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Survival Against the Odds? The French Bishops Elected to the Estates-General, 1789*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

Nigel Aston
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Abstract

The general view still prevails that the French bishops performed badly in the elections held to the estates-general in the spring of 1789. The final figure of only 49 bishops going to Versailles amid a horde of curés tends to be treated by historians as a clear demonstration of the new power of the lower clergy, confirming the view of the episcopal corps as aristocratic, out of touch, and unprepared for an electoral contest on a level of equality with the parish clergy. Prestigious casualties like Rohan-Guémenée at Cambrai, Mont-morency-Laval at Metz, Marbeuf at Lyon, and Dillon at Narbonne have attracted much notice, but they are really the exceptions. Closer examination indicates that the majority of prelates in fact put up a spirited performance, faced with Necker's electoral règlement of 24 January 1789 – arrangements weighted deliberately in favour of the curés.

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Articles
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The Historical Journal , Volume 32 , Issue 3 , September 1989 , pp. 607 - 626
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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References

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