science

Régence

Régence is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Régence rather than just read about it. In short: The Régence (French pronunciation: [ʁeʒɑ̃s], Regency) was the period in French history between 1715 and 1723 when King Louis XV was considered a minor and the country was instead governed by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (a nephew and son-in-law of Louis XIV) as prince regent. This was not the only regency in French history, but the name is nevertheless associated with this period.

Key takeaways

Régence belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Régence to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Régence from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Régence (French pronunciation: [ʁeʒɑ̃s], Regency) was the period in French history between 1715 and 1723 when King Louis XV was considered a minor and the country was instead governed by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (a nephew and son-in-law of Louis XIV) as prince regent. This was not the only regency in French history, but the name is nevertheless associated with this period. Philippe was able to take power away from Louis-Auguste, Duke of Maine (illegitimate son of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan) who had been the favourite son of the late king and possessed much influence. From 1715 to 1718 the Polysynody changed the system of government in France, in which each minister (secretary of state) was replaced by a council. The système de Law was also introduced, which transformed the finances of the bankrupted kingdom and its aristocracy. Both Cardinal Dubois and Cardinal Fleury were highly influential during this time. Contemporary European rulers included Philip V of Spain, John V of Portugal, George I of Great Britain, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, and Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia, the maternal grandfather of Louis XV.

Chronology

1714 29 July 1714: the Duke of Maine and the Count of Toulouse, Louis XIV's bastard sons, are made Princes of the Blood.

1715 1 September 1715: Louis XIV dies, his will entrusts the government of France to a regency council, with Philippe II, Duke of Orléans as an honorary president and the Duke of Maine as the real power, until his great-grandson and successor, the five-year old Louis XV, reaches his majority (13 years old) in 1723. 2 September 1715: the Duke of Orléans allies himself with the Parlement of Paris, who cancelled Louis XIV's will. As a Prince of the Blood, Philippe of Orléans had been a member of the Parlement. 9 September: Body of Louis XIV taken to the Basilica of Saint-Denis; Louis XV sets off for Château de Vincennes with the Regent, Madame de Ventadour, Villeroi, Toulouse and Maine; Philip V of Spain hears of his grandfather's death; 12 September: Philippe of Orléans recognised Regent by order of the Parlement; 15 September: Parlement claims the Droit de remontrance, the right to revoke a law made by a King who had died, further supporting the Regent's claim to power. 1 October 1715: Polysynody was held in Paris; it was composed of the highest nobility of the country. 30 December: Removal of Louis XV from the Château de Vincennes to the Tuileries Palace; Louis XV put under the care of François de Neufville, Duke of Villeroi; Guillaume Delisle and the Cardinal Fleury are put in charge of Louis' education.

1716 2 May: Philippe d'Orléans allows John Law to found the Banque générale; 27 June: Birth of Louise Diane d'Orléans at the Palais-Royal; she was the last child of the Regent; 9/10 October: Alliance with Great Britain;

1717 Triple Alliance (1717); a treaty between the Dutch Republic, France and Great Britain, against Spain, attempting to maintain the agreement of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht; 31 March: The Regent's second surviving daughter Louise Adélaïde takes the veil and becomes a nun under the name of Sœur Sainte-Bathilde. 21 May: Arrival of Tsar Peter the Great of Russia in Paris; he visits the King, Versailles, the Regent, his daughter Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans; he stays in Paris; he does not see the Duchess of Orléans despite her pleas; Peter stays at the Grand Trianon; 6 June 1717: Purchase of the Regent Diamond; later part of the French Crown Jewels; July: the Duke of Maine and the Count of Toulouse are stripped of their rank of Princes of the Blood by the Parlement September: Foundation of the Compagnie d'Occident et du Mississippi;

1718 March: Arrival of Leopold, Duke of Lorraine and his consort, Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans (sister of the Regent); 31 March: Infanta Mariana Victoria of Spain born in Madrid; later betrothed to Louis XV; 11 April: Death of the Dowager Duchess of Vendôme; 7 May: Death of Mary of Modena at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye; she was Queen consort of the exiled James II of England; 2 August: Quadruple Alliance with Austria, France, the Dutch Republic and Great Britain – aimed at revising (principally at Spain's expense) the treaties which ended the War of the Spanish Succession; 24 September: end of the Polysynody and the reestablishment of ministers; 4 December: Banque générale becomes the Banque Royale; December Exposure of the Cellamare Conspiracy headed by the Duke of Maine and his wife Anne Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon, which aimed at placing Philip V of Spain as regent of France with the help of the Spanish Ambassador, the "príncipe de Cellamare"; the Duke and Duchess are exiled from court and return in 1720 to their home at the Château de Sceaux;

1719 9 January: Declaration of War with Spain; 15 April: Death of Madame de Maintenon at Saint-Cyr-l'École; May: Foundation of the French East India Company by John Law; 21 July: Death of Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans; daughter of the Regent who participated in the hectic nightlife of his court, even during several pregnancies with different men. (Jules Michelet, "Histoire de France, vol.XV, La Régence", Equateurs, 2008).

1720 5 January: John Law made Controller-General of Finances; 11 February: Marriage of Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans to the Hereditary Prince of Modena at the Tuileries Palace; March: Great Plague of Marseille; 21 March: Death of Marie Anne de Bourbon, wife of the Duke of Bourbon; 26 March: Execution of the leaders of the Pontcallec Conspiracy against the Regency.

1721 Publication of the Persian Letters by Montesquieu; negotiations between the Regent and Peter I of Russia begin regarding the proposed marriage of the Regent's only legitimate son to a daughter of the Emperor, namely either the Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna or the future Elizabeth of Russia; plans fail and Louis d'Orléans marries in 1724; 6 January: Arrest of Louis Dominique Bourguignon; 27 March: Alliance of Spain and France; May : Visit of Mehmet Effendi, Ottoman ambassador; 18 July: Death of Antoine Watteau; 17 September: Death of the Grand Duchess of Tuscany; cousin of the Regent; 29 December : Birth of the future Madame de Pompadour; Marie Anne de Bourbon is put in charge of the Infanta's education in France;

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Régence

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Régence claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Régence before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Régence ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Régence

In research: Régence appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Régence in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Régence is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1710s in France, 1715 in France, 1720s in France, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Régence outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Régence in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Régence means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Régence out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Régence in simple terms?

Why does Régence matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Régence?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Régence.