St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • Research Centres and Institutes
  • Centre for French History and Culture
  • St Andrews Studies in French History and Culture
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • Research Centres and Institutes
  • Centre for French History and Culture
  • St Andrews Studies in French History and Culture
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • Research Centres and Institutes
  • Centre for French History and Culture
  • St Andrews Studies in French History and Culture
  • View Item
  • Register / Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Caste, class and profession in old regime France: the French army and the Ségur reform of 1781

Thumbnail
View/Open
The Segur Reform of the French Army _Bien_.pdf (580.9Kb)
The Segur Reform of the French Army (Bien).doc (21.77Mb)
Date
2010
Author
Bien, David D.
Smith, Jay M.
Blaufarb, R.
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
First published in French in 1974, David D. Bien’s essay on the nature of nobility in old regime France pivoted around the 1781 “Ségur regulation” that required four generations of nobility for most officers entering the army. Once seen as a classic manifestation of the so-called “aristocratic reaction” against commoners, the loi Ségur, in Bien’s deft analysis, instead emerges as a telling sign of tensions within an increasingly divided nobility. While exploding crude myths about class conflict and its causative role in the Revolution, Bien mounts a strong case for viewing eighteenth-century social tensions as the product of professional identity as much as social class. This study is presented here for the first time in English with a short preface by Rafe Blaufarb, and a wide-ranging introduction by Jay M. Smith that places Bien’s work in the wider context of historical thinking over the past half-century on the origins of the French Revolution.
Citation
Bien, D. D., Smith, J. M. and Blaufarb, R. (2010). Caste, class and profession in old regime France: the French army and the Ségur reform of 1781. St Andrews Studies in French History and Culture, no. 2. Centre for French History and Culture of the University of St Andrews.
Publication
St Andrews Studies in French History and Culture, no. 2
Type
Book
Rights
This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of the Centre for French History and Culture.
Collections
  • St Andrews Studies in French History and Culture
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/967

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter