Book contents
- The French Monarchical Commonwealth, 1356–1560
- The French Monarchical Commonwealth, 1356–1560
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 La chose publique de nostre royaume
- 2 Political Vocabulary in Action
- 3 Murder, Justice, and la chose publique in an Age of Madness
- 4 The Commonwealth under Siege
- 5 The chose publique and Urban Government
- 6 The Orléanist Offensive
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - The Commonwealth under Siege
Louis XI
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2022
- The French Monarchical Commonwealth, 1356–1560
- The French Monarchical Commonwealth, 1356–1560
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 La chose publique de nostre royaume
- 2 Political Vocabulary in Action
- 3 Murder, Justice, and la chose publique in an Age of Madness
- 4 The Commonwealth under Siege
- 5 The chose publique and Urban Government
- 6 The Orléanist Offensive
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Charles VII revived his grandfather’s system, but the monarchical commonwealth inherited by Louis XI in 1461 came under immediate attack. Louis violated all the norms of the commonwealth in seeking enhanced personal power. His assault led to a coalition of princes against him, in defense of the “bien public.” The selfish goals of these princes notwithstanding, Louis’ contemporaries were appalled at his attack on accepted norms, as they would make clear in the debates of the Estates General of 1484. Louis XI rescinded some of his most unpopular actions after the War of the Public Good. He even called an Estates General in 1468, the last such body to which specific individuals received letters of invitation. This chapter presents both the system elaborated by Charles VII – based on the principle of election – and the one Louis XI tried to put in its place. One key innovation of Charles VII was the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges (1438), which restored to cathedral chapters the right to elect their bishop. Louis XI would often insist on his own right to name prelates and episodically suspended the Pragmatic, foreshadowing Francis I’s abandonment of it in 1516.
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- Information
- The French Monarchical Commonwealth, 1356–1560 , pp. 147 - 188Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022