- Legitimists
Legitimists are Royalists in
France who believe that theKing of France andNavarre must be chosen according to the simple application of theSalic Law . Called "Ultra-royalist s" under theBourbon Restoration , they are adherents of the elder branch of the Bourbon dynasty, overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. Distinguished historianRené Rémond analyses the legitimists as one of the three mainright-wing factions in France, which was principally characterized by theircounterrevolutionary opinions (they rejected the 1789French Revolution , the Republic and everything that went with it; thus, they progressively became afar-right movement, close totraditionalist Catholic s). The other two right-wing factions are, according to Rémond, theOrleanist s and theBonapartist s.The Bourbon Restoration (1814–1830)
Following the
Bourbon Restoration in 1814, a strongly restrictedcensus suffrage sent to theChamber of deputies anultra-royalist majority in 1815–1816 ("laChambre introuvable ") and from 1824 to 1827. Called as such because they were "more royalist than the king" ("plus royalistes que le roi"), the Ultras were thus the dominant political faction underLouis XVIII (1815–1824) and Charles X (1824–1830). Opposed to theconstitutional monarchy of Louis XVIII and to the limitation of the sovereign's power, they hoped to restore the "Ancien Régime " and cancel the rupture created by theFrench Revolution . Just as the Restoration, Ultras opposed themselves to liberal, republican and democratic ideas. While Louis XVIII hoped to moderate the "restoration" of the "Ancien Régime" in order to make it acceptable by the population, the Ultras would never abandon the dream of an integral restoration, even after the 1830July Revolution which set theOrleanist branch on the throne and the Ultras back to their castles in the countryside and to private life. Their importance during the Restoration was in part due to electoral laws which largely favored them (on one hand, a Peer Chamber composed of hereditary members; on the other hand, a Chamber of Deputies elected under a heavily restricted census suffrage, which permitted approximatively 100,000 Frenchmen to vote).Louis XVIII's first ministers, who included
Talleyrand , the duc de Richelieu and Decazes, were replaced by the "Chambre introuvable" dominated by the Ultras. Louis XVIII finally decided to dissolve this chaotic assembly, but the new liberals whom had replaced them were not any more easy to govern. After the 1820 assassination of the duc de Berry, the ultra-reactionary son of the comte d'Artois (Louis XVIII's brother and future Charles X), and a short interval during which the duc de Richelieu governed, the Ultras were back in government, headed by the comte de Villèle.The death of Louis XVIII in 1824, seen as too moderate, lifted the Ultras' spirits. In January 1825, Villèle's government passed the
Anti-Sacrilege Act , which punished bycapital punishment the stealing of sacred vases (with or without consecrated hosts). This "anachronistic law" (Jean-Noël Jeanneney ) was in the end never applied (except on a minor point) and repealed in the first months of Louis-Philippe's reign (1830–1848). The Ultras also wanted to create courts to punish Radicals, and passed laws restrictingfreedom of the press .After the 1830
July Revolution , which replaced the Bourbons with theOrleanist branch, which supported more liberal policies, the Ultras' influence declined, although it subsisted until at least the16 May 1877 crisis and 1879, and even longer. Thus, they softened their views and made the restoration to the throne of theHouse of Bourbon their new primary target. From 1830 on they became known as Legitimists.Legitimists under the July monarchy (1830–1848)
During the
July Monarchy of 1830 to 1848, when the junior Orleanist branch held the throne, the Legitimists were politically marginalized, many withdrawing from active participation in political life. The situation was complicated before 1844 by debate as to who the legitimate king was: Charles X and his son Louis-Antoine the Dauphin had bothabdicate d during the 1830 Revolution in favor of Charles's young grandson, Henricomte de Chambord . Until the deaths of Charles X and his son in 1836 and 1844, respectively, many Legitimists continued to recognize each of them in turn as the rightful king, ahead of Chambord.Legitimists under the Second Republic and the Empire (1848–1871)
The fall of King Louis Philippe in 1848 led to a strengthening of the Legitimist position. Although the childlessness of Chambord weakened the hand of the Legitimists, they came back into political prominence during the Second Republic. Through much of this time there was discussion of "fusion" with the Orleanist Party. This prospect prompted several sons of Louis Philippe to declare their support for Chambord. But fusion was not actually achieved, and after 1850 the two parties again diverged. The period of the Second Empire saw the Legitimists once again cast out of active political life.
