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C O U R S E L E C T U R E The Importance of Regionalism and Locality in 18th Century France Notes taken on August 8, 2014 by Edward Tanguay |
the tension between the center and the provinces
this tensions is crucial in understanding the course of the French Revolution and its outcomes
subsistence poly-culture
no national or international market as there is today
surrounding forest provided crucial firewood
only a minority of people spoke French in daily life
e.g. in Languedoc they spoke Occitan
they spoke regional dialects or different languages altogether
however, most of the educated class and nobles did speak French
institutional arrangements of 18th century France
in the North there was customary law, in the South there was written (Roman) law
southern France had been part of the Roman Empire
ancient traditions of codified law
some regions enjoyed more autonomy than others
had to pay to move goods from one part of France to another, e.g. salt
18th century France was the result of eight centuries of royal state making
accounts of women smuggling salt in their dresses between Brittany and central France
difference between the privileged orders and the commons
local regional centers were much more important in people's lives than the court in distant Versailles
had been the capital of Roman Gaul in 4th and 5th centuries
people in southern France looked more to Arles as the center of their political world than to Versailles
three of more months of the year covered in snow
people often survived on chestnuts
chose to worship as Protestants