The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 1

H >> Hippolyte A. Taine >> The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 1

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9. Rights of protection of the chateau of Blet. The royal edict of
1497, fixing this charge for the inhabitants of Blet and all those
dwelling within the jurisdiction of its tribunals, those of Charly,
Boismarvier, etc., at five sous per fire per annum, which has been
carried out. "Only lately has the collection of this been suspended,
notwithstanding its recognition at no late date, the inhabitants all
admitting themselves to be subject to the said guet et garde of the
chateau.

10. Right of toll on all merchandise and provisions passing through
the town of Blet, except grain, flour and vegetables. (A trial pending
before the Council of State since 1727 and not terminated in 1745;
"the collection thereof, meanwhile, being suspended").

11. Right of potage on wines sold at retail in Blet, ensuring to
the seignior nine pints of wine per cask, leased in 1782 for six
years, at sixty livres per annum.

12. Right of boucherie or of taking the tongues of all animals
slaughtered in the town, with, additionally, the heads and feet of all
calves. No slaughter-house at Blet, and yet "during the harvesting of
each year about twelve head of cattle are slaughtered." This tax is
collected by the steward and is valued at three livres per annum.

13. Right of fairs and markets, aunage, weight and measures. Five
fairs per annum and one market-day each week, but little frequented;
no grain-market. This right is valued at twenty-four livres per annum.

14. Corvées of teams and manual labor, through seigniorial right,
on ninety-seven persons at Blet (twenty-two carvées of teams and
seventy-five of manual labor), twenty-six persons at Brosses (five
teams and twenty-one hands). The seignior pays six sous for food, each
corvée, on men, and twelve sous on each corvee of four oxen. "Among
those subject to this corvée the larger number are reduced almost to
beggary and have large families, which often induces the seignior not
to exact this right rigorously." The reduced value of the corvées is
forty-nine livres fifteen sols.

15. Benalité (socome), of the mill, (a sentence of 1736 condemning
Roy, a laborer, to have his grain ground in the mill of Blet, and to
pay a fine for having ceased to have grain ground there during three
years). The miller reserves a sixteenth of the flour ground. The
district-mill, as well as the windmill, with six arpents adjoining,
are leased at 600 livres per annum.

16. Banalité of the oven. Agreement of 1537 between the seignior
and his vassals: he allows them the privilege of a small oven in their
domicile of three squares, six inches each, to bake pies, biscuits and
cakes; in other respects subject to the district oven. He is entitled
to one-sixteenth of the dough; this right might produce 150 livres
annually, but, for several years, the oven has been dilapidated.

17. Right of the colombier, dove-cot. The chateau park contains
one.

18. Right of bordelage. (The seignior is heir-at-law, except when
the children of the deceased live with their parents at the time of
his death. This right covers an area of forty-eight arpentss. For
twenty years, through neglect or from other causes, he has derived
nothing from this.

19. Right over waste and abandoned ground and to alluvial
accumulations.

20. Right, purely honorary, of seat and burial in the choir, of
incense and of special prayer, of funeral hangings outside and inside
the church.

21. Rights of lods et ventes on copyholders, due by the purchaser
of property liable to this lien, in forty days. "In Bourbonnais, the
lods et ventes are collected at a third, a quarter, at the sixth,
eighth and twelfth rate." The seignior of Blet and Brosses collects at
rate six. It is estimated that sales are made once in eighty years;
these rights bear on 1,356 arpents which are worth, the best, 192
livres per arpent the second best, 110 livres, the poorest, 75 livres.
At this rate the 1,350 arpents are worth 162,750 livres. A discount of
one-quarter of the lods et ventes is allowed to purchasers. Annual
revenue of this right 254 livres.

22. Right of tithe and of charnage. The seignior has obtained all
tithe rights, save a few belonging to the canons of Don-le-Rol and to
the prior of Chaumont. The tithes are levied on the thirteenth sheaf.
They are comprised in the leases.

23. Right of terrage or champart: the right of collecting, after
the tithes, a portion of the produce of the ground. "In Bourbonnais,
the terrage is collected in various ways, on the third sheaf, on the
fifth, sixth, seventh, and commonly one-quarter; at Blet it is the
twelfth." The seignior of Blet collects terrage only on a certain
number of the farms of his seigniory; "in relation to Brosses, it
appears that all domains possessed by copyholders are subject to the
right." These rights of terrage are comprised in the leases of the
farms of Blet and of Brosses.

