It is customary to define the Ancien Régime as the absolute power of kings. Bernard Basse demonstrates the contrary with this book written for legal experts, but also for the general public.
The historian will find references to better understand the mechanisms of the monarchy, its succession, and the king’s power. How the monarch exercises power, reigns, and governs. He is assisted by his council, the parliaments, and the States General.
If the king’s power is absolute, it is nonetheless moderated by the various bodies surrounding him. He listens but decides. Moreover, the monarch must be Catholic, he is consecrated, and women cannot ascend the throne. The laws of succession are strict, an inheritance of the Salic Law. The monarchy is the king, and the king is the monarchy.
The author cites an anthology of writers, philosophers, men, and ministers, all of whom contributed to the greatness of the kingdom and of France. The constitution of the former France is unwritten, it is the product of custom, an heir to the past, a public law passed from king to king whose principles lasted from Clovis to Louis XVI. The king is the anointed of God, which makes his person sacred. The consecration marks the beginning of his reign.
Some even mentioned an 8th sacrament when speaking of the consecration. This concept of monarchy by Divine Right governed France since the baptism of Clovis, which was also the baptism of the Franks and then the French. A work that takes us back to our past.
It should be noted that for thirteen centuries France lived under the same regime, and since 1789, we refrain from enumerating them, as there have been too many and most are too unstable; it has known more than ten!
Thierry Jan, writer
