Chapter 4: Developments February 1787-May 1789
The Assembly of Notables, February-May 1787
The composition of the Assembly of Notables which met in February 1787 was based on earlier precedent – it
had last met in 1626. It consisted of 144 men and included 7 Princes of the Blood, all the senior judges from the
parlements, important ‘notables’ representing the provincial estates and 14 representatives of the Church.
This body soon turned out to be far from the docile ‘rubber stamp’ that Louis and Calonne had hoped for –
Calonne had hoped that this would be the answer and that the noble people would do what they were told to.
When presented with Calonne’s ground-breaking proposals, it put many obstacles in their way
- It was not a hand-picked assembly who would do what they were told to, it was a lot of people whose
ancestors had been there in 1626 and they were not going to override Pment
- They were not prepared to automatically help, they wanted evidence as everything that had been told
prior suggested that finance was good – and now they were being told a new land tax was needed.
Calonne could not provide this evidence as he knows that the last Controller-General, Necker, was fired
for publishing private financial evidence
- The clergy were particularly hostile to the new plans to tax the Church. Their opposition was led by
Etienne-Charles de Loménie de Brienne, the Archbishop of Toulouse.
- Other notables were not convinced that the situation was bad enough to warrant such extraordinary
changes; when Calonne revealed that Necker’s Compte Rendu was in error, it only made matters worse
Necker responded by publishing an attack on Calonne, and the Assembly accused Calonne of
incompetence and trying to shift the blame onto others.
Calonne foolishly swept aside legitimate criticism and published articles accusing the Notables of allowing self-
interest to stand in the way of change – this was actually untrue. Many of the Notables (including Brienne) had
been influenced by the Enlightenment movement and were ready to see a fairer taxation system in France.
However, they distrusted Calonne (whose behaviour they saw as a prime example of ‘ministerial despotism’)
and were not prepared to work with him. Louis briefly tried to support him; but, in April 1787, under pressure
from his wife, he decided that Calonne would have to go.
The influence of Marie-Antionette or Madame Déficit: The Queen had her own favourites at Court, and she
constantly sough to advance their interests with her husband; her success in doing so demonstrates Louis’
dependence on her in these difficult years. Her friendship with the duchesse de Polignac, who family were
hostile to Calonne, led her to seek Calonne’s dismissal, while her support for Archbishop Loménie de Brienne
helped ensure his advance.
Calonne was replaced by Brienne, a member of the notables, who set about producing reform proposals based
on those of his predecessors but sometimes going further. The sacking of Calonne, however, does little to solve
the financial crisis and truly the only reason that he was fired is because there was too much opposition to him,
and Louis wants to be liked. Changes affecting the army, navy, the administration of the royal domain and the
central government were put forward. He extended tolerance to Protestants, deregulated the grain trade,
changed the corvée royale into a tax and extended the provincial assemblies, giving local taxpayers the right to
vote for these. Following his Enlightenment principles, he also supported the spread of education, the
codification of the law, the abolition of tax-farming and the establishment of a central treasury.
Indeed, Brienne headed what became the last great reforming ministry of the Ancien Régime. However, his
plans for change were overshadowed by the desperate need for money. He was rather and arrogants and has a
lot of connections so he attempted to carry through Calonne’s land tax, with some modifications to meet the
earlier criticisms, but failed and so the Assembly of Notables closes. The Assembly had almost become too used
to challenging the King’s representative. Moreover, the publication of accounts to convince the Notables of the
need for action merely led to more accusations of incompetence. The breakdown of trust in government was
such that the Notables took up the cry of ‘no taxation without representation’ and supported the idea of an
Estates-General (which had last met in 1614) which would provide an opportunity for a full scrutiny of
proposals and for truly ‘national’ consent to change. Indeed, the obstructionism was sufficient for Louis to
dismiss the Assembly in May 1787. Once again, Brienne had to resort to a loan to keep the country afloat.
- The King knows that when the calling of the Estates General happens, each estate is asked to draw up a
Cahier de Doléances (book of grievances) and this is bad for him as there are usually quite a number of
grievances. Thus, the King is unlikely to call an Estates-General as it would be bad for him and could
create opposition.
