Louis XIII's reign has long garnered historians' and popular interest. The king of Cardinal Richelieu and the three musketeers, Louis is traditionally viewed as having presided over the development of the French state and facilitated the rise of absolutism. Yet his court has received comparatively little attention. Traditionally understood as the reflection of its master, Louis XIII's court has been assumed to be backwards and inconsequential. On the contrary, this thesis contends that Louis's court experienced substantial institutional development and expansion over the course of his rule. Neither Louis nor Richelieu was the principal instigator of this growth. The main drivers were the courtiers themselves who sought to expand their prerogatives and to find new ways of profiting from their offices. The changes that were initiated from the top down were not determined by a broad, sweeping agenda held by Louis or his minister-favourites but rather by immediate needs and contingencies. Cardinal Richelieu, nonetheless, recognised that Louis's court really mattered for high politics in this period: the royal households produced key players for the governance of the realm, either gravitating from court office to broader governmental office, or holding both simultaneously. Furthermore, Louis's court helped to bind the realm together, not just because it acted as a hub attracting people from the provinces but also because of the time it spent in the provinces. Richelieu, however, struggled to control this court — so vital to the direction of the French monarchy in this period — because its members were so active and vibrant. They shaped the cultural and social environment surrounding and associated with the court because they were heavily invested in the court as an institution. Indeed, the court did not only serve the needs of the monarch: courts could only operate because a large group of people had a stake in ensuring that they functioned. By establishing the importance of Louis XIII's court for the direction of the French monarchy, and his courtiers' role in moulding it, this thesis seeks to throw light on humans' fundamental relationship with power.

Cette thèse sur la fin de l’Ancien Régime s’ étend de 148 à 1791. Ce travail de recherche est une exploration de la figure judiciaire et de ses représentations savantes et populaires sur la période donnée. Ainsi Les philosophes du XVIIIème siècle contribue largement grâce à leurs théories politiques à un renouveau théorique des représentations judiciaires. Ce renouveau s’accompagne également d’une fécondité littéraire dans le genre utopique. Ceci est bien la preuve que la question pénale est une question politique à la veille de la Révolution Française. Ce travail de renouveau judiciaire se poursuit avec l’Assemblée Nationale Constituante entre 1789 et 1791. Il se poursuit sous un angle pratique. C’est probablement ici que se situe la rupture entre les députés constituants et les philosophes des Lumières. Les premiers vont mettre en place un système judiciaire où seule la logique existe. Ce système est motivé par une haine du juge pénal du XVIIIème siècle. Les second, les philosophes, critiquaient le juge dans un souci d’exigence de liberté. Ils sont à ce titre le prolongement de l’humanisme et les précurseurs du libéralisme. / This thesis on the end of the Ancien Régime extends from 1748 to 1791. This research work is an exploration of the judicial figure and its scholarly and popular representations on the given period. Thus the philosophers of the eighteenth century contributes largely through their political theories to a theoretical renewal of judicial representations. This renewal is also accompanied by literary fecundity in the utopian genre. This is proof that the criminal question is a political question on the eve of the French Revolution.This work of judicial renewal continues with the National Constituent Assembly between 1789 and 1791. It continues in a practical angle. It is probably here that lies the break between the constituent deputies and the Enlightenment philosophers. The former will put in place a judicial system where only logic exists. This system is motivated by a hatred of the 18th century criminal court. The second, the philosophers, criticized the judge for the sake of the need for freedom. They are in this respect the extension of humanism and the precursors of liberalism.

