Venality
The Sale of Offices in Eighteenth-Century France
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:10th Oct '96
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
In ancien régime France almost all posts of public responsibility had to be bought or inherited. Rather than tax their richer subjects directly, French kings preferred to sell them privileged public offices, which further payments allowed them to sell or bequeath at will. By the eighteenth century there were 70,000 venal offices, comprising the entire judiciary, most of the legal profession, officers in the army, and a wide range of other professions - from financiers handling the king's revenues down to auctioneers and even wigmakers. Though now yielding diminishing returns to the king, offices were more in demand than ever for the privileges and prestige, profit and power, that they conferred; and although it was widely accepted that selling public authority was undesirable, nobody imagined that those who had invested in offices could ever be bought out. The Revolution brought an unexpected opportunity to do so, but the legacy of venality has marked French institutions down to our day. William Doyle, one of the foremost historians of early modern Europe, has written the first comprehensive history of the last century of venality. He traces the evolution and dissolution of a system which was fundamental to the workings of state and society in France for over three centuries.
a welcome ... addition to the subject ... Doyle provides much information about the revenues raised and demonstrates their vital importance to the royal budget. * Thomas Brennan, Law and History Review *
The author of two well-known books on the French Revolution and its origins, William Doyle ... now offers a thorough discussion of a particular practice, the sale of offices ... Doyle manages to cover all aspects in his detailed and wide-ranging chapters. As the listing of his own articles in the bibliography reveals, he has been intrigued by the subject for thirty years. And, along with erudition, he shows a talent for formulating interesting conclusions ... Doyle's new book does advance scholarship on many issues. After all the work that he has already done on eighteenth-century France, it is a pleasant shock to see how many new things are to be gathered from a single study by this thoughtful historian. * Daniel Gordon, Journal of Modern History, Vol 71, no 3, September 1999 *
As an account of the system and its reworkings, Doyle's book is a valuable summary and balance-sheet of the variegated scholarship in the field with some original and perceptive views. * John Rogister, The American Journal of Legal History, Vol.XLII *
This is the first comprehensive analysis of French venality in any language and it is likely to remain the standard treatment for many years to come. Doyle has structured his approach carefully ... Readers who have admired Doyle's clarity and judgement in previous books will not be disappointed with this, which will stand as a major point of reference on a pivotal feature of the ancien regime for many years to come. * Hugh Gough, French History *
excellent book * Times Literary Supplement *
ISBN: 9780198205364
Dimensions: 242mm x 162mm x 25mm
Weight: 722g
364 pages