Reforms of the French Constitution 1791

Basic Facts of the Constitution

It established a Constitutional Monarchy which replaced the Absolute Monarchy of the Ancien Regime.

1 of 7

Louis was now subject to the law of France, like everyone else.
Louis was now the 'King of the French' as opposed to his former status 'King of France'.
Louis was given a 'civil list' which gave him access to a financial allowance, replacing his unlimited access to money before the Constitution.
Louis could still choose his ministers, but they had to be chosen from men who were not part of the National Assembly.
Louis could no longer start or end a war without the permission of the National Assembly.
Louis had a 'Suspensive Veto' - meaning he could reject a new law passed by the National Assembly, but only for a finite period of time. The veto excluded financial and constitutional laws.

2 of 7

The old system of generalities and intendents was abolished.
France was divided into 83 departments of equal size.
Each department was governed by a local elected council.
Paris was divided into 48 sections and had its own Municipal Council to make decisions concerning the city.
Power had been decentralised and essentially passed into the hands of the local bourgeoisie.

3 of 7

Specialised courts such as ecclesiastical courts, seigneural courts and Parlements were abolished.
A Tribunal System replaced the specialised courts, which could be used by anyone.
At the head of the legal system were the Court of Appeal and the High Court.
Juries were elected and Judges were elected from lawyers.
Every citizen was given the right to a court trial within 24 hours of their arrest, the right to a lawyer and the right to a public judgement.
Venality was abolished (the selling of jobs and titles).
The Guillotine replaced all other forms of execution.

4 of 7

The National Assembly declared that the nobility was to be abolished in 1790.
As a result of this, the nobility lost all their titles, privileges and tax exemptions.
The aristocracy ceased to exist and all men were now equal as active or passive citizens.

5 of 7

The religious reforms caused more problems than any other reforms made by the National Assembly.
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy (CCC) is said to have started the 'Counter Revolutionary Movement'.
On the Night of the 4th of August (1789) all Tithes were abolished, church land was nationalised and clergymen were to receive fixed salaries.
The CCC was released by the Assembly in 1790.
The CCC meant that there was to be one bishop in each Department.
The CCC stated that members of the clergy would be elected by their superiors in the clerical hierarchy.
Whereas before, the Pope had the power to choose bishops and priests, now he had no control over positions within the clergy, and as a result, he condemned the revolution.
In November of 1790, the National Assembly declared that all members of the clergy must take an oath of loyalty to the CCC - agreeing to the reforms it made.
Those who took the oath were seen to agree with the revolution.
Those who refused to take the oath were known as refractory priests and were associated with the 'Counter Revolutionary Movement'.

6 of 7

The financial system of the Ancien Regime was abolished in 1789. This included indirect taxes (Gabelle, Taille, Aides), customs barriers and tax exemptions.
The 3 new taxes of the Constitution were property tax, trade/commerce tax and land tax.
Collection of taxes was to be carried out by local councils.
The National Treasury was set up to store and handle money.
The 'assignat' was introduced to save the National Assembly from financial difficulties. The 'assignat' was a form of paper money or bond.

7 of 7