Louis XIV's Assault on Privilege

Louis XIV's Assault on Privilege examines Nicolas Desmaretz, one of the most important finance ministers of the Bourbon monarchy. McCollim brings to life the man who was arguably the central figure in the final transformative years of Louis XIV's reign. Controller General Desmaretz was the nephew of famed finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert and had extensive experience in the administration prior to 1683 when he suffered disgrace. His expertise was so renowned in his day that other chief financial officials sought his advice in secret. Desmaretz has been called the ablest man ever to head French finances, and the war financing problems he faced from 1708-14 the greatest challenge faced by the Bourbon monarchy until the French Revolution.

Desmaretz became one of the chief financial officials early in the War of the Spanish Succession and took full charge of French finances from 1708-15. In that time, he introduced one of the two most radical financial measures ever taken by the Bourbon monarchy: the dixième, a tax on income. This tax revolutionized the relationship of French elites to the Crown because it eliminated the issue of status that affected all other forms of taxation: the dixième fell on all income, no matter the recipient. The tax lasted until 1717, appeared again during the Wars of the Polish (1733-35) and Austrian (1743-48) Successions, and became permanent, in a reduced form, as the vingtième, in 1749. The story of the dixième has been oddly ignored by fiscal historians.

In his rich analysis, McCollim lays out for historians precisely how the royal financial council actually made policy. His book establishes once and for all that from the perspective of state finance, and state taxation, the post-1710 French monarchy had left far behind the institutional framework of the seventeenth century.

Gary B. McCollim received his doctoral degree in history from The Ohio State University and is a retired federal employee.

Reviews

Minutely researched...particularly impressive is the way McCollim traces the genesis of certain policies from their origins in privately circulated memoires. In doing so, the book brings to light an obscure, but highly influential, subculture. AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

Based on an impressive array of archival sources, Louis XIV's Assault on Privilege illumines the financial crisis brought on by Louis XIV's incessant wars. The author compellingly underscores the radical nature of one of the government's expedients, the dixième tax, which undermined the very basis of the old regime: rank, family ties, and position. --Linda S. Frey, University of Montana--Marsha L. Frey, Kansas State University

Rare it is to read an engaging and deeply satisfying account of the real-life trials and achievements of a finance minister (Desmaretz)! A major contribution to a little-known and poorly understood moment of the Ancien Régime. Louis XIV makes wonderful cameo appearances! --Orest Ranum, The Johns Hopkins University

Details

First Published: 30 Jun 2012
13 Digit ISBN: 9781580464147
Pages: 330
Size: 9 x 6
Binding: Hardback
Imprint: University of Rochester Press
Series: Changing Perspectives on Early Modern Europe
Subject: Early Modern History

Details updated on 13 Jun 2013

Contents

• 1  Introduction
• 2  The Fiscal System under Louis XIV
• 3  The Rise of the Administrative Monarchy
• 4  Nicolas Desmaretz and Company
• 5  Handling Ideas for Reform
• 6  The Establishment of the Dixiéme
• 7  After the Dixiéme
• 8  Conclusion
• 9  The Conseil d'en haut, or the Council of Ministers
• 10  Members of the Royal Council of Finances under Louis XIV
• 11  Controllers General, Directors, and Intendants of Finances
• 12  Glossary of Terms
• 13  Notes
• 14  Bibliography
• 15  Index