Estates of Brittany
Encyclopedia
The Estates of Brittany was the States Provincial
for the province of Brittany
in ancien regime France
. It gathered members of the high clergy, a large number of nobles and delegates from the 42 towns and cities of Brittany. In 1788 it included nearly 1,000 nobles as opposed to less than 100 representatives of the other two orders.
The marquise de Sévigné participated in its meetings at Rennes
and Vitré
between 1670 and 1690, writing:
Meetings were the opportunity for an intense nightlife, with banquets (paid for on the provincial budget) offering the chance to continue disputes begun at the daily sittings by competition in consumption, drinking and card games.
In more serious matters the Estates' interests were essentially the same as the parliament of Brittany
, and the two bodies naturally cooperated in restricting royal power in the province and limiting the action of royal representatives there, mainly the intendant and commander in chief. The Estates particularly came into conflict with the royal state over taxes, since Brittany had been exempted from the national salt tax and also enjoyed other privileges. Conflicts arose in the late 17th century, leading to the uprising known as the Revolt of the papier timbré
and later in the early 18th century when the Estates resisted the centralising measures of the king, leading to the Pontcallec Conspiracy
, which was severely repressed by the monarchy.
States Provincial (France)
In France under the Ancien Régime, an estate provincial was an assembly of the three estates of a province, "regularly constituted, periodically convoked and possessing certain political and administrative functions, of which the main one was to vote on the impôt"...
for the province of Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
in ancien regime France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It gathered members of the high clergy, a large number of nobles and delegates from the 42 towns and cities of Brittany. In 1788 it included nearly 1,000 nobles as opposed to less than 100 representatives of the other two orders.
The marquise de Sévigné participated in its meetings at Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
and Vitré
Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine
Vitré is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in north-western France.Vitré, a sub-prefecture until 1926, is the seat of a canton of around 17,000 inhabitants . It lies on the edge of Brittany, near Normandy, Maine, and Anjou...
between 1670 and 1690, writing:
I did not want to see the opening, it was too early. The Estates do not have to be long. It only needed to ask what the King wanted. He need not say a word; and, voilà, it is done. For the Governor, he found there, I don't know how, over 40,000 écus which returned to him. An infinity of other presents, pensions, road and town repairs, 15 or 20 grandes tables, continual gaming, eternal balls, comedies three times a week, a grand 'braverie' : that's the Estates. I forget 400 pipes of wine that were drunk, but if I forget that little thing, the others did not forget it, and this was the first.
Meetings were the opportunity for an intense nightlife, with banquets (paid for on the provincial budget) offering the chance to continue disputes begun at the daily sittings by competition in consumption, drinking and card games.
In more serious matters the Estates' interests were essentially the same as the parliament of Brittany
Parliament of Brittany
The Parlement of Brittany was a court of justice, under France’s Ancien Régime, with its seat at Rennes. The last building to house the parlement still stands and is now the Rennes Court of Appeal, the natural successor of the parlement.-Parlements under the Ancien Régime:As with all the...
, and the two bodies naturally cooperated in restricting royal power in the province and limiting the action of royal representatives there, mainly the intendant and commander in chief. The Estates particularly came into conflict with the royal state over taxes, since Brittany had been exempted from the national salt tax and also enjoyed other privileges. Conflicts arose in the late 17th century, leading to the uprising known as the Revolt of the papier timbré
Revolt of the papier timbré
The Revolt of the papier timbré was an anti-fiscal revolt in the west of Ancien Régime France, during the reign of Louis XIV from April to September 1675...
and later in the early 18th century when the Estates resisted the centralising measures of the king, leading to the Pontcallec Conspiracy
Pontcallec Conspiracy
The Pontcallec conspiracy was a rebellion that arose from an anti-tax movement in Brittany between 1718 and 1720. This was at the beginning of the Régence , when France was controlled by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans during the childhood of Louis XV...
, which was severely repressed by the monarchy.