Louis XV of France - First Attempt at Reform

First Attempt At Reform

Starting in 1743 with the death of Fleury, the king ruled alone without a first minister. He had read many times the instructions of Louis XIV: "Listen to the people, seek advice from your Council, but decide alone." His political correspondence reveals his deep knowledge of public affairs as well as the soundness of his judgment. Most government work was conducted in committees of ministers which met without the king. The king reviewed policy only in the Conseil d'en haut, the High Council, which was composed of the king, the dauphin, the chancellor, the contrôleur général des finances, and the secretary of state in charge of foreign affairs. Created by Louis XIV, the council was in charge of state policy regarding religion, diplomacy, and war. There, he let various political factions oppose each other and vie for influence and power: the dévot party, led by the Comte d'Argenson, secretary of state for war, opposed the parti philosophique, which supported Enlightenment philosophy and was led by Machault d'Arnouville, controller-general of finances.

The parti philosophique was supported by the marquise de Pompadour, who acted as a sort of minister without portfolio from the time she became royal mistress in 1745 until her death in 1764. The Marquise was in favour of reforms. Supported by her clan of financiers (Pâris-Duverney, Montmartel, etc.), she obtained from the king the appointment of ministers (Bernis, secretary of state for foreign affairs, in 1757), as well as their dismissal (Orry, controller-general of finances, in 1745; Maurepas, secretary of state for the Navy, in 1749). On her advice, the king supported the policy of fiscal justice designed by Machault d'Arnouville. In order to finance the budget deficit, which amounted to 100 million livres in 1745, Machault d'Arnouville created a tax on the twentieth of all revenues which affected also the privileged classes (Edict of Marly, 1749).

This breach in the privileged status of the aristocracy and the clergy, normally exempt from taxes, was a first in French history, although it had already been advocated by men such as Vauban under Louis XIV. However, the new tax was received with violent protest from the privileged classes sitting in the provincial estates (états provinciaux) of the few provinces which still kept the right to decide over taxation (most provinces had long lost their provincial estates, theétats provinciaux, and the right to decide over taxation that came with it). The new tax was also opposed by the clergy and by the parlements. Pressed and eventually won over by his entourage at court, the king gave in and exempted the clergy from the twentieth in 1751. Eventually, the twentieth became a mere increase in the already existing taille, the most important direct tax of the monarchy from which privileged classes were exempted. It was the first defeat in the "taxation war" waged against the privileged classes.

As a result of these attempts at reform, the Parlement of Paris, using the quarrel between the clergy and the Jansenists as a pretext, addressed remonstrances to the king (April 1753). In these remonstrances, the Parlement, which was made up of privileged aristocrats and ennobled commoners, proclaimed itself the "natural defender of the fundamental laws of the kingdom" against the arbitrariness of the monarchy.