Throughout France in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries majority of the population consisted of peasants who lived in rural areas across an estimated thirty thousand different villages. The lives of these peasants consisted of hard physical labour that usually took place on farms that they rented from a seigneur . “Life was a struggle to grow enough to feed families and meet obligations. Crop yields were relatively low, and the average villager did not own enough land to live comfortably on what it could produce” . This paper will cover peasant revolts in France during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as well as their suppressions. Two different kinds of revolts will be looked at, tax revolts and religious revolts. The two kinds of revolts will then be compared and analysed. In order to discuss and understand peasant revolts, the peasant’s lives and their dwellings must first be understood to show how life was from their perspective. As mentioned earlier, the daily lives of these peasants were filled with physical labour on the farm. Life on the farm meant that life revolved around the seasons. A bad summer crop meant that there would be food shortages in the winter. Houses were very simple, with minimal amounts of furniture. The houses themselves were usually made out of stone, and had straw roofs. Mattresses for beds was made from straw, if at all, as some houses were recorded having beds with no mattresses. It has also been noted that out of all furniture found in a sixteenth and seventeenth century French farmer dwelling, chairs were seldom found . We will begin discussing French peasant revolts with the revolt against “gabelle”, meaning, in English, the tax on salt. This tax initiative began in 1548 and is kn... ... middle of paper ... ...ris religious freedom was granted, La Rochelle could no longer have a navy, and Fort Louis, under royal control at the time, was to be dismantled . The third and final Huguenot rebellion occurred between 1627 and 1628. This revolt began with an intervention towards the French Crown from England. The Huguenots were also getting aid in the form of English troops from the King of England, Charles I . Upon English ships landing on the island of Ré, the Anglo-French war began and continued until 1629. After an attempted siege on Saint-Martin-de-Ré, the English retreated, due to high death tolls. In the end, the revolt ended with the signing of the Peace of Alès, a treaty between Cardinal Richelieu and the Huguenot. Under this treaty the Huguenots no longer had any political rights, and it also stated that all cities and military holdings must be given up to the crown .
Davis addresses various important factors in a peasant’s life. She highlights many components of peasant society, including their social classes and how their society values property in different ways. Davis also includes the peasants’ culture. She elaborates on the importance of children and the consequences of not being able to produce children. She also explains typical marriage procedures and customs. Lastly, Davis talks about some of the laws and common uses of the judicial system by peasants. By incorporating these factors into her book Davis is successful at recreating life for peasants in France during the sixteenth century.
“In the first years of peacetime, following the Revolutionary War, the future of both the agrarian and commercial society appeared threatened by a strangling chain of debt which aggravated the depressed economy of the postwar years”.1 This poor economy affected almost everyone in New England especially the farmers. For years these farmers, or yeomen as they were commonly called, had been used to growing just enough for what they needed and grew little in surplus. As one farmer explained “ My farm provides me and my family with a good living. Nothing we wear, eat, or drink was purchased, because my farm provides it all.”2 The only problem with this way of life is that with no surplus there was no way to make enough money to pay excessive debts. For example, since farmer possessed little money the merchants offered the articles they needed on short-term credit and accepted any surplus farm goods on a seasonal basis for payment. However if the farmer experienced a poor crop, shopkeepers usually extended credit and thereby tied the farmer to their businesses on a yearly basis.3 During a credit crisis, the gradual disintegration of the traditional culture became more apparent. During hard times, merchants in need of ready cash withdrew credit from their yeomen customers and called for the repayment of loans in hard cash. Such demands showed the growing power of the commercial elite.4 As one could imagine this brought much social and economic unrest to the farmers of New England. Many of the farmers in debt were dragged into court and in many cases they were put into debtors prison. Many decided to take action: The farmers waited for the legal due process as long as them could. The Legislature, also know as the General Court, took little action to address the farmers complaints. 5 “So without waiting for General Court to come back into session to work on grievances as requested, the People took matters into their own hands.”6 This is when the idea for the Rebellion is decided upon and the need for a leader was eminent.
Beginning in mid-1789, and lasting until late-1799, the French Revolution vastly changed the nation of France throughout its ten years. From the storming of the Bastille, the ousting of the royal family, the Reign of Terror, and all the way to the Napoleonic period, France changed vastly during this time. But, for the better part of the last 200 years, the effects that the French Revolution had on the nation, have been vigorously debated by historian and other experts. Aspects of debate have focused around how much change the revolution really caused, and the type of change, as well as whether the changes that it brought about should be looked at as positive or negative. Furthermore, many debate whether the Revolutions excesses and shortcomings can be justified by the gains that the revolution brought throughout the country.
Weber, Eugen. Peasants into Frenchmen: The Modernization of Rural France, 1870-1914. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1976. Print.
