Humanities & Social Sciences

Death and the crown

Ritual and politics in France before the Revolution

by Anne Byrne

Description

Looking at royal ritual in pre-revolutionary France, Death and the crown examines the deathbed and funeral of Louis XV in 1774, the lit de justice of November 1774, and the coronation of Louis XVI, including the ceremony of the royal healing touch for scrofula. It reviews the state of the field in ritual studies and appraises the status of the monarchy in the 1770s, including the recall of the parlements and the many ways people engaged with royal ritual. It answers questions such as whether Louis XV died in fear of damnation, why Marie Antoinette was not crowned in 1775 and why Louis XVI's coronation was not held in Paris. This lively, accessible text is a useful tool for under- and post-graduate teaching which will also be of interest to specialists on this under-researched period.

More Information

Rights Information

Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo [DRC], Congo, Republic of the, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, French Guiana, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Hongkong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, China, Macedonia [FYROM], Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Reunion, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tokelau, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Cyprus, Palestine, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Liechtenstein, Azerbaijan

Reviews

'This is one of the most important books to be published on the twilight of the ancien régime in several decades. In this meticulously researched and splendidly written study, Dr Anne Byrne presents us with the most scholarly account to date of the turbulent accession to the throne of Louis XVI.' Ambrogio Caiani, University of Kent In May 1774 Louis XV died, triggering a sequence of rituals that had not been seen in France for more than half a century. Death and the crown explores how these rituals unfolded and how they were viewed by the French people, just fifteen years before the Revolution. Beginning with the deathbed of Louis XV, the book covers his funeral, the lit de justice of November 1774, and the coronation of Louis XVI and related ceremonies in June 1775. Threads of continuity emerge to form a compelling picture of the place these ceremonies occupied in the culture of 1770s France. New light is shed on the position of monarchy, the recall of the parlements and the conduct of the coronation. The book also provides an overview of the current state of the field of ritual studies in English and French, situating ritual in relation to court studies and political history. Providing rich detail on an under-researched period, Death and the crown is essential reading for students and scholars working on monarchy, court society, ritual and politics.

Author Biography

Anne Byrne is a former British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, now Honorary Research Fellow, at Birkbeck, University of London

Trusted Partner
Manchester University Press

Manchester University Press

Manchester University Press is a leading UK publisher known for excellent research in the humanities and social sciences.

View all titles

Bibliographic Information

  • Publisher Manchester University Press
  • Publication Date September 2020
  • Orginal LanguageEnglish
  • ISBN/Identifier 9781526150530 / 1526150530
  • Publication Country or regionUnited Kingdom
  • FormatHTML
  • Primary Price 95 GBP
  • ReadershipGeneral/trade
  • Publish StatusPublished
  • SeriesStudies in Modern French and Francophone History
  • Reference Code13289

Subscribe to our

newsletter