Table of Contents

Preface; List of abbreviations; 1. Introduction: the Parlement of Paris; 2. Historians and the parlements; 3; The king and his judges; 4. The parti janséniste and the refusal of the sacraments crisis, 1754–1756; 5. Managing the parlements: crisis and compromise, 1756–1758; 6. The Parlement and fiscal politics, 1756–1763; 7. Choiseul and the politics of appeasement, 1758–1763; 8. An unhappy peace, 1763; 9. Defending La Chalotais: the Brittany affair, 1764–1766; 10. In the eye of the storm, 1767–1770; 11. The fall of the Parlement of Paris, 1770–1771; Conclusion: Maupeou and beyond; Bibliography; Index.

Promotional Information

An analysis of the causes and consequences of the political crises between King and Parlement in eighteenth-century France.

Reviews

"Swann's readable and revealing account of judicial politics during the years 1754-1774, based on extensive research in manuscript and published sources, inevitably reviews material discussed by other historians, but he adds new information and many nuances along the way." American Historical Review "Drawing on records of the Parlement of Paris and papers and memoirs of a host of key eighteenth-century political figures, Julian Swann's rich new study represents a significant revisionist addition to the growing literature on the court...Because such new interpretations will require a re-examination of the conflicts between the monarch and court, students of eighteenth-century France will wish to consult Swann's study." The Historian