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  • Textbook
  • © 2001

Crown and Nobility in Early Modern France

Authors:

  1. Donna Bohanan
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  • A study of state and society in early modern France synthesizing a large body of research on the period
    Uses three provincial examples to illustrate the concepts raised

Part of the book series: European History in Perspective (EUROHIP)

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-x
    PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Donna Bohanan
    Pages 1-6

  3. Nobility: Metamorphosis

    • Donna Bohanan
    Pages 7-31

  4. Crown: State-building

    • Donna Bohanan
    Pages 32-69

  5. Provence: The Opportunities of Factionalism

    • Donna Bohanan
    Pages 70-100

  6. Dauphiné: The Potential in Class Conflict

    • Donna Bohanan
    Pages 101-125

  7. Brittany: The Limits of Elite Solidarity

    • Donna Bohanan
    Pages 126-150

  8. Conclusion

    • Donna Bohanan
    Pages 151-155

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 156-194
    PDF
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About this book

This book analyses the evolving relationship between the French monarchy and the French nobility in the early modern period. New interpretations of the absolutist state in France have challenged the orthodox vision of the interaction between the crown and elite society. By focusing on the struggle of central government to control the periphery, Bohanan links the literature on collaboration, patronage and taxation with research on the social origins and structure of provincial nobilities. Three provinical examples, Provence, Dauphine and Brittany, illustrate the ways in which elites organised and mobilised by vertical ties (ties of dependency based on patronage) were co-opted or subverted by the crown.

The monarchy's success in raising more money from these pays d'etats depended on its ability to juggle a set of different strategies, each conceived according to the particularity of the social, political and institutional context of the province. Bohanan shows that the strategies and expedients employed by the crown varied from province to province; conceived on an individual basis, they bear the signs of ad hoc responses rather than a gradnoise plan to centralise.
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Keywords

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About the author

DONNA BOHANAN is Associate Professor of history at Auburn University, Alabama.
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Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Crown and Nobility in Early Modern France

  • Authors: Donna Bohanan

  • Series Title: European History in Perspective

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4039-4034-6

  • Publisher: Red Globe Press London

  • eBook Packages: Palgrave History Collection, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2001

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: X, 194

  • Additional Information: Previously published under the imprint Palgrave

  • Topics: History of France

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