Consequences of the Court System Established under Francis I

Roederer, P.-L. (Pierre-Louis), 1754-1835Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.8

Word count: 185K words
Chapters: 19

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Conséquences du système de cour établi sous François 1er by P.-L. RoedererAuthor: Roederer, P.-L. (Pierre-Louis), 1754-1835,Language: French, Class: DC: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: France, Andorra, Monaco, Release Date: Mar 1, 2009

Editor's review

This is a historical-political analysis by the French thinker and politician Roederer of the court system established under Francis I, written in French. Writing at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and with a view shaped by living through the alternation of monarchy and revolution, the author looks back on the creation of the sixteenth-century court system and discusses how the court became an instrument for concentrating power, distributing favors, and taming the nobility, extending the discussion to its impact on French social structure. The work is short, and its argument focuses on institutions and mores rather than narrative history; it belongs to the literature of political reflection under the Old Regime. Its value lies in offering a sample of how a modern Frenchman understood the origins of centralization, to be read in dialogue with Tocquevillian questions; it suits readers interested in the political history of the French Renaissance, court society, and the Old Regime, and can also serve as reading material in French historical texts.

Who it's for

A good fit for

University teachers and students studying French Renaissance and Old Regime political history
Readers interested in court society, the system of favors, and the origins of centralization
Learners with some French who want to practice historical French
Readers concerned with modern European political thought and institutional reflection

Not a good fit for

General readers hoping for a plotted historical narrative or biographies
Beginners with weak French who need a Chinese translation to assist them
Readers who prefer contemporary scholarly surveys with copious notes

Reading tips

First learn the basic facts of the reign of Francis I, then enter the author’s institutional analysis.
Treat the whole text as an essay, noting the author’s core judgments about the functions of the court as you read.
Compare it with Tocqueville’s discussion of the Old Regime and centralization to form a line of inquiry.
For the French original, read slowly paragraph by paragraph and look up institutional terms before continuing.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book written in French?

Yes. The original is in French, and Project Gutenberg provides the public-domain electronic text in French; the title and body are both in French, and some reading ability in French is needed before starting.

Is this book a historical story or an institutional analysis?

It is closer to institutional and political analysis. The author discusses the court system established by Francis I and its political consequences rather than narrating events in chronological order, so it reads more like a historical-political commentary.

Is it suitable for learning French?

It can serve as advanced French reading material, but the text is early modern political writing with long sentences and many institutional terms, so it is not recommended for complete beginners; it is best read with some grammatical grounding and a dictionary.

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About the author

Roederer, P.-L. (Pierre-Louis), 1754-1835 Author · French · 1754–1835

Pierre-Louis Roederer (P.-L. Roederer, 1754–1835) was a French statesman and economist. He served as a Councillor of State under Napoleon and took part in fiscal reforms, playing a role in the public affairs and institutional debates of his time. This site holds two of his works, notably L'esprit de la révolution de 1789 and Conséquences du système de cour établi sous François 1er, which focus on the political spirit of the French Revolution and the historical consequences of court institutions. Based on the available material, his writing leans toward institutional analysis and political commentary from the perspective of a firsthand observer, and is suited to readers interested in the French Revolution and the history of modern political institutions; public information on his early life and academic background is limited.