L’ascension du cardinal de Fleury décrit les mécanismes ayant conduit le rejeton d’une famille de financiers « moyens » du Languedoc à devenir en 1726 le principal ministre de Louis XV. Il faut d’abord compter avec le mouvement d’ensemble de tout un lignage qui plonge ses racines dans la marchandise du lodévois depuis au moins le XVIe siècle. Le passage à la finance s’effectue avec le grand-père du cardinal et se poursuit avec son père Jean et surtout son oncle Pierre-Moïse, trésorier de France au bureau des finances de Montpellier. Ce dernier favorise la montée à Paris du jeune André-Hercule qui embrasse dès lors la carrière ecclésiastique. Les moteurs de l’ascension sont ensuite individuels et reposent sur le jeu des clientèles, avec le cardinal de Bonsy puis le cardinal de Noailles qui obtient d’un Louis XIV réticent l’évêché de Fréjus (1698) pour son protégé. La suite relève davantage de la contingence mais ne peut s’extraire du contexte religieux et, là encore, le système des fidélités. La désignation comme précepteur du futur Louis XV, quelques jours avant la mort du Grand Roi, permet à Fleury de faire sa rentrée à la Cour. L’incontestable habileté de Fleury lui permet de profiter de l’évolution politico-religieuse engagée par le Régent qui, passé une phase initiale de rapprochement avec les adversaires de la bulle Unigenitus, s’en détache bientôt. Fleury incarne un soutien modéré mais ferme. Sa proximité avec le petit roi fait le reste et le positionne en personnalité majeure. Les décès de Dubois puis de Philippe d’Orléans le laissent seul face au duc de Bourbon (1723). Trois ans seulement vont suffire à M. de Fréjus pour éliminer le premier ministre en titre. / The ascent of the cardinal of Fleury describes the mechanisms which have driven the heir of an "average" family of financiers in Languedoc to become Louis XV’s Prime Minister in 1726. It is necessary to underline at first the whole rise of a linage which plunges its roots into the merchandise in the Lodévois for at least the XVIth century. The transition to the finance is made with the cardinal’s grandfather and continues with his father Jean and especially his uncle Pierre-Moses, trésorier de France at the bureau des finances of Montpellier. The latter favors the rise in Paris of the young André-Hercule who embraces from then the ecclesiastical career. The causes of the ascent are individual and are based on the set of the clienteles, with at first the cardinal of Bonsy, then the cardinal of Noailles who obtains from reluctant Louis XIV the bishop's siege of Fréjus ( in 1698 ) for his protégé. The continuation is more a matter of contingency but cannot be extracted from the religious context and, even there, the system of the clienteles. The designation as the private tutor of the future Louis XV, a few days before the death of the Great King, allows Fleury to make his comeback to the Court. The indisputable skill of Fleury allows him to take advantage of the politico-religious evolution led by the Regent who, after an initial phase of proximity with the opponents of the Unigenitus bull, soon gets loose from them. Fleury embodies a moderate support but firm. His closeness with the small king makes of him a major actor. The death of Dubois and of Philippe of Orléans leaves him alone in front of the duke of Bourbon (1723). Three years only will be enough for M. de Fréjus to eliminate the official Prime Minister.

Les historiens ont souvent interprété les relations entre le Parlement et la monarchie comme un combat qui devait amener à la Révolution. Par orgueil et égoïsme, le Parlement avait tenté de s’arroger les prérogatives royales. La réalité était bien plus complexe. Le Parlement n’était pas le bourreau de la monarchie. Il avait toujours cherché à l’aider dans ses choix, en lui montrant la voie qu’il trouvait la plus sage, au vu des circonstances et des enseignements du droit et de l’histoire. L’étude institutionnelle des rouages de la cour, la mise en perspective des revenus des conseillers à travers les épices et l’analyse de la recherche d’une justification de sa fonction à travers l’histoire, montrent le rôle de la cour dans l’évolution du XVIIIe siècle. / The fight between the crown and the Parlement of Paris has been seen as the origins of the French Revolution. The Parlement was guilty of trying to usurp the power of the King. In fact, the comprehension of the XVIIIth Century is more problematic because the Parlement of Paris had never been the executioner of the monarchy. The judges had tried to help the King in the making of the laws. The institutional study of the mechanisms of the Parlement, the analysis of the fees of the judges and of the theoretical justifications of the Parlement show the real place of the court in the evolution of the century.

