Sénat conservateur
The (from French: "Conservative Senate") was an advisory body established in France during the Consulate following the French Revolution. It was established in 1799 under the Constitution of the Year VIII following the Napoleon Bonaparte-le ...
Ultra-royalists
The Ultra-royalists (french: ultraroyalistes, collectively Ultras) were a French political faction from 1815 to 1830 under the Bourbon Restoration. An Ultra was usually a member of the nobility of high society who strongly supported Roman Cathol ...
Doctrinaires
During the Bourbon Restoration (1814–1830) and the July Monarchy (1830–1848), the Doctrinals (french: doctrinaires) were a group of French royalists who hoped to reconcile the monarchy with the French Revolution and power with liberty. Hea ...
Luxembourg Palace
The Luxembourg Palace (french: Palais du Luxembourg, ) is at 15 Rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It was originally built (1615–1645) to the designs of the French architect Salomon de Brosse to be the royal residence of th ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
Charter of 1814
The French Charter of 1814 was a constitutional text granted by King Louis XVIII of France shortly after the Bourbon Restoration, in form of royal charter. The Congress of Vienna demanded that Louis bring in a constitution of some form before he ...
Charter of 1830
The Charter of 1830 (french: Charte de 1830) instigated the July Monarchy in France. It was considered a compromise between constitutional monarchists and republicans.
History
After three days of protests in July 1830 – the July ...
, footnotes =
The Chamber of Peers (french: Chambre des pairs) was the upper house of the
French parliament
The French Parliament (french: Parlement français) is the bicameral legislature of the French Republic, consisting of the Senate () and the National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at separate locations in Paris ...
from 1814 to 1848.
History
The
Peerage of France
The Peerage of France (french: Pairie de France) was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 in the Middle Ages.
The prestigious title and position of Peer of France (french: Pair de France, links=no) was ...
was recreated by the
Charter of 1814
The French Charter of 1814 was a constitutional text granted by King Louis XVIII of France shortly after the Bourbon Restoration, in form of royal charter. The Congress of Vienna demanded that Louis bring in a constitution of some form before he ...
at the same time as the Bourbon Restoration, albeit on a different basis from that of the
ancien regime
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word for "ancient, old"
** Société des anciens textes français
* the French for "former, senior"
** Virelai ancien
** Ancien Régime
** Ancien Régime in France
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word fo ...
before 1789. A new Chamber of Peers was created which was similar to the British
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
, and it met at the
Palais du Luxembourg
The Luxembourg Palace (french: Palais du Luxembourg, ) is at 15 Rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It was originally built (1615–1645) to the designs of the French architect Salomon de Brosse to be the royal residence of the ...
. This new Chamber of Peers acted as the
upper house
An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...
of the French parliament. Like the House of Lords, the Chamber of Peers also had a judicial function, being authorized to judge peers and other prominent people. As such, it sentenced
Marshal Ney
Michel Ney, 1st Duke of Elchingen, 1st Prince of the Moskva (; 10 January 1769 – 7 December 1815), was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one o ...
to death.
To begin with the Chamber had 154 members, including the holders of all surviving pre-Revolutionary ecclesiastical (Reims, Langres, and Châlons) and lay peerages, except for the
Duchy of Aubigny
Duke of Aubigny (french: Duc d'Aubigny) is a title that was created in the Peerage of France in 1684. It was granted by King Louis XIV of France to Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth, Louise de Kérouaille, the last mistress of King Cha ...
, which was held by a foreigner, the British Duke of Richmond. Thirteen peers were also
prelate
A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...
s.
New members were appointed by the
French king
France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions.
Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the firs ...
, without limit on their numbers. Such a peerage was either granted for life or was heritable, at the king's will. All men of the royal family and all descendants in the male line of previous kings (''princes du sang'') were members of the chamber by birth (''pairs-nés''), but nevertheless needed explicit permission from the king to sit at each session of the chamber.
At the outset comprising only hereditary peers and certain prelates of the church, the Chamber became a body to which men were appointed for life following the
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (french: révolution de Juillet), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after the first in 1789. It led to the overthrow of King ...
of 1830. In the
Revolution of 1848
The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europe ...
, the Chamber of Peers was disbanded and the peerage of France was abolished.
Famous members
File:Victor Hugo by Étienne Carjat 1876 - full.jpg,
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
(1802–1885), novelist
File:Heim - Sacre de Charles X, un pair de France.jpg, Coronation of Charles X of France, a peer of France (by
François Joseph Heim
François Joseph Heim (16 December 1787 - 29 September 1865) was a French painter.
Biography
He was born at Belfort. He early distinguished himself at the École Centrale of Strassburg, and in 1803 entered the studio of Vincent at Paris. He was ...
)
File:Louis de La Forest Divonne, pair de France (1765-1838).jpg, Louis-Marie-François de La Forest Divonne.
File:Laroche - François Marie d'Aboville.jpg, Count François Marie d'Aboville (by Ferdinand de Laroche)
File:Claude-Pierre Dédelay d'Agier (1750-1827).JPG, Claude-Pierre de Delay d'Agier
File:Général Pierre-Jacques Orillard de Villemanzy.jpg, Jacques-Pierre Orillard de Villemanzy (1751–1830) (by Antoine-Jean Gros)
File:François XII de La Rochefoucauld (1747-1827).jpg, ''
François Alexandre Frédéric, duc de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt
François Alexandre Frédéric de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt (11 January 1747 – 27 March 1827) was a French social reformer.
Early life
He was born at La Roche Guyon, the son of François Armand de La Rochefoucauld, duc d'Estissac, g ...
(1747–1827)
File:Jules Auguste Armand Marie de Polignac (1780-1847).jpg, Jules de Polignac (1780–1847)
File:Portrait of Francois Rene Vicomte de Chateaubriand, 1828.jpg,
François-René de Chateaubriand
François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand (4 September 1768 – 4 July 1848) was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian who had a notable influence on French literature of the nineteenth century. Descended from an old aristocrati ...
(1768–1848) (by Pierre Louis Delaval)
File:Anne Victor Denis Hurault de Vibraye 2.jpg, Anne-Victor-Denis Hurault (1767–1843), 7th Marquis of Vibraye
File:Louis-Charles-Bonaventure-Pierre de Mesnard, pair de France.jpg, Louis Charles Pierre Bonaventure, Count of Mesnard (1769–1842)
File:David (peinture attribuée à) - Gabriel d'Arjuzon en pair de France.jpg, Gabriel d'Arjuzon (attributed to Jacques-Louis David)
File:Raymond de Seze.jpg, Raymond Desèze (1748–1828)
File:Louis-de-Bonald.png, Louis Gabriel Ambroise, Vicomte de Bonald (1754-1840)
See also
*
Chamber of Most Worthy Peers
The Chamber of Peers of Portugal, alternatively translatable as the House of Lords (disambiguation), House of Lords and formally styled the Chamber of the Most Worthy Peers of the Realm (Portuguese: ''Câmara dos Pares'' or ''Câmara dos Digníssi ...
*
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...