Civil Constitution of the Clergy
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy, passed on 12 July 1790, was the most theologically and socially divisive legislation of the early Revolution. It nationalised the French Catholic Church, abolishing monasteries and contemplative orders, redrawing dioceses to match new civil departments, and requiring that bishops and priests be elected by their parishioners — who included Protestants and non-believers — and salaried by the state. Church property had already been nationalised in November 1789 to back a new paper currency, the assignat. Pope Pius VI condemned the Constitution in April 1791. When the Assembly required clergy to swear an oath of loyalty to it, France split: roughly half of parish priests — the 'jurors' — complied; the rest — 'non-jurors' or 'refractory priests' — refused and lost their official positions. This division mapped closely onto political geography: the non-juring strongholds in the west, Alsace, and parts of the south became the zones of counter-revolutionary resistance. For Louis XVI, a genuinely devout Catholic, signing the Constitution under popular pressure created an unresolvable moral crisis that contributed directly to his decision to flee France in June 1791. The split between juring and non-juring churches persisted throughout the Revolution and shaped the geography of the Vendée uprising.
- Year: 1790 CE
- Category: Political
