Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A City of Inequalities

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Popular Legitimism and the Monarchy in France

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Modern Monarchy ((PSMM))

  • 107 Accesses

Abstract

By 1800, Montpellier was a town whose industry had lost much of its dynamism. Eighty years later, it was the centre of the world’s largest wine-producing region. Wealthy bourgeois and aristocrats many of whom identified with legitimism put their money into viticulture. Economic fortunes became dependent upon the fate of regional agriculture. This had far-reaching implications. Under favourable circumstances, profits spilled over into a demand for consumer goods and services to the benefit of labourers, artisans and petty bourgeois shopkeepers. Yet, vintners limited expenses whenever their income declined or production costs rose. Consequently, the ordinary people had greater difficulties to make ends meet. Legitimist landowners offered them little more than charity, as a result of which they alienated from monarchism.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Aubin-Louis Milllin de Grandmaison (1807), cited by Lacave and Pech, ‘De l’espoir’, 331.

  2. 2.

    Vilback (1828), 269–270, cited by Cholvy, ‘Religion’, 211.

  3. 3.

    AN, BB30 366, 15 July 1850, prosecutor. See also Benedict, ‘French cities’, 47 and 105 respectively and Leith, Space, 27–28 and 312.

  4. 4.

    Hugo, France pittoresque, 76.

  5. 5.

    Hartmann, Tagebuch, vol. 2, 177.

  6. 6.

    Coste, ‘Les transformations’, 53. See also Irvine, ‘From renaissance city’, 150.

  7. 7.

    Hartmann, Tagebuch, vol. 2, 177.

  8. 8.

    Jourdan, ‘Montpellier en 1836’, 183.

  9. 9.

    Noah, Travels, 199.

  10. 10.

    Taine, Carnets, 192–194. See also Hugo, France pittoresque, 76 and Jourdan, ‘Voyage’, 183.

  11. 11.

    Secondy, ‘La “droite extreme”’, 175 and Dugrand, La garrigue montpelliéraine.

  12. 12.

    Compère and Frijhoff, ‘Conversion religieuse’, 22. See also Charle, Histoire sociale, 34–35; Cholvy, ‘Religion’, 156–167; Darnton, The Great Cat Massacre, 114–115; Johnson, The Life, 5–45; Lacave and Pech, ‘De l’espoir’, 332 and Woronoff, Histoire de l’industrie, 147–164 and 180–224.

  13. 13.

    Adams, ‘Economic and Demographic Change’, 6–10 and 64–65; Lacave and Pech, ‘De l’espoir’, 335 and Rames, ‘Milieux dirigeants’, 63–67, 119–120 and 192–193.

  14. 14.

    AN, C954, Enquête sur le travail, canton de Montpellier and F 124476 A, May 1837 and November 1838.

  15. 15.

    Ibid., F12 4476 A, November 1838, Chamber of Commerce. See also ibid., May 1837, Chamber of Commerce.

  16. 16.

    AN, BB30 294, 18 May 1839, prosecutor.

  17. 17.

    AN, F12 4476A, November 1838, Chamber of Commerce; F12 7600, 16 June 1848, Chamber of Commerce and F20 501, État civil des ouvriers appartenant aux 12 principaux établissements manufacturiers, 1851 as well as Adams, ‘Economic and Demographic Change’, 23–24 and 94–99; Cholvy, ‘Religion’, 677–680; Johnson, The Life, 69; Lacave and Pech, ‘De l’espoir’, 333–335 and Rames, ‘Milieux dirigeants’, 63–67, 116–153 and 192–197.

  18. 18.

    AN, F12 7600, 16 June 1848, Chamber of Commerce. See also Agulhon, 1848, 49–51; Cholvy, ‘Religion’, 676–680; Lacave and Pech, ‘De l’espoir’, 337 and Price, The French Second Republic, 82–94.

  19. 19.

    Vilback, Voyages, 308–310 as well as Johnson, The Life, 5–45; Kale, Legitimism, 210–232 and McPhee, A social history, 159.

  20. 20.

    For example, Frader, Peasants; Loubère, Radicalism and ‘The emergence’, 1019–1051; Laurent, ‘Les quatre âges’, 11–44; Rulof, ‘Popular culture’, 307–311; Sagnes, Le Midi rouge; Smith, ‘Work routine’, 357–382 and Vila, ‘Les milieux populaires’, 505–705.