En 1790, les autorités locales pensaient que la période révolutionnaire sonnait le glas des villes de parlement. Supprimer les institutions d'Ancien Régime et les ordres religieux qui marquaient les espaces et les sociétés de ces neuf capitales régionales depuis des dizaines voire des centaines d'années signifiait ôter tout rayonnement à ces villes quasiment dépourvues d'industrie ou de commerce de grande ampleur. Paradoxalement, à la fin du premier tiers du XIXe siècle, Besançon, Dijon, Douai, Grenoble, Metz, Pau, Rennes et Toulouse étaient plus peuplées et plus étendues qu'en 1789. Seule Aix-en-Provence ne parvenait pas encore à se remettre de la crise révolutionnaire. De nouvelles fonctions, essentiellement militaires, avaient alors pris la place des magistrats et des hommes d'Eglise. En quelques dizaines d'années, les villes de parlement avaient été complètement redéfinies. Comprendre les conséquences de la suppression des anciens principes structurants des espaces urbains ainsi que celles de la mise en place de nouvelles fonctions urbaines implique d'analyser les espaces urbains du passé à l'aide de problématiques de géographe, donc d'avoir recours à une démarche géo-historique. Celle-ci a particulièrement été appliquée au cas de Toulouse à l'aide du Système d'Information Géographique (S.I.G.) de la ville : Urban-Hist. Cet outil a permis d'analyser l'ensemble des mutations urbaines de l'époque à l'échelle de la parcelle avant de chercher à savoir si les phénomènes alors observés ne concernaient que l'ancienne capitale de Languedoc ou s'il est possible de dégager un modèle de l'évolution des villes parlementaires avant, pendant, et après la Révolution. / In 1790, Toulouse authorities thought that when the French Revolution had suppressed all the Parliaments in the kingdom, they had also destroyed the parliamentary cities. Indeed, there were almost no industrial, commercial or other important economic activities in these administrative and judicial centers. Despite these suppressions, Besançon, Dijon, Douai, Grenoble, Metz, Pau, Rennes and Toulouse were already larger and more populous at the end of the first third of the 19th Century than they were in 1789. Aix-en-Provence was the only one which still suffered from the revolutionary crisis. Some new urban functions took the place of the magistrates and the churchmen. It took only a few decades to redefine the former parliamentary cities. In order to understand this phenomenon and its consequences on the urban spaces of the past we will use some geographical perspectives: we will use a geo-historical method. We will mainly focus on the case of Toulouse thanks to the Geographical Information System (G.I.S.) of this town: Urban-Hist. This tool provides much useful information which can help us understand the changes in the former capital of Languedoc. Were these changes specific to Toulouse or were they representative of the group of continental parliamentary cities before, during and after the French Revolution?

Espetáculo cênico, divertimento e ritual cortesão simultaneamente, o balé de corte constituiu-se enquanto gênero de espetáculo em fins do século XVI, revelando-se extremamente popular e recorrente na dinâmica de corte francesa até fins do século XVII. Coerente às aspirações poéticas e artísticas humanistas de reconstituição do drama total grego antigo, o balé de corte propõe realizar a fusão das artes, unindo harmoniosamente poesia, música, canto, dança, pintura, cenários, maquinaria, heráldica, enfim, várias artes e artifícios, num grande espetáculo ao mesmo tempo erudito e agradável, sóbrio e divertido. Nesta complexa composição entremeada de tantas artes, a dança ocupava posição de destaque, como também o baile era atividade importantíssima na sociabilidade de corte. Tal espetáculo era realizado predominantemente no ambiente da corte e em reverência ao rei, contando com a participação efetiva - tanto na elaboração quanto na própria cena - dos cortesãos, damas, príncipes, rainha e do rei, estes que se colocavam em cena, dançando e desempenhando papéis os mais diversos. Partindo do estudo dos libretos e das relações/descrições de balés de corte produzidos entre 1610 e 1661 na corte francesa, propõe-se compreender como tal gênero se constrói enquanto representação prescritiva do poder no contexto do Antigo Regime baseado na noção alegórica de \"harmonia\". Assim, investiga-se em que medida o gênero e as composições analisadas constroem alegoricamente uma imagem de harmonia cósmica e política e, a partir de suas linguagens e recursos próprios, de que maneira colabora para reforçar modos de pensar, ser e agir cortesãos, bem como valores morais e pactos políticos que mantêm (artificialmente) o corpo social em ordem. / Scenic spectacle, divertissement and courtly ritual at the same time, the court ballet was composed, as spectacle genre, in the late sixteenth century, proving to be extremely popular and recurrent to the dynamics of French court until seventeenth century\'s last decades. According to the humanistic aspirations in reconstitution of the ancient Greek total drama, court ballet proposes a fusion of the arts, uniting harmoniously poetry, music, singing, dancing, painting, scenery, machinery, heraldry, finally, various arts and devices in a great spectacle, erudite and pleasant at once. In this complex composition of so many interlaced arts, dance occupied a prominent position, as well as dance was a very important activity in the sociability of the court. Court ballet was essentially performed in a courtly ambience and in reverence to the king, with the effective participation of the courtiers, ladys, princes, queen and also the French king in the stage, dancing and performing various roles. Based on the study of the libretti and descriptions of court ballets produced between 1610 and 1661 at the French court, this study proposes to understand how this court spectacle is constructed as a prescriptive representation of power in the context of the Ancien Régime, based on the allegorical notion of \"harmony\". Thus, we investigate how court ballet create an allegorical image of cosmic harmony and how it contributes to strengthen ways of thinking, being and acting of the courtiers, as well as moral values and political pacts that keep (artificially) the social body in order.

