Legislative Assembly Assemblée législative | |
|---|---|
| Kingdom of France | |
 Medal of the Legislative Assembly | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Established | 1 October 1791 |
| Disbanded | 20 September 1792 |
| Preceded by | National Constituent Assembly |
| Succeeded by | National Convention |
| Seats | 745 |
| Meeting place | |
| Salle du Manège,Paris | |
TheLegislative Assembly (French:Assemblée législative,[asɑ̃bleleʒislativ]) was thelegislature of theKingdom of France from 1 October 1791 to 20 September 1792 during the years of theFrench Revolution. It provided the focus of political debate and revolutionary law-making between the periods of theNational Constituent Assembly andNational Convention.[1] The Legislative Assembly saw an unprecedented turnover of fourministers of Justice, fourministers of the Navy, sixministers of the Interior, sevenministers of Foreign Affairs, and eightministers of War.[2]
The National Constituent Assembly dissolved itself on 30 September 1791. UponMaximilien Robespierre'smotion, it decreed that none of its members would be eligible for the next legislature. Its successor body, the Legislative Assembly, operating over theliberalFrench Constitution of 1791, lasted until 20 September 1792 when theNational Convention was established after theinsurrection of 10 August just the month before.
The Legislative Assembly entrenched the perceivedleft–right political spectrum that is still commonly used today. There were 745 members.
The elections of 1791, held bycensus suffrage, brought in a legislature that desired to carry the Revolution further.Therightists within the assembly consisted of 264Feuillants, whose chief leaders,Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette andAntoine Barnave, remained outside the House because of their ineligibility for re-election. They were staunch constitutional monarchists, firm in their defence of theking against the popular agitation.
Theleftists were of 136Jacobins (still including the party later known as theGirondins or Girondists) andCordeliers. Its most famous leaders wereJacques Pierre Brissot, the philosopherCondorcet andPierre Victurnien Vergniaud. The Left drew its inspiration from the more radical tendency of theEnlightenment, regarded the émigré nobles as traitors and espousedanticlericalism. They were suspicious ofLouis XVI, some of them favoring a general European war, both to spread the new ideals ofliberty andequality and to put the king's loyalty to the test.
The remainder of the House, 345 deputies, generally belonged to no definite party. They were called The Marsh (Le Marais) orThe Plain (La Plaine). They were committed to the ideals of the Revolution, hence generally inclined to side with the Left, but would also occasionally back proposals from the Right.
The king's ministers, named by him and excluded from the Assembly, are described by the1911Encyclopædia Britannica as "mostly persons of little mark".[3]
The 27 August 1791Declaration of Pillnitz already threatened France with an attack by its neighbors. King Louis XVI favored war hoping to exploit a military defeat to restore his absolute power—the Assembly was leaning toward war and to spread the ideals of the Revolution.[4] This led in April 1792 to the first of theFrench Revolutionary Wars.
The king vetoed many of the Assembly's bills throughout its existence such as these:
Louis XVI formed a series of cabinets, veering at times as far left as the Girondins. However, by the summer of 1792, amid war and insurrection, it had become clear that the monarchy and the now-dominant Jacobins could not reach any accommodation. On 11 July 1792, the Assembly formally declared the nation in danger because of the dire military situation.
On 9 August 1792, a new revolutionaryCommune took possession ofHôtel de Ville and early on the morning of 10 August the insurgentsassailed the Tuileries, where the royal family resided. Louis and his family sought asylum with the Legislative Assembly.
The Assembly stripped Louis, suspected of intelligence with the enemy, of all his royal functions and prerogatives. The king and his family were subsequently imprisoned in theTemple. On 10 August 1792, a resolution was adopted to summon a new National Convention, to be elected byuniversal suffrage.
Many who had sat in the National Constituent Assembly and many more who had sat in the Legislative Assembly were re-elected. The Convention met on 20 September 1792 and became the new government of France.
There were numerous reforms passed by the Legislative Assembly that addressed various topics includingdivorce,émigrés, and theclergy.
The Legislative Assembly implemented new reforms to help create a society of independent individuals with equal rights.[5] These reforms included new legislation about divorce, government control over registration, and inheritance rights for children. The registration of births, marriages, and deaths became a function under the government instead of theCatholic Church.[5] The new laws introduced adoption and gave illegitimate children inheritance rights equal to those of legitimate children.[6][7] Before 1791, divorces could only be granted for adultery and other violations of the marriage contract,[5] but under the new reform a couple could also get divorced if they met one or more of the following:
The new divorce laws were not sexually discriminatory as both the man and woman had the right to file for a divorce—the women petitioned for the most divorce decrees.[6]
The émigrés, mainly members of thenobility and public office who fled France after the events of the Revolution turned violent, were a major focus of the Legislative Assembly. In their decree on 9 November 1791, the Legislative Assembly established a three-class hierarchy of émigrés as well as the punishments that would correspond with each class. The first class was composed of the princes and other people of high birth who "formed [emigration’s] rallying point and controlled both its recruiting in France and its organization abroad".[8]
The second class was composed of officials in public office,soldiers and other members of society with less organizational clout than members of the nobility yet more influence than the common people. The third and final class of recognized émigrés encompassed the average French citizens who left France yet commanded little to no direct influence over emigration proceedings.[8]
In twelve articles, the decree outlined the economic and political punishments of the first and second classes—particularly assigning deadlines by which time emigration would be classified as an act of treason. Article 3 dictated that first class émigrés still abroad after 1 January would be "impeached for treason and punished with death" and articles 6 through 10 imposed a loss of position, salary, and even citizenship for second class émigrés still abroad after 14 September.[8] Along with the declaration that emigration could result in the loss of active citizenship, article 6 established the Assembly's right to sequester first class émigrés' revenues and article 11 classified émigré soldiers as deserters.[8]
As the Legislative Assembly considered third class émigrés to be faultless victims of trickery and seduction by the other two classes, the legislators' decree explicitly avoided issuing punitive measures against third class émigrés—whereas the other classes were to be financially and socially punished, third class émigrés were to be treated with "sympathy and understanding".[8] The émigrés decree was vetoed by the king three days later.[8]
The laws regarding the clergy were mostly made in response to a reform passed by theNational Assembly in July 1790, known as theCivil Constitution of the Clergy.[5] In this decree, the National Assembly took the power to appoint bishops and curés away from the king. Many members of the Catholic clergy objected to this ruling.[5] In response, the National Assembly required a public oath of fidelity from the clergy if they wanted to retain their positions in the Catholic Church.[5]
This decision was not well received by a substantial portion of the clergy, which is why the Legislative Assembly felt it was necessary to address the issue. Those unwilling to take the oath were known as non-juring members.[5] On 29 November 1791, the Legislative Assembly decreed that any who refused to take the oath were committing a political crime and were liable to punishments including loss of pension and expulsion from their homes in the event of religious disturbances.[9]
The Legislative Assembly was driven by two opposing groups. The members of the first group were conservative members of the bourgeoisie (wealthy middle class in the Third Estate) that favored aconstitutional monarchy, represented by theFeuillants, who felt that the revolution had already achieved its goal.[10] The other group was the democratic faction, for whom the king could no longer be trusted, represented by the new members of the Jacobin Club[11] that claimed that more revolutionary measures were necessary.[12][note 1]
Independent
Feuillants Club
Jacobin Club
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| National | |
| Other | |
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