24. Cens, surcens and rentes due on real property of different
kinds, houses, fields, meadows, etc., situated in the territory of the
seigniory. In the seigniory of Blet, 810 arpents, divided into 511
portions, in the hands of 120 copyholders, are in this condition, and
their cens annually consists of 137 francs in money, sixty-seven
bushels of wheat, three of barley, 159 of oats, sixteen hens, 130
chickens, six cocks and capons; the total valued at 575 francs. On the
Brosses estate, eighty-five arpents, divided into 112 parcels, in the
hands of twenty copyholders, are in this condition, and their total
cens is fourteen francs money, seventeen bushels of wheat, thirty-two
of barley, twenty-six hens, three chickens and one capon; the whole
valued at 126 francs.

25. Rights over the commons (124 arpents in Blet and 164 arpents in
Brosses).

The vassals have on these only the right of use. "Almost the whole
of the land, on which they exercise this right of pasturage, belongs
to the seigniors, save this right with which they are burdened; it is
granted only to a few individuals."

26. Rights over the fiefs mouvants of the barony of Blet. Some are
situated in Bourbonnais, nineteen being in this condition. In
Bourbonnais, the fiefs, even when owned by plebeians, simply owe la
bouche et les mains to the seignior at each mutation. Formerly the
seignior of Blet enforced, in this case, the right of redemption which
has been allowed to fall into desuetude. Others are situated in Berry
where the right of redemption is exercised. One fief in Berry, that of
Cormesse held by the archbishop of Bourges, comprising eighty-five
arpents, besides a portion of the tithes, and producing 2,100 livres
per annum, admitting a mutation every twenty years, annually brings to
the seignior of Blet 105 livres.

Besides the charges indicated there are the following:

1. To the curate of Blet, his fixed salary. According to royal
enactment in 1686, this should be 300 livres. According to arrangement
in 1692, the curate, desirous of assuring himself of this fixed
salary, yielded to the seignior all the dimes, novales, etc. The edict
of 1768 having fixed the curate's salary at 500 livres, the curate
claimed this sum through writs. The canons of Dun-le-Roi and the prior
of Chaumont, possessing tithes on the territory of Blet, were obliged
to pay a portion of it. At present it is at the charge of the seignior
of Blet.

2. To the guard, besides his lodging, warming and the use of three
arpents, 200 livres.

3. To the steward or registrar, to preserve the archives, look
after repairs, collect lods et ventes, and fines, 432 livres, besides
the use of ten arpente.

4. To the king, the vingtièmes. Formerly the estates of Blet and
Brosses paid 810 livres for the two vingtièmes and the two sous per
livre. After the establishment of the third vingtième they paid 1,216
livres.

Notes:
[1] Archives nationales, G. 319 ("Etat actuel de la Direction de Bourges au point de vue des aides," 1774).

[2] Blet, at the present day, contains 1,629 inhabitants. (This was around 1884, in 1996 it remains a small commune and a village of 800 people on the route nationale N76 between Bourges and Sancoins. SR.)

[3] The farms of Blet and Brosses really produce nothing for the proprietor, inasmuch as the tithes and the champart (field-rents), (articles 22 and 23), are comprehended in the rate of the leases.
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END-NOTE 3:

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ACTUAL AND NOMINAL REVENUES OF
ECCLESIASTICAL DIGNITIES AND BENEFICES.

According to Raudot ("La France avant la Revolution," p.84), one-
half extra must be added to the official valuation; according to
Boiteau ("Etat de la France en 1789," p.195), this must be tripled and
even quadrupled. I think that, for the episcopal sees, one-half extra
should be added and, for the abbeys and priories, double, and
sometimes triple and even quadruple the amount. The following facts
show the variation between official and actual sums.

1. In the "Almanach Royal," the bishopric of Troyes is valued at
14,000 livres; in "France Ecclésiastique of 1788," at 50,000.
According to Albert Babeau ("Histoire de la Révolution dans le
department de l'Aube"), it brings in 70,000 livres. In "France
Ecclésiastique," the bishopric of Strasbourg is put down at 400,000
livres. According to the Duc de Lévis ("Souvenirs," p. 156) it brings
in at least 600,000 livres income.

2. In the same work, the abbey of Jumiéges is assigned for 23,000
livres. I find, in the papers of the ecclesiastic committee, it brings
to the abbé 50,000 livres. In this work the abbey of Bèze is estimated
at 8,000 livres. I find it bringing to the monks alone 30,000, while
the abbés portion is at least as large. ("De l'Etat religieux, par les
abbés de Bonnefoi et Bernard.," 1784). The abbé thus receives 30,000
livres, Bernay (Eure),. is officially reported at 16,000. The
"Doleances" of the cahiers estimate it at 57,000. Saint-Amand is put
down as bringing to the Cardinal of York 6,000 livres and actually
brings him 100,000. (De Luynes, XIII. 215).

