ABSTRACT
Almost by definition the stockbrokers (agents de change) were in one of the most modern of ancien régime occupations. But one could hardly have guessed it. Because they owned venal offices and privilege, the agents de change were part of the ubiquitous order that was widely called feudal before it was destroyed. The story of the stockbrokers illustrates features of that old order, its connection to a state that continued to find it useful until 1789, and some surprisingly modern practices and ideas concerning property that were intrinsic to pre-revolutionary “feudalism.” After a review of the status of venal officeholding in the 1770s and 1780s, the agents de change will be worth a close look.