The Assembly of Notables, February-May 1787
The composition of the Assembly of Notables which met in February 1787 was based on earlier precedent – it
had last met in 1626. It consisted of 144 men and included 7 Princes of the Blood, all the senior judges from the
parlements, important ‘notables’ representing the provincial estates and 14 representatives of the Church.
This body soon turned out to be far from the docile ‘rubber stamp’ that Louis and Calonne had hoped for –
Calonne had hoped that this would be the answer and that the noble people would do what they were told to.
When presented with Calonne’s ground-breaking proposals, it put many obstacles in their way
- It was not a hand-picked assembly who would do what they were told to, it was a lot of people whose
ancestors had been there in 1626 and they were not going to override Pment
- They were not prepared to automatically help, they wanted evidence as everything that had been told
prior suggested that finance was good – and now they were being told a new land tax was needed.
Calonne could not provide this evidence as he knows that the last Controller-General, Necker, was fired
for publishing private financial evidence
- The clergy were particularly hostile to the new plans to tax the Church. Their opposition was led by
Etienne-Charles de Loménie de Brienne, the Archbishop of Toulouse.
- Other notables were not convinced that the situation was bad enough to warrant such extraordinary
changes; when Calonne revealed that Necker’s Compte Rendu was in error, it only made matters worse
Necker responded by publishing an attack on Calonne, and the Assembly accused Calonne of
incompetence and trying to shift the blame onto others.
Calonne foolishly swept aside legitimate criticism and published articles accusing the Notables of allowing self-
interest to stand in the way of change – this was actually untrue. Many of the Notables (including Brienne) had
been influenced by the Enlightenment movement and were ready to see a fairer taxation system in France.
However, they distrusted Calonne (whose behaviour they saw as a prime example of ‘ministerial despotism’)
and were not prepared to work with him. Louis briefly tried to support him; but, in April 1787, under pressure
from his wife, he decided that Calonne would have to go.
The influence of Marie-Antionette or Madame Déficit: The Queen had her own favourites at Court, and she
constantly sough to advance their interests with her husband; her success in doing so demonstrates Louis’
dependence on her in these difficult years. Her friendship with the duchesse de Polignac, who family were
hostile to Calonne, led her to seek Calonne’s dismissal, while her support for Archbishop Loménie de Brienne
helped ensure his advance.
Calonne was replaced by Brienne, a member of the notables, who set about producing reform proposals based
on those of his predecessors but sometimes going further. The sacking of Calonne, however, does little to solve
the financial crisis and truly the only reason that he was fired is because there was too much opposition to him,
and Louis wants to be liked. Changes affecting the army, navy, the administration of the royal domain and the
central government were put forward. He extended tolerance to Protestants, deregulated the grain trade,
changed the corvée royale into a tax and extended the provincial assemblies, giving local taxpayers the right to
vote for these. Following his Enlightenment principles, he also supported the spread of education, the
codification of the law, the abolition of tax-farming and the establishment of a central treasury.
Indeed, Brienne headed what became the last great reforming ministry of the Ancien Régime. However, his
plans for change were overshadowed by the desperate need for money. He was rather and arrogants and has a
lot of connections so he attempted to carry through Calonne’s land tax, with some modifications to meet the
earlier criticisms, but failed and so the Assembly of Notables closes. The Assembly had almost become too used
to challenging the King’s representative. Moreover, the publication of accounts to convince the Notables of the
need for action merely led to more accusations of incompetence. The breakdown of trust in government was
such that the Notables took up the cry of ‘no taxation without representation’ and supported the idea of an
Estates-General (which had last met in 1614) which would provide an opportunity for a full scrutiny of
proposals and for truly ‘national’ consent to change. Indeed, the obstructionism was sufficient for Louis to
dismiss the Assembly in May 1787. Once again, Brienne had to resort to a loan to keep the country afloat.
- The King knows that when the calling of the Estates General happens, each estate is asked to draw up a
Cahier de Doléances (book of grievances) and this is bad for him as there are usually quite a number of
grievances. Thus, the King is unlikely to call an Estates-General as it would be bad for him and could
create opposition.
