French territorial ambitions and consequent military activity during the reign of Louis XIV ensured that a number of territories bordering on France were subject to military occupation for strategic reasons from the 1660s onwards. Drawing on extensive archival research, this study presents the occupation of two of these territories, Lorraine and Savoy, from a comparative perspective. It investigates the aims and intentions of the French monarchy in occupying these regions, the problems of administering them, and French relations with key local elite groups.
Absolute monarchy on the frontiers makes a significant contribution to understanding this crucial era in the development of civil-military relations. It also places the occupations of Lorraine and Savoy within the framework of recent scholarship on early modern border societies and frontiers, and on the practice of ‘absolutism’ at the frontiers of the French kingdom. The book will appeal particularly to scholars and students of early modern France and Europe.
Table of Content
Maps
Introduction
Part 1: The eastern frontiers of France in the age of Louis XIV
1. Lorraine, Savoy and the frontiers of France
2. Military occupation in French frontier strategy
Part 2: Administration on the frontiers
3. The structures of occupation
4. The burdens of occupation
Part 3: The local elites under French occupation
5. The nobilities
6. The administrative elites
7. The church
Conclusion
Appendix: The officers of the sovereign companies of Savoy, 1690-1713
Bibliography
Index
About the author
William G. Naphy is Senior Lecturer in History and Head of Department at the University of Aberdeen
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