Bibliograph

Law, city, and king, legal culture, municipal politics, and state formation in early modern Dijon, Michael P. Breen

Type

Label

Law, city, and king, legal culture, municipal politics, and state formation in early modern Dijon, Michael P. Breen

Language

eng

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Law, city, and king

Medium

electronic resource

Nature of contents

dictionaries

Oclc number

1097141454

Responsibility statement

Michael P. Breen

Series statement

Cambridge Social Sciences eBooks

Sub title

legal culture, municipal politics, and state formation in early modern Dijon

Summary

'Law, City, and King' provides important new insights into the transformation of political participation and consciousness among urban notables who bridged the gap between local society and the state in early modern France. Breen's detailed research shows how the educated, socially-middling 'avocats' who staffed Dijon's municipality used law, patronage, and the other resources at their disposal to protect the city council's authority and their own participation in local governance. Drawing on juridical and historical authorities, the avocats favored a traditional conception of limited "absolute" monarchy increasingly at odds with royal ideology. Despite their efforts to resist the monarchy's growth, the expansion of royal power under Louis XIV eventually excluded Dijon's avocats from the French state. In opening up new perspectives on the local workings of the French state and the experiences of those who participated in it, 'Law, City, and King' recasts debates about absolutism and early modern state formation. By focusing on the political alienation of notables who had long linked the crown to provincial society, Breen explains why Louis XIV's collaborative absolutism did not endure. At the same time, the book's examination of lawyers' political activities and ideas provides insights into the transformation of French political culture in the decades leading up to the French Revolution. Michael P. Breen is associate professor of history and humanities at Reed College in Portland, Oregon.--, Provided by publisher

Table Of Contents

Lawyers and municipal government in Dijon -- The avocats and the politics of local privilege (1595-1648) -- The collapse of the municipal political system (1649-68) -- From local government to royal administration (1669-1715) -- Legal culture and political thought in early seventeenth-century Dijon -- Custom, reason, and the limits of royal authority

resource.variantTitle

Law, City, & King

Creator