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ไม่มีอะไร....คือเพื่อนมันถามมา เปิดวิกิให้อ่านไม่ได้ก็เลยแปะไว้ ไม่มีอะไรน่าสนใจนอกจากทำให้คนเขียนนิยายได้ถูกขึ้น

Nobility since the Revolution 

Despite the abolition of nobility at the French Revolution and the loss of their privileged juridical status ("all men are equal citizens"), the nobility continued to exist throughout the 19th century.

Napoléon Bonaparte established his own aristocracy and titles during the Empire, and these new nobles maintained the use of their titles even after Napoleon's overthrow. In all, about 2200 titles were created by Napoleon I:

Princes and Dukes:
sovereign princes (3)
duchies grand fiefs (20)
victory princes (4)
victory dukedoms (10)
other dukedoms (3)
Counts (251)
Barons (1516)
Knights (385)

(There were 239 remaining families holding First Empire titles in 1975. Of those, perhaps 130-140 were titled. Only one title of prince and seven titles of duke remain.) Napoleon also established a new knightly order in 1802, the Légion d'honneur, which is still in existence today.

The Restoration of Louis XVIII of France saw the return of the old nobility to power (while ultra-royalists clamored for a return of lost lands) and the electoral laws of 1817 limited suffrage to only the wealthiest or most prestigious members (less than .5%) of the population, which included many of the old nobility. The Second Empire of Napoleon III also saw the granting of noble titles.

If the Third Republic returned once again to the principles of equality espoused by the Revolution (at least among the political Radical party), in practice the upper echelons of French nobility maintained their notion of social distinction well into the 20th century (as witnessed by the presence of nobility and noble class distinctions in the works of Marcel Proust) and the use of their titles was officially sanctioned.

Titles were abolished by the Revolutions of 1789 and 1848, and restored by decree in 1852 (and never officially abolished since) and now can only be lawfully used and given to their bearers in official acts with a decree by the Minister of Justice. Anyone who has a legitimate claim to a title can ask the Minister of Justice to confirm this claim, the bearer can then legally use the title in legal documents such as birth certificates (about 400 such confirmations were made since 1872).

edit @ 12 Jun 2008 10:26:10 by KuRiKa