Bourgeois of Paris

[1] This qualification was also required for public offices such as provost of the merchants, alderman or consul, but unlike the bourgeois or citizens of other free cities, Parisians did not need letters of bourgeoisie to prove their status.

The list published in 1884 in L'Intermédiaire des chercheurs et curieux (The Intermediate of the Researchers and Curious) gives a glimpse into the variety of these privileges.

Laurence Croq, who dedicated a thesis to studying the Bourgeois of Paris in the 18th century, explains that this status had a polymorphous characteristic.

[citation needed] The water merchants, heirs of the "nautes de Lutèce [fr]", monopolised the Basilica of Saint-Denis and the Grande Boucherie (lit.

Big Butchery) and constituted a third power along with the clergy and the French nobility that consecrated the Great Ordinance of the provost of merchants in 1357 In 1190, before leaving for a crusade, King Philippe Auguste wrote his will and placed six "loyal men" at the head of the provosts: Thibaut Le Riche, Athon de Greve, Evrouin Le Changeur, Robert de Chartres, Baudouin Bruneau and Nicolas Boucel.

Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at fr: Bourgeois de Paris; see its history for attribution.