Date of Award
Spring 5-5-2022
Document Type
Honors Project
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Classics, Philosophy, and Religion
Department Chair or Program Director
Romero, Joe
First Advisor
Joe Romero
Second Advisor
Angela Pitts
Third Advisor
Liane Houghtalin
Major or Concentration
Latin
Abstract
Charles Loyseau (1564-1627) was a French jurist who wrote during the reigns of Henry IV and Louis XIII – the first two kings of the Bourbon dynasty. Throughout his career, Loyseau wrote several argumentative treatises either contesting royal edicts or supporting royal law against popular dissent. His most influential work was his 1610 publication Traité des ordres et simples dignites. In it, he helped establish a French social structure of three distinct orders: the Clergy, the Nobility, and the so-called Third Estate consisting of the rest of the population. This system later became known as the Ancien Régime after the French Revolution overthrew it and erected the First Republic in the 1790s. Loyseau and his treatises clearly contributed to the longevity of a system that created such tension it erupted until the violent French revolution. However, Loyseau did not come up with his theories completely independently. One of the most important categories of evidence he cites is the available Greek and Roman literature on a variety of topics. Citing passages from the philosophies and histories available to him allows him to make universal claims about the nature of social inequality that helped solidify the position of the Ancien Régime for the next two centuries.
Recommended Citation
Nelson, Matt, "Reception of Classical Material in the Argument of Charles Loyseau's Traité des Ordres et Simples Dignités" (2022). Student Research Submissions. 442.
https://scholar.umw.edu/student_research/442