French Charte Constitutionnelle [Constitutional Charter] of 1814

Historical Context Note

Ian Morrison (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.05: French Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth-Century , 1800-1900.
Vol. editors: David Elwyn Evans (University of St Andrews), Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Elisabeth Gerwin (University of Lethbridge), Nigel Harkness (University of Newcastle upon Tyne), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield), Jennifer Yee (University of Oxford)

Domains

Regulation of government and electoral processes

Dates

Date of occurrence 1814-06-04

Places

France (Location)

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

On his restoration to power in 1814, Louis XVIII issued a constitution, the

CharteConstitutionnelle

. In his Preamble, he wrote that the

Charte

was his response his subjects’ changed outlook and their wish for a new constitution. He declared also that he was granting the

Charte

as King by divine right, and purely by his royal authority; in short, he claimed to be using his God-given sovereignty. He also undertook, for himself and on behalf of his successors, to maintain this settlement permanently (Rials, 48-49). However, while the Preamble reasserts Louis’s sovereignty, the detailed provisions of the

Charte

(articles 13-56) institute a parliament which in practice would make the laws. This is arguably a surrender of sovereignty (a surrender of the ultimate political authority). But…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

557 words

Citation: Morrison, Ian. "French Charte Constitutionnelle [Constitutional Charter] of 1814". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 December 2022 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=13747, accessed 26 April 2024.]

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

French Charte Constitutionnelle [Constitutional Charter] of 1814

Domains

Dates

Places

Resources

Save this article

Leave Feedback