fme_400042 - CLERGY ASSEMBLY AND RELIGIOUS JETONS Médaille pour Saint Augustin d'Hippone (354 - †430)

CLERGY ASSEMBLY AND RELIGIOUS JETONS

The Assembly of the Clergy is the ecclesiastical institution of France under the Ancien Régime. It enjoys the protection of the King and tax immunity (formulated during the Lateran Councils III and IV - 1179 and 1215). There are two kinds of assemblies: the small ones, called "account assemblies", which bring together thirty-two deputies (two per province); and the large assemblies (sixty-four deputies) called upon to resolve questions of a religious nature (relations with Rome, the Protestants, Jansenism, etc.). The last assembly was held in 1788. Biblio.: MOUSNIER R., "The Institutions of France under the absolute monarchy", Paris, 1974, t. I, pp. 284-288; BLET P., "The clergy of France and the monarchy. Study on the general assemblies of the clergy of France from 1615 to 1666", 2 vols., Rome, 1959.