Ancien régime
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The ancien régime was the political and social system of the Kingdom of France that the French Revolution overturned. This was accomplished through its abolition in 1790 of the feudal system of the Fr
Louis XIV (the Sun King), under whose reign the ancien régime reached an absolutist form of government; portrait by Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1701
The Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, later taken to mark the end of the ancien régime
Dioceses of France in 1789
A prerevolutionary cartoon showing the Third Estate carrying on his back the Second Estate (the nobility) and the First Estate (the clergy)
During the early modern period, from the Renaissance to the Revolution, the Kingdom of France was a monarchy ruled by the House of Bourbon. This corresponds to the so-called Ancien Régime. The territo
The Battle of Pavia in 1525
The Siege of Calais by François-Édouard Picot, 1838. Francis, Duke of Guise at the Siege of Calais
Francis I (r. 1515–1547, painted by Jean Clouet)
The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of French Protestants in 1572