial problems of the kingdom. Deputies from the Third Estate, based on the instructions of the voters, 142
proposed to abandon the tax immunity of the first two estates and impose taxes on the lands of the nobles and clergy. This proposal caused a storm of indignation on the part of the first and second chambers, and the royal court was also dissatisfied. The Estates General were dissolved and were not convened for 175 years (until 1789).
The establishment of absolutism made some changes in the structure of the state apparatus.
The central government bodies were a collection of many institutions created in different periods. In general, the state apparatus was cumbersome, sometimes overcrowded with unnecessary, overlapping bodies. Of the old positions, the chancellor still retained his status, who became the second person in public administration after the king. During the period of absolutism, the central administration was headed by the Comptroller General of Finance, who compiled the state budget and directed the economic policy of France, and four secretaries of state - for foreign affairs, military affairs, colonial and maritime affairs, and internal affairs.
The royal councils were also subject to repeated reforms. In 1661 Louis XIV V. created the State Council, the highest advisory body under the king. It consisted of French peers, secretaries of state and other high-ranking officials, as well as the chancellor, who presided over the council in the absence of the king.
Local governance remained complex and confusing. At the beginning of the 16th century. to carry out government policy at the local level, the positions of governors were created, appointed and removed by the king. Somewhat later, to strengthen the power of the king, commissioners were sent to the provinces with various temporary assignments, endowed with broad powers in the sphere of monitoring the administration of justice, as well as inspecting the finances and administration of cities. Over time, they were given the title of intendants.
The intendants of police, justice and finance appointed by the king were required to ensure public order, monitor the recruitment of recruits into the army, fight heresy, and conduct investigations on behalf of the king. In addition, the intendants had the right to intervene in any legal process. Describing the activities of the intendants, the Marquis d’Argenson, who held the position of controller of finance, wrote: “Know that French kingdom governed by thirty quartermasters. We have no parliament, no states, no governors. From thirty quartermasters, supplied

those at the head of the provinces, the happiness or misfortune of these provinces depends.”
The judicial system remained virtually unchanged during the period of absolutism. Legal proceedings were still carried out by royal, seigneurial and ecclesiastical courts. The trend of strengthening the royal courts and reducing the role of seigneurial courts continued. According to the Orleans Ordinance of 1560 and the Moulins Ordinance of 1566, most criminal and civil cases became their jurisdiction. By the Edict of 1788, seigneurial courts were deprived of the right to criminal proceedings. The jurisdiction of church courts, which were left with the right to consider the cases of clergy, was also limited.
The royal court system remained extremely complex and confusing. The Paris Parliament retained its importance, but in 1673 it lost the right of remonstration - refusal to register royal acts. An important innovation in the French judicial system were specialized courts that heard cases affecting departmental interests. The Accounts Chamber, the Chamber of Indirect Taxes, and the Mint Administration had their own courts.