In 1887 preliminary design work began on an armored coast-defence ship intended to serve as the centerpiece of a group of torpedo boats under the auspices of Admiral Théophile Aube, Minister of the Navy and Colonies, and an ardent exponent of the Jeune École (Young School) of naval strategy that believed in the primacy of coastal defences and commerce raiding.

The torpedo warfare role was eventually dropped and four coast-defence ironclads, the Jemmapes and the Bouvines classes, were ordered in 1889.

They were virtually identical except that the Bouvines were given a forecastle deck to improve seaworthiness and the main armament was lightened to compensate for the additional weight, as 305 mm (12 in) guns were installed rather than the 340 mm (13.4 in) guns of the Jemmapes class.

The engines produced a total of 8,865 indicated horsepower (6,611 kW) and gave a top speed of 16.05 knots (29.72 km/h; 18.47 mph) on trials.

[4] Like the Jemmapes class, the Bouvines-class ships carried their main armament of two 45-caliber Canon de 305 mm Modèle 1887 guns in two single-gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure.

The guns fired 340-kilogram (750 lb) projectiles at the rate of one round per minute at a muzzle velocity of approximately 780 metres per second (2,600 ft/s).

[3] The ships' secondary armament consisted of eight 53-caliber Canon de 100 mm (3.9 in) Modèle 1892 guns, four of which were mounted in individual casemates.

[8] Initially ten 37-millimetre (1.5 in) Hotchkiss revolving cannon were positioned on the superstructure, but this was reduced to three when the additional 47 mm guns were added.