Terms

The Restoration Period between 1814 and 1830 in which the Bourbon dynasty returned to the French throne after Napoleon's fall, with Louis XVIII and, from 1824, Charles X. It was a constitutional monarchy of limited powers, quite unlike the absolute monarchy that preceded the... Mayor Translation of the French maire, the authority presiding over the administration of a commune, whether a town or a village. In the period of the novel, the Restoration had appointed mayors and municipal councillors, not elected by the residents. Today the... Poorhouse Public shelter for beggars, a welfare institution that the Revolution abolished and Napoleon revived in 1808. It was gradually abolished during the Restoration, and in 1830, the year the novel was published, only six remained in all of France. In Verrières,... Curé The French curé: the priest in charge of a parish, the parish priest, who looks after its faithful. Appointed by the bishop, whose representative he is in the parish, he differs from the bishop, who governs the diocese, made up of several parishes. Legion of Honor Order of merit created by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 to reward services rendered to the French nation. The first awards were made on July 15, 1804, in a ceremony at the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris, and the decorations went to marshals, soldiers, war... Congregation Lay and clerical Catholic association, founded in 1801 by the Jesuit priest Bordier-Delpuits for piety and charity. During the Restoration it brought together traditionalists and Ultraroyalists and favored the careers of its members. The opposition... Ultraroyalist Also called ultra: a supporter of the faction that, during the Restoration, defended Catholicism as the state religion, the Bourbon monarchy, the traditional hierarchy among the classes, and voting restricted to the richest. It brought together nobles, large... Jansenist Follower of Jansenism, a Catholic current born from the ideas of Cornelius Jansen, bishop of Ypres, whose work Augustinus appeared in 1640. It upheld a rigorous reading of Saint Augustine on grace and predestination, was condemned by the Church in several... Jacobin Member of the Jacobin Club, founded in 1789 and dominated by Robespierre in the most radical phase of the Revolution, the Terror. The club was closed in November 1794. After the Revolution, conservatives began to use the word as an insult against any... Deputy mayor Deputy to the mayor of a French commune: he substitutes for the mayor when the mayor is prevented from acting, until the mayor returns or a successor is chosen. Under the Restoration, mayors and municipal councillors were appointed, not elected. Today... Vicar general Main assistant to the bishop in the administration of a diocese: after the bishop, he is the highest authority in the diocese, and in the bishop's name he exercises executive power over the whole territory. He must be a priest, an auxiliary bishop or a...