International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest

Extract

The Fronde was a series of revolts that occurred in France between 1648 and 1653, during the minority of Louis XIV. The word fronde means “catapult” or “sling” and its use to signify these revolts derives from the device utilized to throw mud or rocks at coaches and government buildings during the disturbances. The Fronde began as a struggle for power over the crown among the nobility and members of Parliament. This conflict later developed into a series of serious revolts that directly challenged the existing crown and estate hierarchy. The Fronde spread to the masses, who suffered the most during this time. A contemporary description of the way the common people saw themselves was as “a being who always goes on foot, who has no millions, as all of you wish to have, no castle, no valets to serve him, and who lives simply with his wife and children, if he has any, on the fourth or fifth floor. He is useful, because he knows how to plow a field, to forge, to saw, to file, to roof a building, to make shoes.” It was the legal and societal distinctions between the classes, coupled with challenges to crown authority and individual desires for power at the expense of the people, that gave rise to the rebellions of the Fronde and led to the absolutist state of Louis XIV. The first phase of the Fronde, known as the Fronde of the Parliament, occurred from 1648 to 1649. Precipitated by ... log in or subscribe to read full text