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Noble Families of France: An Overview
The French nobility (la noblesse française) is an aristocratic class that dates from the Middle Ages [1]. It was abolished, restored and abolished again, and it still survives today in an unusual legal form, as part of the family name.
How Many Noble Families?
Sources disagree, but they agree that France had proportionally one of the smallest noble classes in Europe [1]. For 1789, the historian François Bluche estimated about 140,000 nobles in 9,000 families, about 0.5% of a population of 28 million. He found that only about 5% of nobles could claim descent from feudal nobility older than the 15th century [1].
Today, the Association d'entraide de la noblesse française (ANF) says its table of families lists all those admitted since its founding in 1932, about 2,329 families [5]. The ANF admits members through a Commission des Preuves (proofs committee) [5].
Two Origins: Immemorial and Ennobled
French noble families fall into two groups by origin [1]:
- Immemorial nobility (noblesse de race or d'extraction): families recognised as having "always lived nobly" and never ennobled.
- Ennobled families: families raised to the nobility by letters patent or by holding certain offices.
Sword and Robe
- Noblesse d'épée (nobility of the sword) is traditionally described as France's oldest aristocracy, though some scholars now question that view [1].
- Noblesse de robe (nobility of the robe) were families ennobled by high judicial and financial offices, such as presidents of the parlements. It gained legal status in 1600 [1].
The historian Guy Chaussinand-Nogaret stresses that sword and robe were professions or conditions, not separate social classes within the nobility [1].
Revolution: 1789 and 1790
On the night of 4 August 1789 the National Constituent Assembly abolished the lords' feudal dues and the nobility's tax privileges [1]. Hereditary titles were abolished only on 19 June 1790 [1].
Empire, Restoration and Republic
- 1808–1815: Napoleon created titles. The Charter of 4 June 1814 recognised them as a new nobility [1].
- 1814–1848 and 1852–1870: the nobility was restored as a hereditary distinction without privileges, and new titles were granted [1].
- Since 4 September 1870, under the Third Republic and after, the French nobility has no legal existence or status [1].
Titles Today: Part of the Name
The French Ministry of Justice explains the current position. A noble title is an attribute of the family name. It was created by letters patent or by a post-Revolution decree of confirmation, and it may appear on civil-status documents only after the holder receives an arrêté d'investiture from the Minister of Justice [4]. The Ministry's section du Sceau has exclusive authority to examine these requests. It handles about three a year [4]. Recognised titles are entered in the Grand Livre du Sceau [1].
Courtesy Titles
Many titles used in France are courtesy titles (titres de courtoisie). They are adopted by custom and not legally borne [2]. Under "title declension", younger sons of a titled family may use a lower title than the head of the family, even without holding a titled estate [2].
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