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===Women===
===Women===
Very few women held an power--some queens did, as did the heads of Catholic convents.
Very few women held an power--some queens did, as did the heads of Catholic convents. In the [[Enlightenment]] the writings of philosopher [[Jean Jacques Rousseau]] gave political program for reform of the ancien régime, founded on a reform of domestic mores. Rousseau's conception of the relations between private and public spheres is more unified than that found in modern sociology. Rousseau argued that the domestic role of women is a structural precondition for a "modern" society.
====Queens====
====Queens====
Salic law prohibited women from rule; however, the laws for the case of a regency, when the king was too young to govern by himself, brought the queen into the center of power. The queen could assure the passage of power from one king to another--from her late husband to her young son--while simultaneously assuring the continuity of the dynasty.
Salic law prohibited women from rule; however, the laws for the case of a regency, when the king was too young to govern by himself, brought the queen into the center of power. The queen could assure the passage of power from one king to another--from her late husband to her young son--while simultaneously assuring the continuity of the dynasty.
===Monastaries===
===Monastaries===
From the end of the Wars of Religion to the French Revolution, Menat, a Cluniac abbey dating back to 1107, ruled over the Sioule Valley in the northwest region of the Clermont diocese. The monks were large landholders and developed a diversified and complex set of links with their neighbors; they received seignorial rights, provided work to the rural poor, and were in daily contact with notaries public, merchants, and surgeons. While they did not directly manage the religious life of the faithful (parish priests did that), monks did constitute a motivating force in it through their setting up of a parish clergy, providing alms and social services, and playing the role of intercessors. Until the French Revolution, the monastic community constituted a key element of the economic, social, and religious life of a local French territory under the Old Regime.
From the end of the Wars of Religion to the French Revolution, Menat, a Cluniac abbey dating back to 1107, ruled over the Sioule Valley in the northwest region of the Clermont diocese. The monks were large landholders and developed a diversified and complex set of links with their neighbors; they received seignorial rights, provided work to the rural poor, and were in daily contact with notaries public, merchants, and surgeons. While they did not directly manage the religious life of the faithful (parish priests did that), monks did constitute a motivating force in it through their setting up of a parish clergy, providing alms and social services, and playing the role of intercessors. Until the French Revolution, the monastic community constituted a key element of the economic, social, and religious life of a local French territory under the Old Regime.
===Convents===
Communities of nuns in France on the eve of Revolution had, on average, 25 members and a median age of 48 years. Nuns were both entering the profession later and living longer than before. In general, they had little wealth. Recruitment varied from region to region and by convent lifestyle (active or contemplative, austere or opulent, lower class or middle class). The nature of male and female monasticism differed greatly in France both before and during the revolution. Convents tended to be more isolated and less centrally controlled. This made for greater diversity among them than among male monasteries.<ref>Elizabeth Rapley and Robert Rapley, "An Image of Religious Women in the 'Ancien Regime:' the 'Etats Des Religieuses' of 1790-1791." ''French History'' 1997 11(4): 387-410 </ref>
==Economy==
==Economy==
Two massive famines struck France between 1693 and 1710, killing over two million people. In both cases the impact of harvest failure was exacerbated by wartime demands on the food supply.<ref> Cormac Ó Gráda and Jean-Michel Chevet, "Famine and Market in 'Ancien Regime' France." ''Journal of Economic History'' 2002 62(3): 706-733 online</ref>
Two massive famines struck France between 1693 and 1710, killing over two million people. In both cases the impact of harvest failure was exacerbated by wartime demands on the food supply.<ref> Cormac Ó Gráda and Jean-Michel Chevet, "Famine and Market in 'Ancien Regime' France." ''Journal of Economic History'' 2002 62(3): 706-733 online</ref>
* [[French Revolution]]
* [[French Revolution]]
==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
* Baker, Keith, ed. ''The Political Culture of the Old Regime'' (1987), articles by leading scholars
* de Tocqueville, Alexis. ''Old Regime and the French Revolution'' (1856), classic study by leading conservative
* Doyle, William. ''Old Regime France: 1648-1788'' (2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Old-Regime-France-1648-1788-History/dp/0198731299/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202469887&sr=8-9 excerpt and text search]
* Doyle, William. ''Old Regime France: 1648-1788'' (2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Old-Regime-France-1648-1788-History/dp/0198731299/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202469887&sr=8-9 excerpt and text search]
* Goubert, Pierre. ''Louis XIV and Twenty Million Frenchmen'' (1972), social history from [[Annales School]]
* Goubert, Pierre. ''Louis XIV and Twenty Million Frenchmen'' (1972), social history from [[Annales School]]