French Society 1589-1715 Social History of Europe Series

This book provides a "birds eye" view of social change in France during the "long seventeenth century" from 1589-1715. One of the most dynamic phases of French history, it covers the reigns of the first three Bourbon kings, Henri IV, Louis XIII, and Louis XIV. The author explores the upheavals in French society during this period through an examination of the bonds which tied various classes and groupings together: including rank, honour, and reputation; family, household and kinship; faith and the Church; and state and obedience to the King. Acting as a social glue against instability and fragmentation, in periods of great transformation some of these social solidarities are eroded whilst new ones emerge. Sharon Kettering shows how nuclear family ties emerged at the expense of extended kinship ties, while traditional rural ties were eroded by a combination of demographic crisis and agricultural stagnation. Urban ties of neighbourhood, sociability and work increased with rapid urbanisation. By 1715, France had become a more peaceful and civilised place, and this book discusses some of the reasons why.

GENERAL EDITOR’S PREFACE ixPREFACE xiIN TRO D U CTIO N : SOCIAL SOLIDARITIES 11 FAMILIES AN D HOUSEH O LDS 6The instability o f families 9Family tension and strife 122 W O M EN AN D M EN 20Dependency and manipulation 22The battle o f the sexes 27Women, work and home 293 PLAGUE A ND PEASANTS 35Why was agriculture stagnant? 39How unchanging was rural life? 424 CITIES AND CHANGE 48Urban growth 50Causes and effects o f urban growth 54Urban growth and social change 605 THE NOBILITY 64The royal court 67The court, the king and the nobility 70The changing role o f the nobility 736 THE EARLY M O D ER N STATE 81The traditional interpretation 84The revisionist interpretation 85New political solidarities 917 THE C H U R C H 96Catholic reform 98The impact of Catholic Reform 103Religious dissent: the Protestants 106Religious dissent: the Jansenists 1118 THE MARGINS OF SOCIETY 116Freethinkers and rationalists 117Witches 122Poverty and crime 127C O N C LU SIO N : SOLIDARITIES AN D SOCIAL CHANGE 135APPENDIX 1 CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS 142APPENDIX 2 GLOSSARY 145APPENDIX 3 A HISTORIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY 148MAPS 157NOTES 161INDEX

Postgraduate and Undergraduate

Sharon Kettering