ABSTRACT
IN order to avoid any possible confusion stemming from the attempt to translate French historical terms where no English equivalent exists, I have not tried to translate the terminology used in this and other chapters. The basic distinction is between the officiers, or officeholders, who purchased and owned their legal charges and were allowed to transmit them to their heirs, and the commissaires, who held a r.oyal commission to perform a particular function, and who could therefore be removed from office at the King's pleasure. Monsieur Goldmann argues that the decision to create Intendants to govern the different Provinces, and thereby to deprive the officiers of their social functions, was an important factor in turning many of the legal nobility towards Jansenism. The officiers were still economically dependent upon the King, and therefore could not rebel against him politically, and were consequently tempted, especially' after the failure of the Fronde in 1648 and 1653, simply to withdraw from the world.