C'est en février 1663, que la Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France remis à LOUIS XIV le territoire de la Nouvelle-France. Elle donnait suite à sa demande de restitution exprimée par LOUIS XIV. Pour mémoire cette restitution mettait fin à la Charte de LOUIS XIII du 29 avril 1628. Par suite, c'est par une déclaration de mars 1663 que LOUIS XIV accepta de recevoir les droits de propriété, justice et seigneur de la Nouvelle-France. Sa volonté d'administrer directement le territoire et non par Charte est exprimée dans le corps de la déclaration. C'est dans cet esprit, qu'il transférera, en tant que de besoin au Canada, des institutions du Royaume, notamment celle de l'Intendant de Justice, Police et Finances. Cette orientation ne sera pas remise en cause par son successeur LOUIS XV ce, jusqu'en 1760. La présente thèse a pour finalité de décrire ou d'exposer, ce que fut la juridiction financière et économique de l'Intendant de 1663 à 1760 / It is in february 1663 that the Nouvelle-France company hands over to LOUIS XIV the Nouvelle-France territory. This followed-up the claim to secure the return of the territories expressed by LOUIS XIV. To remenber right, this retutn of the territories put an end to the charter of LOUIS XIII dated april 29th 1628. Consequently, it is by a statement of march 1663 that LOUIS XIV agreeds to acquire the freehold, justice and lord of Nouvelle-France. His intention to directly govern the territory is clearly indicated in the body of doctrines and not in the charter. It is in state of mind thathe will trandfer for the purpose in hands to Canada institutions of the kingdom, particulary those of justice, police and finance intendants. This way of thinking will not be called inio question by his heir to the throne LOUIS XV until 1760; This actual thesis purpose is to describe or expound what was the coming within the financial and economic jurisdiction of the intendant from 1663 to 1760

