From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kingdom of France was organised into
provinces
until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département system superseded
provinces. The change was an attempt to eradicate local loyalties
based on feudal ownership of land and focus all
loyalty on the central government in Paris.
The process by which the territory of the various provinces was
gradually incorporated into France may be followed in the article
Territorial formation of
France.
The names of the former provinces are still used by geographers
to designate natural regions, and several French administrative regions carry their
names.
The meaning of
"province"
French départements, their names, and their
borders were chosen by the central government. In contrast, the
existence of provinces came from the droit coutumier ("customary law") and was merely certified
by the state. A province, also known as état ("state"), was characterised by the
laws that belonged to it. A province itself could encompass several
other provinces. For example, Burgundy was a province but Bresse — another province — was
nevertheless a part of Burgundy.
There is therefore no official list of provinces. The list of
généralités, administrative
subdivisions of the kingdom, is often presented when one wants to
establish the list of provinces on the eve of the French
Revolution. The list below is much larger, encompassing
provinces throughout French history.
List of former provinces of
France
Provinces
Major Provinces of France before the Revolution,
with provincial capitals marked. Listed as English name
(capital). Cities in bold had provincial "parlements" or "conseils
souverains". |
1. Île-de-France
(Paris)
2. Berry (Bourges)
3. Orléanais (Orléans)
4. Normandy (Rouen)
5. Languedoc (Toulouse)
6. Lyonnais (Lyon)
7. Dauphiné (Grenoble)
8. Champagne (Troyes)
9. Aunis (La
Rochelle)
10. Saintonge (Saintes)
11. Poitou
(Poitiers)
12. Guyenne and Gascony (Bordeaux)
13. Burgundy (Dijon)
14. Picardy
(Amiens)
15. Anjou (Angers)
16. Provence (Aix-en-Provence)
17. Angoumois (Angoulême)
18. Bourbonnais (Moulins)
19. Marche (Guéret)
20. Brittany (Rennes)
|
21. Maine (Le Mans)
22. Touraine (Tours)
23. Limousin (Limoges)
24. Foix (Foix)
25. Auvergne (Clermont-Ferrand)
26. Béarn
(Pau)
27. Alsace
(Strasbourg,
cons. souv. in Colmar)
28. Artois
(Arras)
29. Roussillon (Perpignan)
30. Flanders
and Hainaut (Lille, parlement in Douai)
31. Franche-Comté (Besançon)
32. Lorraine
(Nancy)
33. Corsica (off map, Ajaccio, cons. souv. in Bastia)
34. Nivernais (Nevers)
35. Comtat Venaissin, a Papal fief
36. Imperial Free City of Mulhouse
37. Savoy, a Sardinian fief
38. Nice,
a Sardinian fief
39. Montbéliard, a fief of Württemberg
40. (not pictured) Trois-Évêchés (Metz, Toul and Verdun).
|

Full list of French
provinces as of 1789
Provinces not part of
France in 1789
See also