Le sabordage de la noblessse ; mythe et réalité d'une décadence

Description

In the 18th century, the French nobility, like the aristocracy, a minority that was much more 'publicised', was perceived as decadent by the vast majority of the French people. Plagued by internal dissension, undermined by rumours and scandals, and challenged in its legitimacy to claim social superiority, the nobility appeared to most people unworthy of its vocation to serve the kingdom. It was then experiencing the end of a cycle, of which 1789 would be only the ultimate consequence. In short, and the image persists to this day, the nobility, by deviating from honour, had lost its raison d'être. But was there, in fact, a collective unconsciousness on the part of the nobility? To disentangle truth from fiction, Fadi El Hage traces its history in the 18th century, in all its components, from the Versailles aristocracy to the old prestigious but penniless families, not forgetting the nobility of the robe. Based on a re-reading of sources and the study of unpublished documents, this innovative essay invites the reader to question the place and role of a nobility that was as much a victim of fantasies as of the social and moral image it projected to the public.