Clairvaux, in the same work, is put down at 9,000, and in
Warroquier ("Etat Général de la France en 1789,") at 60,000. According
to Beugnot, who belongs to the country, and a practical man, the abbé
has from 300,000 to 400,000 livres income.

Saint-Faron, says Boiteau, set down at 18,000 livres, is worth
120,000 livres.

The abbey of Saint-Germain des Près (in the stewardships), is put
down at 100,000 livres. The Comte de Clermont, who formerly had it,
leased it at 160, 000 livres, "not including reserved fields and all
that the farmers furnished in straw and oats for his horses." (Jules
Cousin, "Comte de Clermont and his Court.")

Saint-Waas d'Arras, according to "La France Ecclésiastique," brings
40,000 livres. Cardinal de Rohan refused 1,000 livres per month for
his portion offered to him by the monks. (Duc de Lévis, "Souvenirs,"
p. 156). Its value thus is about 300,000 livres.

Remiremont, the abbess always being a royal princess, one of the
most powerful monasteries, the richest and best endowed, is officially
valued at the ridiculous sum of 15,000 livres.
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END-NOTE 4:

ON THE EDUCATION OF PRINCES AND PRINCESSES.

An entire chapter might be devoted to this subject; I shall cite
but a few texts.

(Barbier, "Journal," October, 1670). The Dauphine has just given
birth to an infant.

"La jeune princesse en est a sa quatrieme nourrice. . . . Jai
appris à cette occasion que tout se fait par forme à la cour, suivant
un protocole de médecin, en sorte que c'est un miracle d'élever un
prince et une princesse. La nourrice n'a d'autres fonctions que de
donner à têter à l'enfant quand on le lui apporte; elle ne peut pas
lui toucher. Il y a des remueuses et femmes préposées pour cela, mais
qui n'ont point d'ordre à recevoir de la nourrice. Il y a des heures
pour remuer l'enfant, trois ou quatre fois dans la journée. Si
l'enfant dort, on le réveille pour le remuer. Si, après avoir été
changé, il fait dans ses langes, il reste ainsi trois ou quatre heures
dans son ordure. Si une epingle le pique, la nourrice ne doit pas
l'ôter; il faut chercher et attendre une autre femme; l'enfant crie
dans tons ces cas, il se tuurmente et s'échauffe, en sorte que c'est
une vraie misère que toutes ces cérémonies."

(Madame de Genlis, "Souvenirs de Félicie," p.74. Conversation with
Madame Louise, daughter of Louis XV., and recently become a
Carmelite).

"I should like to know what troubled you most in getting accustomed
to your new profession?

"You could never imagine," she replied, smiling. "It was the
descent of a small flight of steps alone by myself. At first it seemed
to me a dreadful precipice, and I was obliged to sit down on the steps
and slide down in that attitude." - "A princess, indeed, who had
never descended any but the grand staircase at Versailles, leaning on
the arm of her cavalier in waiting and surrounded by pages,
necessarily trembled on finding herself alone on the brink of steep
winding steps. (Such is) the education, so absurd in many respects,
generally bestowed on persons of this rank; always watched from
infancy, followed, assisted, escorted and everything anticipated,
(they) are thus, in great part, deprived of the faculties with which
nature has endowed them."

Madame Campan, "Mémoires," I. 58, 28.

"Madame Louise often told me that, although twelve years of age,
she had not fully learned the alphabet. . . .

"It was necessary to decide absolutely whether a certain water-bird
was fat or lean. Madame Victoire consulted a bishop. . . . He replied
that, in a doubt of this kind, after having the bird cooked it would
be necessary to puncture it on a very cold silver dish and, if the
juice coagulated in one-quarter of an hour, the bird might be
considered fat. Madame Victoire immediately put it to test; the juice
did not coagulate. The princess was highly delighted, as she was very
fond of this species of game. Fasting (on religious grounds), to which
Madame Victoire was addicted, put her to inconvenience; accordingly
she awaited the midnight stroke of Holy Saturday impatiently. A dish
of chicken and rice and other succulent dishes were then at once
served up."

("Journal de Dumont d'Urville," commanding the vessel on which
Charles X. left France in 1830. Quoted by Vaulabelle, History of the
Restoration, VIII. p.465).

