Course:History 344 Nasty Families/Titles and Statuses/French Nobility

French Nobility versus English Nobility

French nobility was drastically different from English nobility but do have some similarities. Firstly, both French and English nobles receive acknowledged privileges over members of other classes in society. Secondly, nobility can be passed hereditarily through paternal blood lines transferred down by males. Thirdly, “there are in France, as in England, five hereditary nobility titles which correspond with our own—namely, those of Duc (Duke), Marquis, Comte (Earl), Vicomte (Viscount), and Baron.” (1) Although hereditary transference is present in both French and English nobility, that is the extent of the similarities of how to obtain nobility. In England, peerage provides nobility to the beholder whereas French nobility was considered more of a characteristic that different individuals could earn and possess. In France, there are three main ways in which to achieve noble status: through hereditary birth right, with a royal grant through a letter, or obtaining noble office positions. If one took up office in the municipal or judicial offices they would commonly be referred to as Noblesse de Robe (Nobles of the Robe), whereas if one took position in an administrative office they might be known as Secretaires du Roi (The King’s Secretaries/Adminisratives). Status of nobility was a personal quality, inherited or acquired that if obtained saw French nobles sustain both political importance and social influences within society. (2) The process of receiving a noble status through these means other than hereditarily was called ennoblement. Records show that in a French city called Martinique, there were thirteen families who had received letters of ennoblement between 1670’s and the 1760’s. (3)

Old and New French Nobility

Achieving noble status in France was not always as earnable as shown above in the seventeenth century and onwards. Starting as early as the twelfth century, every region in France included dozens of noble lineages. “Throughout this period, the nobility was considered an elite; nobles were set above the rest of the society because of their wealth, power, and exalted birth.” (4) A family could only be “considered part of the nobility if its members are referred to as nobilis (or vir illuster or praeclarus) in the records or, in the absence of such a designation, if they held an important office such as duke of count.” (5) As more marriages and allegiances formed, so did an antagonism between the old nobility of the sword (those of noble birth) and the new nobility of the robe (those who obtained nobility other than through birth) and there was very little intermarriage between these two groups. (6) This new noble elite class was hardly ever entirely assimilated into the top level; the more usual outcome was the formation of two hierarchically graded levels of nobility. (7) The nobility of old and new nobles in France created its own hierarchy, based on wealth, landholdings, and offices; mobility within this segment of society did occur. (8) Although there was a hierarchy of nobility, most families from both old and new nobility owned fiefs, occupied offices in the Cour de Comptes and Parlement of Provence, and enjoyed privileges such as tax exemptions; although societal privileges were not exclusive to nobles they were also shared by clergy, corporations and roturiers. (9)

Marriage into New French Noble Families

Rising men from other classes such as reputable known landed gentry classes began to “enjoy a favor formerly unimaginable: at first only exceptionally, and then more generally, they were able to enter into union with daughters of the god-spawned nobility.” (10) As men from newer lineages emerged from obscurity, they sought marriages with daughters of the old nobility. (11) New noble classes were continually formed through pursuing these marriages which if successful could continually draw the family closer to the older level of nobility. Marriage offered these noble families the opportunity to improve their circumstances through well-chosen alliances. (12)

(1) International University Microfilms, “French Nobility,” The New York Times, Vol. 1 (March, 1880): 3. (2)F. J. Ruggiu, “The Kingdom of France and its Overseas Nobilities,” French History, Vol.25, no. 3 (Sept., 2011): 298. (3) Ibid, 298. (4) Constance B. Bouchard, “The Origins of the French Nobility: A Reassessment,” The American Historical Review, Vol. 86, No. 3 (June 1981): 501-2. (5) Ibid, 502. (6) Robert J. Kalas, “Marriage, Clientage, Office Holding, and the Advancement of the Early Modern French Nobility: The Noailles Family of Limousin,” The Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 27, No. 2 (1996): 367. (7) Otto Forst De Battaglia, “The Nobility in the European Middle Ages,” Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Oct., 1962): 61. (8) Kalas, 366. (9) G.J. Cavanaugh, “Nobles, Privileges, and Taxes in France: A Revision Reviewed,” French Historical Studies, Vol. 8, No. 4 (1974): 681. (10) Battaglia, 61. (11) Bouchard, 514. (12) Cavanaugh, 688.