A couple decades later, in the 1640’s, the reign of Louis XIV took over the French leadership. Louis XIV took the persecution and pressure on the Protestant population to a whole new level. Louis XIV aggressively opposed the Protestant followers and did numerous things to force them to convert back to the Catholicism and denounce their loyalty to the Protestants. Initially, Louis XIV sent out simple missionaries into Protestant areas and told them that if there could be significant financial gain to be made if Protestants would convert to becoming Catholics once again. This method was no welcomed with a lot of success and so in response to that King Louis XIV led a much more consequential method in an effort to convert more Huguenots to the Catholic Church. He began to impose certain penalties around the Protestant population if they would not recommit their faith away from the reformation that they had committed themselves to. In addition to this Louis ordered the closing of Huguenot schools and establishments that the Protestant people had built to support their society. Throughout all these methods that Louis XIV instituted, he grew increasingly frustrated and agitated with the Huguenots and it was only a matter of time until he resorted to increasingly aggressive methods in forcing the Protestant followers to convert. He ordered military troops to invade and loot numerous establishments and homes that were owned by Protestant followers. He did this in an effort to forcibly convert them back to believing and placing loyalty back in the Catholic Church. Louis XIV continued this aggressive persecution of the Huguenots when he did away with the Edict of Nantes. He signed a document formally named the Edict of Fountainebleau which, as mentioned, revoked the previous Edict of Nantes that supported the Protestants and even went so far to even make
At the end of the 14th century, the feudalism started to face one of its hardest periods since its formation during the 11th century. The peasants begun to reveal against their lords; they started to realize that they had power over the lord’s domains, since they were the ones who sow the crops, raise, harvest, and finally commercialize them to pay the taxes, which were compulsory to be paid by the age of fifteen (in 1381) in every single family.
It is said that revolutions are the manifestations of an anarchic mentality that is fostered through widespread oppression on a variety of scales. This anarchic mentality is most evident in the infamous French Revolution of 1789. During the late 16th century, a schism began to grow between the aristocracy and the commoners in France. The common people of France wanted a government that better represented them than the monarchy, which was the ruling power. During this time, France had instituted a practice of dividing sections of their societies into what they called “three estates”. The “three estates” set specific boundaries on what people’s statuses were in the French Society, and established the competitive nature of class in France. Because of the competitive class structure in France, poor French citizens such as peasants and farmers decided that they wanted to do something about their status, so they took matters into their own hands; they initiated what how has come to be known as the French Revolution. By 1792...
would yet again prove triumphant over Catholic France. With the signing of the Treaty of Paris
Kreis, S. (2006, October 30). Lecture 11: The Origins of the French Revolution. Lecture 11: The Origins of the French Revolution. Retrieved May 15, 2014, from http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture11a.html
In 1789, thousands of starving peasants abandoned the lands of their ancestors as the price of bread rose to eighty percent of the average peasant’s income (Kreis). Blazing buildings marked the path they took to the source of their woes in Paris. They attacked any food cart they passed. The outline of their skeleton could be seen from under their filthy, thread-bare clothing. Their impoverished condition had reached its climax. Their desperation led them to action. They over took the largest fortress in France, the Bastille, in search of weapons. Members of the Bourgeoisie had formed the National Assembly three weeks prior to the storming of the Bastille to begin to address the grievances of the peasants (Dabney). On August 4, the National Assembly met in Paris, and, with one enthusiastic fell swoop, they agreed to abolish the feudal system forever, thus gaining the support of the mob. “The Decree of the National Assembly Abolishing the Feudal System” created equality between the nobility and citizens, ended the Church’s authority over the state, and pledged to work with King Louis XVI to rectify the injustices of the people.
Philippe Hamon initiates the article ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls: Rural Engagement during the French Wars of Religion: the Case of Brittany’ with an attempt to convey the justification and sociological impetus affiliated with uprisings, irrespective of their socio-economic categorizations. As a result of the assassination of Henri de Guise and his brother Louis II, Henri III fragmented the fragility of Brittany’s religious distribution, with previously unaffiliated individuals declaring association of the Huguenots, Royalists, or Catholic League correlated with the popular perception of their community and which faction would possess the capacity to execute an expeditious cessation of intercommunal conflict. The primary objective of this article is unequivocally to transmit the notion of communal affiliation and a consistent
Around the mid- 1520’s, political and social upheaval was rampant in the wake of the onset of the Reformation. The greed and exploitation of the clerical lords were pushing the commoners to their limit. The hasty introduction of public taxation, private loans, and other revenue-enhancing devices on the commoners was seen as threatening not only to their political autonomy, but also to their communal spirituality. It is clear to see then, in the eyes of the commoners, that a profound societal disturbance was impending. However, I don’t believe many foresaw it as something that would have as great of an impact than it actually did. That being said, the Peasant’s War of 1512 was one of the greatest popular rebellions in European history. Around
The essential cause of the French revolution was the collision between a powerful, rising bourgeoisie and an entrenched aristocracy defending its privileges”. This statement is very accurate, to some extent. Although the collision between the two groups was probably the main cause of the revolution, there were two other things that also contributed to the insanity during the French revolution – the debt that France was in as well as the famine. Therefore, it was the juxtaposing of the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy as well as the debt and famine France was in that influenced the French Revolution.
Louis' reign brought large economic gain and severe economic recession. He was the first king to embrace mercantilism in his country as the form of economy. Unfortunately, Louis was a devout Catholic, and ruined his economy with one move. He revoked the Edict of Nantes, the document that said that Huguenots could worship Protestantism in peace. This infuriated the Huguenots, and they left with their skills. By the loss of 200,000 skilled workers and business leaders, France's income dropped.
The whole past life of the peasantry had taught it to hate the landowner and the official, but it did not, and could not, teach it where to seek an answer to all these questions. In our revolution a minor part of the peasantry really did fight, did organise to some extent for this purpose; and a very small part indeed rose up in arms to exterminate its enemies, to destroy the tsar’s servants and protectors of the landlords.