  21. 21.

    Adams, ‘Economic and Demographic Change’, 10–11; Rames, ‘Milieux dirigeants’, 79 and Secondy, La persistance, 52.

  22. 22.

    AD Hérault, 1 M 860, 28 April 1814, prefect.

  23. 23.

    Creuzé de Lesser, Statistique, 441. See also AN, C954, Enquête sur le travail, canton de Montpellier, 1848 as well as Adams, ‘Economic and Demographic Change’, 104–105; Gavignaud, ‘Le rapport foncier’, 7–18 and Merriman, The Margins, 36–40 and 118–126.

  24. 24.

    L’Écho du Midi, 4 June and 29 October 1847 and 11 February 1848; and AN, F12 7600, 16 June 1848, Chamber of Commerce.

  25. 25.

    AN, F12 7600, 16 June 1848, Chamber of Commerce as well as Cholvy, ‘Religion’, 676–680; Price, The French Second Republic, 82–94 and Tudesq, Les grands notables, 154.

  26. 26.

    AN, C 954, Enquête sur le travail, canton de Montpellier, 1848.

  27. 27.

    AD Hérault, 10 M 3, 14 March 1848, wage workers [tailors]. See also ibid., 3 March, Alibert; 9 March, Commission de la République; 11 and 16 March, both shoemakers; 12 March, cabinetmakers; 14 March, tailors and 14 March 1848, workers, ironworks of Rey; AN, C954, Enquête sur le travail, 1848 and F12 7600, 16 June 1848, Chamber of Commerce and Cholvy, ‘Religion’, 647 and 681.

  28. 28.

    Adams, ‘Economic and Demographic Change, 114. See also Lacave and Pech, ‘De l’espoir’, 334–342.

  29. 29.

    Cholvy, ‘Religion’, 676–680 and 737–752; Lacave and Pech, ‘De l’espoir’, 337–344; Laurent, Les quatre âges’, 18–22; Rames, ‘Milieux dirigeants’, 80–81 and 132–135 and Sagnes, ed., La viticulture française. On the rural “castle” as a source of symbolic capital, see Brélot, La noblesse réinventée, 768–783.

  30. 30.

    Berger and Maurel, La viticulture, 60; Charle, Histoire sociale, 88–90; McPhee, A social history, 211–213 and Rames, ‘Les milieux dirigeants’, 184–185.

  31. 31.

    AD Hérault, 6 M 1611, 31 January 1861, État nominatif des individus exerçant des industries manufacturières en 1861, dans la commune de Montpellier’; 9 February 1861, État nominatif des patentables exerçant des professions ou industries manufacturières à Montpellier’ as well as 6 M 1614: 9 April 1888, adjunct mayor, ‘Statistique sommaire des industries principales, non compris les industries extractive et métallurgique’; 28 May 1888, mayor and 10 May 1880, adjunct mayor. See also Loubère, Radicalism, 53–54; Rames, ‘Milieux dirigeants’, 63–82, 116–153 and 192–197 and Thomas, Montpellier, 228 and 250.

  32. 32.

    AN, F1c III Hérault 9, 9 April 1859, prefect. See also ibid., BB30 380, 10 October 1858, prosecutor as well as Lacave and Pech, ‘De l’espoir’, 345–346 and Lacave, ‘Stratégies’, 1011–1025.

  33. 33.

    AN, BB30 380, 26 October 1867, prosecutor. See also ibid., 18 January 1868, prosecutor and F1c III Hérault 9, 3 February 1867, prefect as well as Cholvy, ‘Religion’, 759–768.

  34. 34.

    AD Hérault, 6 M 1642, 12 March 1871, Pagézy.

  35. 35.

    Ibid., 4 March 1871, Louis Pargoire, mayor.

  36. 36.

    Ibid., 16 January 1873, mayor. See also ibid., 3 September 1872, mayor.

  37. 37.

    Mayor of Montpellier, 31 December 1878, cited by Rames, ‘Milieux dirigeants’, 86. See also ibid., 139–182; Adams, ‘Economic and Demographic Change’, 124–127; Cholvy, ‘Religion’, 764–770 and Lacave and Pech, ‘De l’espoir’, 343–344.

  38. 38.

