Passage of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy
- When
- 1790
- Where
- Paris
- Episodes
- 1
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was a law passed on 12 July 1790 in Paris, aiming to bring the Catholic Church in France under complete state control. It followed earlier measures nationalizing church property and dissolving monastic orders. The legislation created a schism between a state-subservient constitutional church and an underground church loyal to the Papacy.
Episodes
Background and detail
Background. Prior to the law, the Gallican Church already had a status subordinating it to the State. The fiscal crisis that prompted the Estates General in 1789 drove agitation for confiscating church lands. Church property was nationalized in November 1789 to back assignats, and monastic vows were forbidden in February 1790, dissolving most ecclesiastical orders.
Legislative Process. The National Constituent Assembly asked its ecclesiastical committee to prepare clergy reorganization on 6 February 1790. The Civil Constitution came before the Assembly on 29 May 1790. Opposition included Abbé Sieyès, while support came from figures within the Church such as Pierre Claude François Daunou and Henri Grégoire.
Provisions and Effects. The law sought complete government control over the Catholic Church. It required bishops to swear loyalty to the nation, law, and king before consecration. The legislation resulted in a schism, creating an illegal underground church loyal to the Papacy and a constitutional church subservient to the State.
People involved
- Pierre Claude François Daunou · Priest and parliamentarian supporting the legislation (identity unresolved; new person candidate)
- Henri Grégoire · Revolutionary priest supporting the legislation (identity unresolved; new person candidate)
- Abbé Sieyès · Political theorist opposing the legislation (identity unresolved; new person candidate)
Sources
- Civil Constitution of the Clergy Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-27
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.