test
Search publications, data, projects and authors

Free full text available

Thesis

French

ID: <

10670/1.49t72x

>

Where these data come from
Courtly society and restored monarchy in France (1814-1830). The "nation of courtiers"

Abstract

According to the caricatures its detractors produced from the time of the Restoration onwards, adorned with the colours of truth after "the Three Glorious" Days, the Bourbon Court of France would be nothing but anachronistic and ridiculous. This retrospective condemnation prevents from understanding the centrality of Royal Households and Court society in France between 1814 and 1830. As a means to legitimize the hereditary principle embodied by the ruling dynasty, glorify their prominence and stage the scenario of a sacred monarchy, the Restoration Court must be approached from an inner view which traces its roots, the terms of its recreation and its structuring logics. Although it replicates the rules defined by Norbert Elias as typical of the Old Regime, the restored Court society differs from them by the predominancy of courtiers depicted as pure followers within the close intimacy of the Bourbons. An « Ark of legitimacy », a sanctuary of royal traditions, and a center of oppositions to governments, the Court overcame its nationalization through the reform of November 1820, but hastened the assimilation of the courtiers into a coterie, irretrievably alien to the people of France and hostile to liberties. Disavowed by the legitimist pretender to the throne, the Restoration Court was liquidated as early as the year 1830 by the King of the French, who nevertheless had to quickly come to terms with some its legacies so as to create the national Court of the July Monarchy.

Your Feedback

Please give us your feedback and help us make GoTriple better.
Fill in our satisfaction questionnaire and tell us what you like about GoTriple!