French monarchy, absolute monarchy or administrative?

by sheckaaa

Hi all! I was listening to a university professor on a french podcast on the nature of the french monarchy post 16th century. He stated that calling the monarchy "absolutist" was really done in 19th century and that we should really talk about the rise of the administrative aspect as the king couldn't do everything he wanted. Could anyone dwell on that? I would be also interested by the royal administration in general. Cheers !

woopdop

A good book to read would be: The Old Regime and the Revolution, by Tocqueville which describes the numerous mechanisms of the Kingdom before the French revolution.

As far as I remember from this book, it describes the counter-powers and the administrative maze of the Kingdom:

  1. The french kingdom had many customs and traditions that the King had to respect- The king had many duties.
  2. France was divided into "Etats", geographical entities, each having specific rights.
  3. Each social class (aristocracy, clergy and people) also had rights not to be trespassed by the public authorities.
  4. Many wealthy family would buy administrative position linked to the King court to acquire privileges and protect their interests - a form of clientelism.

If rights were not respected, parlements (local justice courts) could oppose the King. Injustice could turn into riots (french strikes!).