Espetáculo cênico, divertimento e ritual cortesão simultaneamente, o balé de corte constituiu-se enquanto gênero de espetáculo em fins do século XVI, revelando-se extremamente popular e recorrente na dinâmica de corte francesa até fins do século XVII. Coerente às aspirações poéticas e artísticas humanistas de reconstituição do drama total grego antigo, o balé de corte propõe realizar a fusão das artes, unindo harmoniosamente poesia, música, canto, dança, pintura, cenários, maquinaria, heráldica, enfim, várias artes e artifícios, num grande espetáculo ao mesmo tempo erudito e agradável, sóbrio e divertido. Nesta complexa composição entremeada de tantas artes, a dança ocupava posição de destaque, como também o baile era atividade importantíssima na sociabilidade de corte. Tal espetáculo era realizado predominantemente no ambiente da corte e em reverência ao rei, contando com a participação efetiva - tanto na elaboração quanto na própria cena - dos cortesãos, damas, príncipes, rainha e do rei, estes que se colocavam em cena, dançando e desempenhando papéis os mais diversos. Partindo do estudo dos libretos e das relações/descrições de balés de corte produzidos entre 1610 e 1661 na corte francesa, propõe-se compreender como tal gênero se constrói enquanto representação prescritiva do poder no contexto do Antigo Regime baseado na noção alegórica de \"harmonia\". Assim, investiga-se em que medida o gênero e as composições analisadas constroem alegoricamente uma imagem de harmonia cósmica e política e, a partir de suas linguagens e recursos próprios, de que maneira colabora para reforçar modos de pensar, ser e agir cortesãos, bem como valores morais e pactos políticos que mantêm (artificialmente) o corpo social em ordem. / Scenic spectacle, divertissement and courtly ritual at the same time, the court ballet was composed, as spectacle genre, in the late sixteenth century, proving to be extremely popular and recurrent to the dynamics of French court until seventeenth century\'s last decades. According to the humanistic aspirations in reconstitution of the ancient Greek total drama, court ballet proposes a fusion of the arts, uniting harmoniously poetry, music, singing, dancing, painting, scenery, machinery, heraldry, finally, various arts and devices in a great spectacle, erudite and pleasant at once. In this complex composition of so many interlaced arts, dance occupied a prominent position, as well as dance was a very important activity in the sociability of the court. Court ballet was essentially performed in a courtly ambience and in reverence to the king, with the effective participation of the courtiers, ladys, princes, queen and also the French king in the stage, dancing and performing various roles. Based on the study of the libretti and descriptions of court ballets produced between 1610 and 1661 at the French court, this study proposes to understand how this court spectacle is constructed as a prescriptive representation of power in the context of the Ancien Régime, based on the allegorical notion of \"harmony\". Thus, we investigate how court ballet create an allegorical image of cosmic harmony and how it contributes to strengthen ways of thinking, being and acting of the courtiers, as well as moral values and political pacts that keep (artificially) the social body in order.

Une des images les plus marquantes de la Bretagne est celle de ses ports et de leur vocation maritime. Sous l'Ancien Régime, la société portuaire, telle qu'elle peut se concevoir à Nantes, St Malo ou Lorient, s'est caractérisée par des professions relatives au commerce maritime et à la construction navale. Elle s'est aussi spécifiée par un goût prononcé pour le voyage, la mer et l'exotisme, et enfin par une ouverture à l'esprit du siècle des Lumières. Du point de vue de l'aménagement urbain, les ports se sont attelés à maîtriser l'espace en gagnant du terrain sur la mer et en la domestiquant par la construction de quais, de ponts et d'écluses. L'embellissement a donné à ces quartiers un caractère urbain, surtout grâce à l'initiative politique du groupe négociant souvent appuyé par le pouvoir royal. La ville s'est appropriée l'espace maritime en y implantant des résidences destinées à loger cette société portuaire dont le groupe négociant est l'élite à part entière. Les intérieurs vont révéler l'état d'ouverture et l'originalité de cette société. Vannes et Auray ne sont pas des villes portuaires mais elles possèdent des quartiers qui le sont pleinement. Les caractéristiques morbihannaises seront différentes sur certains points de celles de leurs modèles nantais, malouin ou lorientais. Instabilité politique, économie défavorable basée sur le commerce des grains, société dominée par le groupe marchand mais pénalisée par sa culture et son éducation, forment un tout qui ont forgé un espace et un bâti aux caractéristiques propres aux anciennes petites villes bretonnes de fond d'estuaire. Ces deux villes essaient aujourd'hui de revaloriser l'identité portuaire de leur quartier

When Alexis de Tocqueville observed the spread of modern democracy across France, England, and the United States, he saw that democracy would give rise to a new state of letters, and that this new state of letters would influence how democratic citizens and statesmen would understand the new political world. As he reflected on this new intellectual sphere, Tocqueville became concerned that democracy would foster changes in language and thought that would stifle concepts and ideas essential to the preservation of intellectual and political liberty. In an effort to direct, refine, and reshape political thought in democracy, Tocqueville undertook a critique of the democratic state of letters, assessing intellectual life and contributing his own ideas and concepts to help citizens and statesmen think more coherently about democratic politics. Here, I analyze Tocqueville's critique and offer an account of his effort to reshape democratic political thought. I show that through his analyses of the role of intellectuals in democratic regimes, the influence of modern science on democratic public life, the intellectual habits that democracy fosters, and the power of literary works for shaping democratic self-understanding, Tocqueville succeeds in reshaping democratic language and thought in a manner that contributes to the preservation of intellectual and political liberty within the modern democratic world.