...In this chapter, I elucidate the previously overlooked background of the liberal nobles who embraced the Revolution in 1789. Louis XVI authorized village elections as part of the reforms creating the provincial assemblies in 1787. The plan was to have the peasants’ representatives improve...

...Feudalism, venality, and revolution is about the political and social order revealed by the monarchy’s most ambitious effort to reform its institutions, the introduction of participatory assemblies at all levels of the government. It should draw the attention of anyone interested...

... particularly examines structures such as town halls and assembly and parliament buildings, as constitutional developments required them. While these were the characteristics of what is known as formal empire, settlements of Europeans pursuing economic objectives also created familiar buildings in settings...