"The king and the Duc d'Angoulême questioned me on my various
campaigns, but especially on my voyage around the world in the
'Astrolabe.' My narrative seemed to interest them very much, their
interruptions consisting of questions of remarkable naiveté, showing
that they possessed no notions whatever, even the most superficial, on
the sciences or on voyages, being as ignorant on these points as any
of the old rentiers of the Marais.
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Note 5.
On the rate of direct taxation.

The following figures are extracted from the proces-verbaux of the provincial assemblies (1778-1787)

______________________________________________________________________
Access- Total en
Taille. iores de Capitation Impot des multiples
la taille. taillable. routes. de la taille.

__________________________________________________________________________
Ile-de-France, 4,296,040 2,207,826 2,689,287 519,989 2,23
Lyonnais, 1,356,954 903,653 898,089 315,869 2,61
Géneralité de Rouen, 2,671,939 1,595,051 1,715,592 598,258[1] 2,46
Généralité de Caen, 1,939,665 1,212,429 1,187,823 659,034 2,56
Berry, 821,921 448,431 464,955 236,900 2,50
Poitou, 2,309,681 1,113,766 1,403,402 520,000 2,30
Soissonnats, 1,062,392 911,883 734,899 462,883 2,94
Orléanais, 2,353,892 1,256,125 1,485,720 586,385 2,34
Champagne, 1,783,850 1,459,780 1,377,371 807,280 3,00
Généralité d'Alencon, 1,742,655 1,120,041 1,067,849 435,637 2,47
Auvergne 1,999,040 1,399,678 1,753,026 310,468 2,70
Généralité d'Auch, 1,440,533 931,261 797,268 316,909[2] 2,35
Haute-Guyenne, 2,531,314 1,267,619 1,268,855 308,993[3] 2,47
_______________________________________________________________________

The principal of the taille being one, the figures in the last
column represent, for each province, the total of the four taxes in
relation to the taille. The average of all these is 2.53. The
accessories of the taille, the poll-tax and the tax for roads, are
fixed for each assessable party, pro rata to his taille. Multiply the
sum representing the portion of the taille deducted from a net income
by 2.53, to know the sum of the four taxes put together and deducted
from this income.
This part varies from province to province, from parish to parish,
and even from individual to individual. Nevertheless we may estimate
that the taille, on the average, especially when bearing on a small
peasant proprietor, without protector or influence, abstracts one-
sixth of his net income, say 16 fr. 66 c. on 100 francs. For example,
according to the declarations of the provincial assemblies, in
Champagne, it deducts 3 sous and 2/3 of a denier per livre, or 15 fr.
28 c. on 100 francs; in the Ile-de-France, 35 livres 14 sous on 240
livres, or 14 fr. 87 c. on 100; in Auvergne, 4 sous per livre of the
net income, that is to say, 20 %. Finally, in the generalship of Auch,
the provincial assembly estimates that the taille and accessories
absorb three-tenths of the net revenue, by which it is evident that,
taking the amounts of the provincial budget, the taille alone absorbs
eighteen fr. ten c. on 100 francs of revenue.
Thus stated, if the taille as principal absorbs one-sixth of the
net income of the subject of the taille, that is to say, 16 fr. 66 c.
on 100, the total of the four taxes above mentioned, takes 16 fr. 66
c. X 2,53 = 42 fr. 15 c. on 100 fr. income. To which must be added 11
fr. for the two vingtièmes and 4 sous per livre added to the first
vingtième, total 53 fr. 15 c. direct tax on 100 livres income subject
to the taille.
The dime, tithe, being estimated at a seventh of the net income,
abstracts in addition 14 ft. 28 c. The feudal dues being valued at the
same sum also take off 14 fr. 28 c., total 28 fr. 56 c.
Sum total of deductions of the direct royal tax, of the
ecclesiastic tithes, and of feudal dues, 81 fr. 71c. on 100 fr.
income. There remain to the tax. payer 18 fr. 29 C.
_____________________________________________________________________

Notes:
[1] This amount is not given by the provincial assembly; to fill up
this blank I have taken the tenth of the taille, of the accessories
and of the assessable poll-tax, this being the mode followed by the
provincial assembly of Lyonnais. By the declaration of June 2, 1717,
the tax on roads may be carried to one-sixth of the three preceding
taxes it is commonly one-tenth or, in relation to the principal of the
taille, one-quarter.
[2] - Same remark. -
[3] The provincial assembly carries this amount to one-eleventh of
the taille and accessories combined.

End of The Ancient Regime, by Hippolyte A. Taine