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Swann, Julian
2003.
Provincial Power and Absolute Monarchy.
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Parlements and political crisis in France under Louis XV: the Besançon affair, 1757–1761*
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2009
Abstract
The causes and consequences of the quarrels between Louis XV and the parlements in the third quarter of the eighteenth century continue to provoke a lively debate amongst historians. In France, the traditional thesis of a reforming monarchy confronted by the selfish obstructionism of the judiciary has many adherents. However, few Anglo-American scholars favour such an interpretation and some have gone as far as to reject the existence of a crisis altogether. Research is also concentrated upon the consequences of these disputes, and their importance to the development not only of parlementaire constitutionalism, but even of a new political culture. In order to contest these conflicting interpretations, this article takes afresh look at the Besançon affair of 1757–1761. In one of the most heated political battles of the reign, thirty judges were exiled from the parlements of Besançon, provoking a lively response from the other parlements, headed by that of Paris. By examining the origins of the dispute in Franche-Comté, and the subsequent reaction of both the government and the Parisian magistrates, this article offers a new picture of the causes of crisis and of how judicial politics actually worked.
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References
1 The two most important studies of the crisis are by Estignard, A., Leparlement de Franche-Comté de son installation à Besançon à sa suppression, 1674–1790 (2 vols., Paris, 1892), 1, 271–398Google Scholar, and Marion, M., ‘Grèves et rentrées judiciaires au XVIIIe siècle. Le grand exil du parlement de Besançon, 1759–1761’, Revue des questions historiques, XCIV (1913), 65–93Google Scholar. Egret, Jean, Louis XV et l'opposition parlementaire (Paris, 1970), pp. 140–4Google Scholar, also provides a brief introduction to the subject. In his important study of the judicial system in Franche-Comté, , Maurice, Gresset, Gens de justice à Besançon, 1674–1789 (2 vols., Paris, 1978), II, 700–16Google Scholar, has followed the earlier accounts of Estignard and Marion, although he does make some important new points.
2 The work of Jean Egret, L'opposition parlementaire, remains the best introduction to the conflict between the crown and the parlements.
3 Good examples are the works of Estignard and Egret cited above.
4 Marion, M., Histoire financière de la France depuis 1715 (6 vols., Paris, 1927–1931), 1, 181–225Google Scholar, and Cobban, A., ‘The parlements of France in the eighteenth century’, History, XXXV (1950)Google Scholar, provide two classic examples of this interpretation.
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20 Bernis, who was dismissed in November 1758, had played a key role in directing government policy towards the parlements.
21 That this was the intention of the judges who opposed Bourgeois de Boynes appears beyond doubt. See, for example, the pamphlet supporting their position entitled ‘Recit de ce qui a occasionné la détention de trente des soixante membres du parlement de Besançon en Janvier 1759’ and the ‘Mémoire’ sent to the Jansenist lawyer Le Paige titled ‘Eclaircissements donnés par M. Renard conseiller au parlement de Besançon, exilé à Antibes, sur l'imprimé ayant pour titre: “Récit de ce qui a occasionné la détention de trente des soixante membres du parlement de Besançon en Janvier 1759”. B[ibliothèque de] P[ort-]R[oyale] Collection Le Paige 556, fos.3–5. The following is based on the pamphlets listed above and on the notes of Renard, plus the registers of the Parlement, B[ibliothèque] M[unicipale de] B[esançon] Collection Chiflet 57.
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25 The marquis de Paulmy succeeded his uncle as secretary of state for war in February 1757.
26 AN AP 162 mi I, dos. 2, fo. 32, Bourgeois de Boynes to Lamoignon, 1 April 1757. The commandant of the province, the due de Randan, saw matters in a similar light as can be seen from his letter quoted by Estignard, . Parlement de Franche-Comté, I, 284.Google Scholar
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29 BMB Collection Chiflet 195, fos. 19–20, Bourbonne to Chiflet, 5 Feb. 1757.
30 The present author is currently working on a larger study of those magistrates who opposed the more extreme claims of the Jansenists and their supporters in the parlements.
31 BMB Collection Chiflet 59, fos. 295–6, Randan to maréchal de Belle-Isle, 5 Feb. 1759. The commandant boasted in his letter to Belle-Isle that he had personally recommended Bourgeois to Louis XV prior to his appointment as first president.
32 Unfortunately, the commandants have been largely ignored by historians of the royal administration. For example, they were not included in Antione's, M., Le gouvernement et l'administration sous Louis XV. Dictionnaire biographique (Paris, 1978)Google Scholar, and such oversights are typical of most studies of eighteenth-century government and administration.
33 A[rchives] D[épartementales du] D[oubs] B2840.
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54 The works of Van Kley and Joynes, cited above, provide the most comprehensive explanation of this process.
55 The theory of a union des classes was developed at great length in the remonstrances of 27 Nov. 1755 and 4 Aug. 1756, see Flammermont, , Remontrances, II, 12–107, 135–48.Google Scholar
56 Unfortunately, it is impossible in a short paper to do full justice to the parlementaire resistance to government policy in Franche-Comté. In addition to Paris, the parlements of Aix, Dijon, Grenoble, Rouen and Toulouse all sent repeated remonstrances to Louis XV, Marion, , ‘Grèves et rentrées’, pp. 83–5.Google Scholar
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58 Ibid. Le Paige either wrote, or contributed to, several pamphlets including the ‘Récit de ce qui a occasionné la détention de trente des soixante membres du parlement de Besançon en Janvier 1759’, ‘Reflexions sur l'ouvrage intitulé “Rélation des troubles actuels du parlement de Franche-Comté’” and ‘Réponse à la lettre du Franc Comtois’.
59 AN U 1094, dos. 3, 6 Mar. 1759, and AN X1A 8289, fol. 13.
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63 Ibid. pp. 184–6.
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106 Ibid. fos. 16–17. They were entitled ‘Motifs des reflexions de M. le due d'Orléans sur le mémoire du Roy’, and ‘Reflexions de M. le due d'Orléans sur le projet qui lui a été remis par le Roy’.
107 BPR Collection Le Paige 556, fo. 64. These details were given to Le Paige by the prince de Conti.
108 For some examples of Conti's involvement in the affairs of the parlement see: Van, Kley, ‘The prince de Conty versus Mme de Pompadour and the political crisis of 1756–7 in France: an eighteenth-century fronde manqué’, Proceedings of the annual meeting of the western society for French history, VIII (1980)Google Scholar and his Damiens, pp. 144–7.
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121 In a letter to president de Chiflet, the conseiller d'état, d'Aguesseau de Fresnes, claimed that Choiseul was responsible for the new policy, BMB Collection Chiflet 194, fo. 254, 3 March 1761. Bourgeois also blamed Choiseul for his fall as can be seen from the text of his memoirs cited in Bourgeois de Boynes, J., ‘Pierre-Etienne Bourgeois de Boynes, intendant de Franche-Comté defenseur de l'autorité royale’, Extrait des mémoires de la sociéte d'émulation de Doubs, 20 (1978), p. 83Google Scholar and ‘Pierre-Etienne Bourgeois de Boynes premier président du parlement de Franche-Comté, 1757–1761’, Ibid. 21 (1979), p. 76. I am grateful to M. le marquis de Boynes for his help and advice in preparing this paper.
122 Van Kley's, Jansemsts and Jesuits, is an indispensable guide to the attack on the Jesuits and its consequences.
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129 The crisis has been examined in a perceptive article by Hudson, D., ‘The parlementary crisis of 1763 in France and its consequences’, Canadian Journal of History, VII (1972).Google Scholar
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