Legitimists under the Third Republic (1871–1940)
Nevertheless, the Legitimists remained a significant party within
elite opinion, attracting support of the larger part of the "ancien régime " aristocracy. After theSiege of Paris in 1870 and the 1871Paris Commune , the Legitimists returned for one final time to political prominence. The8 February 1871 democratic elections, held with the manhood universal suffrage sent to theNational Assembly a royalist majority, supported by the provinces, while all Parisian deputies were Republican. This time, the Legitimists were able to agree with the Orleanists on a program of fusion, largely because of the growing likelihood that the count of Chambord would die without children. The liberal Orleanists agreed to recognize Chambord as king, and the Orleanist claimant himself, Louis-Philippe Albert d'Orléans (1838–1894), count of Paris, recognized Chambord as head of the French royal house. In return, Legitimists in the Assembly agreed that, should Chambord die childless, Philippe d'Orléans would succeed him as king. Unfortunately for French monarchism, Chambord's refusal to accept theTricolor as the flag of France and to abandon thefleur-de-lys , symbol of the "Ancien régime", maderestoration impossible until after his death, by which time the monarchists had long since lost their parliamentary majority due to the16 May 1877 crisis . The death of thecomte de Chambord in 1883 effectively dissolved the "parti légitimiste" as a political force in France.The nationalist "
Action française ", founded in 1899 during theDreyfus Affair , converted itself to monarchism underCharles Maurras ' influence. Although Maurras'integralism and faith in monarchy and the Catholic Church was mostly based on pragmatic reasons, the "Action française" remained quite popular among Frenchreactionary elements, at least until its 1926 Papal condemnation, and might have attracted in that sense some legitimists. Unsurprisingly, Maurras advocated as soon as 1919women's right to vote (obtained only byCharles de Gaulle 's 1944 ordonnance), on the grounds that just as the countryside had supported the monarchists during the 1871 elections, women would support the more conservative representatives.Affected by "
sinistrisme ", few conservatives explicitly called themselvesright wing during the Third Republic, a term associated with theCounter-Revolution and anti-republican feelings. As soon as 1910, the appellation was thus reserved to radical groups. Those Orleanists whom had rallied the Republic in 1893, after the comte de Chambord's death ten years before, still called themselves "Droite constitutionnelle" or "républicaine" (Constitutional or Republican Right). But they changed their name in 1899, and went to the 1902 elections under the name of the "Action libérale " party. Thus, the only group which openly reinvidicated itself from the right-wing in 1910 gathered some nostalgics royalists, and from 1924 on the term "right wing" practically vanished from the parliamentary right's glossary.By this time, the vast majority of legitimists had retired to their
castle s in the countryside and deserted the political arena. Although the "Action française" remained an influential movement throughout the 1930s, its motivations for therestauration of monarchy were quite distinct from older Legitimists' views, and Maurras' instrumental use of Catholicism achieved setting them apart. Thus, Legitimists didn't much participate in political events in the 1920s–1930s, in particular in the6 February 1934 riots organized byfar right leagues that, apart from the "Action française", had little in common with their reactionary nature. These royalistaristocrat s clearly distinguished themselves from the new ultra right, influenced byfascism andnazism , which was appearing. However, Legitimists acclaimed, just as Maurras, the fall of the Third Republic after the 1940Battle of France as a "divine surprise", and many of them joinedPhilippe Pétain 'sVichy regime as an unexpected opportunity to impose a reactionary program in occupied France.Legitimists under Vichy and after World War II (1940–Present)
However, they returned to prominence during
Vichy France , according to historianRené Rémond 's studies of theright-wing factions in France. Some would also support the OAS during theAlgerian War (1954–62).Marcel Lefebvre 'sSociety of St. Pius X , founded in 1970, especially in France, shares aspects with the legitimist movement, according to Rémond.As of 2006, some remain strongly attached to the
