Mastering the Guilds’ Debts in Eighteenth-Century Paris

The French guilds, like all the corporate bodies, were asked to contribute to the King’s finances. This paper looks at the work of a royal commission – the Commission pour la révision des comptes des communautés d’arts et métiers – which was set up in 1716 to examine the financial situation of the g...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inHistoire & mesure pp. 171 - 188
Main Author Marraud, Mathieu
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Éditions de l’EHESS 2015
Subjects
France
Europe
royal control
impôts
dette publique
fiscalité
guilds
fiscality
contrôle royal
taxes
public debt
corporations
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Summary:The French guilds, like all the corporate bodies, were asked to contribute to the King’s finances. This paper looks at the work of a royal commission – the Commission pour la révision des comptes des communautés d’arts et métiers – which was set up in 1716 to examine the financial situation of the guilds. The commission used its power to closely monitor and impose a number of constraints on the ways in which the guilds managed their revenue, expenditure and debt. Control by the state of the guilds’ finances was used to facilitate the political integration of guilds into royal administration. In this respect, the development of the king’s debts made it possible for the monarchy to take control of its corporate bodies which, initially, had only consented to act as intermediaries to support the king’s credit.
ISSN:0982-1783
1957-7745
DOI:10.4000/histoiremesure.5255