    Banerjee et al., ‘Long-run health impacts’, 714–718; Bignon et al., ‘Stealing to survive?’, 19–27 and Loubère, The Red, 166–167.

  39. 39.

    Lacave and Pech, ‘De l’espoir’, 343–344.

  40. 40.

    AD Hérault, 6 M 511–532: 1851–1886 and Archives Municipales de la ville de Montpellier (AM Montpellier), État Civil: Naissances (1848–1871) and Décès (1848–1871) as well as Adams, ‘Economic and Demographic Change’, 92–114 and 259–275 and Cholvy, ‘Religion’, 774–790.

  41. 41.

    AD Hérault, 6 M 511–532, 1851–1886. Not only did the share of youths, aged 0 to 14, in the first district decline from 23.1 in 1851 to 15.7 per cent in 1886, the number of people aged 65 or more also increased.

  42. 42.

    Rapport du conseil particulier de Montpellier, 1872, Archives de Saint-Vincent de Paul, quoted by Cholvy, ‘Religion’, 1455. See also Coste, ‘Les transformations’, 351–353 and Hugo, France pittoresque, 76.

  43. 43.

    Grasset-Morel, ‘Montpellier’, 402. See also Lacave, ‘Réflexions’, 89–90 and Maurin, ‘L’expansion’, 2–8.

  44. 44.

    AN, BB18 1191, 22 November 1830 and BB18 1318, 22 February 1831, both prosecutor as well as Cholvy, ‘Religion’, 1455–1458; Coste, ‘Les transformations’, 54–62 and 351–352 and Lacave, ‘Réflexions’, 89–95.

  45. 45.

    Adams, ‘Economic and Demographic Change’, 35–45 and Aminzade, ‘Reinterpreting capitalist industrialization’, 329–350 and Class, 15–45.

  46. 46.

    Rames, ‘Milieux dirigeants’, 81–83 and 132–136; Berger and Maurel, La viticulture, 145; Dugrand, La garrigue, 350 and Thomas, Montpellier, 249.

  47. 47.

    Sewell, Structure, 5–9 and 319–326.

  48. 48.

    AD Hérault, 6 M 511–515, 1851 and AN, F20 501, 1851 as well as McPhee, A social history, 192–193 and Rames, ‘Milieux dirigeants’, 150–153 and 177–178. See appendix 1.

  49. 49.

    AD Hérault, 3 M 1150, 21 July 1857, prefect.

  50. 50.

    Cited by Cholvy, ‘Religion’, 262. See also ibid., 19–196; Castan, Montpellier; Ferras, ‘Architecture privée’; Mahoudeau, Châteaux and Secondy, La persistance, 59–62. Cf. Chap. 7.

  51. 51.

    Loubère, Radicalism, 53–54; Rames, ‘Milieux dirigeants’, 139–143 and 180–182 and Thomas, Montpellier, 249.

  52. 52.

    Mayer, The persistence.

  53. 53.

    AN, F1c III Hérault 9, 5 April 1868, prefect.

  54. 54.

    Price, The French Second Empire, 228. For a similar argument about the decline of legitimism in Marseille, see Sewell, ‘La classe ouvrière’, 27–63.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Bernard Rulof

Authors
  1. Bernard Rulof
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Appendix 1: Composition of Montpellier’s Labour Force, 1851

Appendix 1: Composition of Montpellier’s Labour Force, 1851

 

N

%

Agriculture, whereof

6635

16.3

 Persons of independent means

3616

14.5

 Day labourers

2850

11.4

Industry, whereof

11,638

46.8

 Big industry

335

1.4

 Small industry and shopkeeping

11,303

45.4

  Building trades

2023

8.1

  Clothing trades

4640

18.6

  Food trades

2577

10.5

Commerce & Finance

446

1.8

Professional People

2041

8.2

Domestic Service, whereof

4008

16.1

 Women

2707

10.9

Others (mainly prostitutes)

140

0.5

Total

24,908

100

Beggars and prisoners

738

–

No profession indicated (4104 housewives and 10,840 children)

14,944

–

  1. Source: AD Hérault, 6 M 511–515

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Rulof, B. (2020). A City of Inequalities. In: Popular Legitimism and the Monarchy in France. Palgrave Studies in Modern Monarchy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52758-7_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52758-7_6

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-52757-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-52758-7

  • eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation