Charles VII imposed taxes without consulting any central assembly, but, where
customary, he continued to summon the provincial Estates to vote their share.
Estates continued to flourish in these regions, fostered by the strong provincial
loyalties that characterized late-medieval France. By the late 15th century, some began to
assume a stable composition and procedure. They consented to direct and sometimes
indirect taxes. They comprised more than half of France, including such important
provinces as Normandy and Languedoc. Elsewhere, Estates henceforth met rarely and
never became part of the institutional structure.
During the reign of Charles VII, many of the more active Estates established a
permanent bureaucracy and archives and levied taxes to support their own and royal
expenses. The provincial Estates never challenged the authority of the monarchy and
French kings usually accepted their role until well into the 17th century. They provided a
useful forum for contact between the king and persons of influence throughout France.
The growth of French representative institutions was part of a trend marked by the
development of similar institutions throughout much of Europe during the late Middle
Ages. There were similar reasons for these parallel movements: the need by rulers to
consult with their subjects and seek their support and money, especially for war; the
desire of the politically active classes to act during emergencies, protect their own
interests, and restrain princely excesses; and the severe economic, social, political, and
demographic crises of the period, which exacerbated the level of warfare and shook the
foundations of government.
In France and several other states, these developments occurred primarily at the local
and provincial rather than at the national level. Because of the large size of the country,
the deep-rooted particularism of the people, and the fact that the local and provincial
Estates presented no particular threat to the monarchy, they were much more durable than
the central assemblies.
Joseph M.Tyrrell
[See also: ASSEMBLIES; CONSEIL; ESTATES (GENERAL); ÉTIENNE DE
FOUGÈRES]
Bisson, Thomas. Assemblies and Representation in Languedoc in the Thirteenth Century.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1964.
Cadier, Léon. Les états de Béarn depuis leurs origines jusqu’au commencement du XVIe siècle.
Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1888.
Dussert, Auguste. Les états du Du Dauphiné aux XIVe et XVe siècles. Grenoble: Alliers Frères,
1915.
Gilles, Henri. Les états de Languedoc au XVe siècle. Toulouse: Privat, 1965.
Major, J.Russell. Representative Institutions in Renaissance France, 1421–1559. Madison:
University of Wisconsin Press, 1960.
——. Representative Government in Early Modern France. New Haven: Yale University Press,
1980.
Prentout, Henri. Les états provinciaux de Normandie. 3 vols. Caen: Lanier, 1925–27.
Thomas, Antoine. Les états provinciaux de la France centrale sous Charles VII. Paris: Champion,
1879.
Tyrrell, Joseph M. A History of the Estates of Poitou. The Hague: Mouton, 1968.
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