Political Privileges in Late Feudal Society in France by the End of the 17th and the Beginning of the 18th Century and the Lessons for the Modern Times

Georgi Lyubenov Manolov

doi:10.11648/j.jpsir.20210402.13

Abstract

This article examines the essence and nature of political privileges in the late feudal society (late 17th-18th centuries in France), which is the main purpose of the analysis. A definition of political privileges has been formulated, on the basis of which their main manifestations during feudalism have been analyzed. The privileges are classified according to several basic criteria - historical origin, social sphere, legitimacy and political hierarchy of power. The genesis and development of the privileges in the French feudal society since the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century were subjected to a synthesized analysis by revealing the key types of privileges then - the signoral and noble ones. Emphasis is placed on the numerous political privileges of the French royal family, the nobility and the religious clergy, who were the largest users of the system of privileges during this period. There are a number of illustrative examples of the enormous political, financial and corruption damage suffered by the French state from the illegitimate introduction of the system of privileges in absolutist France. A comparison with some privileges in politics that found a place in totalitarian societies in the twentieth century has been made. On this basis, the nature of the privileges in the former countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and in particular of their basic forms in socialist Bulgaria (1944-1989), is revealed in a comparative plan. Specific conclusions (and recommendations) about the nature, meaning and necessity of political privileges in modern societies have also been made.

Highlights

The privileges of politicians in all historical epochs have always caused a lot of controversies, disputes and scandal
We will first look at the essence of the concept of "political privileges", analyze their manifestation in feudal France in the eighteenth century and draw the appropriate conclusions in the context of the historical period, as well as the significance of the problem in our time
"regulations", that is, the protocols, the care of the highest party-state echelon was entrusted to the Department for Safety and Protection (DSP), which diligently fulfilled all nomenclature privileges and whims

Summary

Introduction

The privileges of politicians in all historical epochs have always caused a lot of controversies, disputes and scandal. The term "privilege" ("privilegium" - from "privus" "outside", and "les", "leges" - "law") has Latin origins and its literal semantics means "something that is outside the law" In social practice, this term has acquired civil meaning and legitimacy as "the exclusive right and advantage of an entity (person, individual, group, class) over certain material property (and objects) and spiritual goods (and values)". The French researcher Jacques Attali is absolutely right, who believes that privileges mean some benefits without legitimate grounds for the recipients, or such benefits that have no legal basis (...) and should be excluded from the notion of political culture as something unfair in modern democratic societies As for their political nature, privileges could be defined as: exclusive rights and advantages of a small group of people (oligarchy, strata, class) over other groups of people (social groups, classes) who are deprived of such rights and advantages and which are possessed by some minority social community (group) due to its political power in the state. All political privileges have always led to absolutely unjust and blatant inequalities in society, which have affected millions and millions of human beings at the expense of a handful of favored oligarchic elites (throughout human history)

Feudal Political Privileges in the XVII and XVIII Centuries

Noble privileges were expressed in

Findings

Basic Conclusions and Summaries