Faire corps face aux pouvoirs : les communautés de curés dans les cités épiscopales de la province ecclésiastique de Reims (XVIe-XVIIIe siècle)

Abstract

Anne Bonzon, Clannishness opposite the Powers : the Parish Priests' Communities in the Bishop's Cities of the Reims Ecclesiastical Province (XVIth-XVIIIth centuries). In the bishop's cities of Northern France which this paper aims at studying (Amiens, Beauvais, Noyon, Senlis), the parish priests' belonging to the urban elite is in no way a matter of fact. Since the XHIth century, the high number of parishes has made it possible to gather priests in charge in communities, which in many respects can be assimilated to trade fraternities but whose purpose starts evolving in the XVIth century. In a context of exaltation of the sacerdoce and of the assertion of the parish framework, these communities now allow their members to assert themselves in front of their parishioners, their patrons and the powers. Eager to defend their status in the city, the parish priests yet refuse to accept the burdens that go with it and oppose the parish logic to the city logic. Such an ambiguity, that is illustrated in numerous court proceedings, explains why parish priests can't join the urban elites ; moreover it contributes to the decline of these communities in the XVIIIth century.