tradition alist wing of the Catholic Church and are particularly encouraged by the theological conservatism of PopeBenedict XVI . Such Legitimists are strongly opposed to the proposedEuropean Constitution and anything else perceived as threatening the independence of France. Among French Legitimists, there is diversity of opinion. Some tend to gather aroundTraditionalist Catholic places, such as theSaint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet church in Paris, or around far-right parties such asJean-Marie Le Pen 's "Front National" orde Villiers 'Mouvement pour la France . Many others are true democrats, wishing France could have a parliamentary monarchy like the ones of United Kingdom or Spain.There are small but active Legitimist circles throughout France.After Chambord's death, only the descendants of
Philip V of Spain remained senior in descent to the Orléans branch of the royal dynasty. But Philip's branch had been Spanish for 170 years, having been obliged by the 1713Treaty of Utrecht to renounce their claim to the French throne (even though this renounciation is impossible under the fundamental law of the french monarchy, which stipulates that neither the king nor his heirs can renounce a throne they hold but do not possess). So most French royalists believed the comte de Paris to be the legitimate pretender.Carlism
A remnant, known as the Legitimists, by repudiating Philip V's renunciation of the French throne as "
ultra vires " and contrary to the Fundamental french monarchical law, upheld the rights of the eldest branch of the Bourbons, represented as of 1883 by the Carlist pretender to the Spanish throne. This group was initially minuscule, but began to grow larger afterWorld War II due both to the politicalleftism of the Orleanist Pretender,Henri, comte de Paris , and to the active efforts of the claimants of the elder line—Jaime, Duke of Segovia, the disinherited second son ofAlfonso XIII of Spain , and his son,Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz —to secure legitimist support, such that by the 1980s, the elder line had fully reclaimed for its supporters the political title of "Legitimists". This means that the current legitimist claimant is the Spanish-born Louis-Alphonse de Bourbon (Luis-Alfonso de Borbón y Martínez Bordiú), styled "duc d'Anjou", which the french legitimists consider to be the "de jure" king of France under the name Louis XX. A 1987 [http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/proces2.htm attempt] by the Orleanist heir (and other Bourbons, none of the elder branch) to contest Louis-Alphonse's [http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/apanage.htm#early-modern use of the Anjou title] and to deny him use of the plaincoat of arms of France was dismissed by the French courts in March 1989. The duc d'Anjou, a French citizen through his paternal grandmother, is generally recognised as the senior legitimate representative of the House ofCapet .List of Legitimist Claimants to the French throne since 1792
In the 1870s the rival Orleanist and Legitimist claimants agreed, for the sake of the French Monarchy, to end their rivalry. The comte de Paris accepted the prior claim to the throne of the comte de Chambord. Chambord, who remained childless, in turn acknowledged that the comte de Paris would claim the right to succeed him as heir. Since then, many Legitimists have accepted the descendants of the comte de Paris as the joint Legitimist-Orleanist pretender.
According to the Orleanists and the few Legitimists who accepted the Orléans successors following the death of the comte de Chambord, the list of claims is as follows:
*Philippe, Comte de Paris (Philippe VII) (1883 – 1894)
*Philippe, duc d'Orléans (Philippe VIII) (1894 - 1926)
*Jean, Duc de Guise (Jean III) (1926 – 1940)
*Henri, Comte de Paris (Henry VI) (1940 – 1999)
*Henri, Comte de Paris, Duc de France (Henry VII) (1999 - Present)However, the more ardent Legitimists argued that the renunciation of the French throne by
Philip V of Spain , second grandson of Louis XIV, was invalid, and that in 1883 [when Chambord died childless] the throne had passed to Philip V's male heirs, as follows:ee also
*
René Rémond
*Bonapartism
*Orleanism
*Ultra-royalist s
*Bourbon Restoration
*France in the nineteenth century
*Line of succession to the French throne (Legitimist)
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