Provincial Power and Absolute Monarchy

"This is the first book in English to study the history of the Estates General of Burgundy during the classic period of absolute monarchy. Although not a representative institution in any modern sense, the Estates were constantly engaged in a process of bargaining with the French crown, and this book examines that relationship under the ancien regime. Julian Swann analyses the organisation, membership and powers of the Estates and explores their administration, their struggles for power with rival institutions and their relationship with the crown and with the Burgundian people."--Jacket.

First sentence: After witnessing the rise and often rapid fall of three monarchies, two empires, five republics and the Vichy regime in the space of less than two centuries, the French people can be forgiven a certain scepticism about the durability of both their rules and the country's political institutions.

Year

2003

Language

English

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Editions

9

Pages

476

ISBN

9780521036672

Data source: Wikidata