Before the Revolution : Old Regime
● Louis XIV : Sun King and Patriarch
○ One King, one faith, one law
○ Vision of the patriarchy
○ Sees himself as the father of france ; controls every aspect of France
● Influence of the American Revolution
○ A change in ideas about masculinity and citizenship
○ Rather than being built on heredity, we’re basing it off of military loyalty to the
homeland
● Rhetoric of civic and masculine republicanism tied to soldiering
○ Being a soldier in the homeland makes you a citizen
○ Was the duty of all virtuous men
○ Influences and shapes the French Revolution
● Women in the Old Regime
○ Differed by class, called intersectionality
○ Race, gender, class all intersect here
○ Women in the upper class were more defined to a domestic sphere but were
given a better education ; opened up doors for women into politics
○ Women in the lower class wasn’t really divided ; these women are all poor and
all working ; they are in the streets bartering and selling or working on the farm
land just like their husbands (they have to work)
● Inheritance
○ Daughters were excluded from inheritances
■ Titles come with property and only one person can inherit a title (most
likely your oldest son)
■ You don’t want to divide the land/cause instability within the land
■ It was more stable for the son in the family to have inheritances
○ Marriage/Dowries
■ Gift associated with a marriage proposal (money, land, animals)
■ Families at this time were trying to socially climb ; marrying off their
daughters to wealthier men
■ Can also help the family when they are starting to get low on funds
■ Some dowries were concentrated on just one daughter who was the most
“marriageable” ; other daughters were sent to live in convents
■ Convents also still required a dowry but it was less expensive
○ Women in the Church : Secular vs. Regular
■ Churches during this time were extremely patriarchal ; the pope is seen as
the “father figure” of the church
■ Women are permitted to become nuns at this time
■ There is a desire to keep these nuns in cloisters
● Closing off these women from the world completely
● Louis XIV : Sun King and Patriarch
○ One King, one faith, one law
○ Vision of the patriarchy
○ Sees himself as the father of france ; controls every aspect of France
● Influence of the American Revolution
○ A change in ideas about masculinity and citizenship
○ Rather than being built on heredity, we’re basing it off of military loyalty to the
homeland
● Rhetoric of civic and masculine republicanism tied to soldiering
○ Being a soldier in the homeland makes you a citizen
○ Was the duty of all virtuous men
○ Influences and shapes the French Revolution
● Women in the Old Regime
○ Differed by class, called intersectionality
○ Race, gender, class all intersect here
○ Women in the upper class were more defined to a domestic sphere but were
given a better education ; opened up doors for women into politics
○ Women in the lower class wasn’t really divided ; these women are all poor and
all working ; they are in the streets bartering and selling or working on the farm
land just like their husbands (they have to work)
● Inheritance
○ Daughters were excluded from inheritances
■ Titles come with property and only one person can inherit a title (most
likely your oldest son)
■ You don’t want to divide the land/cause instability within the land
■ It was more stable for the son in the family to have inheritances
○ Marriage/Dowries
■ Gift associated with a marriage proposal (money, land, animals)
■ Families at this time were trying to socially climb ; marrying off their
daughters to wealthier men
■ Can also help the family when they are starting to get low on funds
■ Some dowries were concentrated on just one daughter who was the most
“marriageable” ; other daughters were sent to live in convents
■ Convents also still required a dowry but it was less expensive
○ Women in the Church : Secular vs. Regular
■ Churches during this time were extremely patriarchal ; the pope is seen as
the “father figure” of the church
■ Women are permitted to become nuns at this time
■ There is a desire to keep these nuns in cloisters
● Closing off these women from the world completely
