2013, Vol., No.29

Korean Review of French History 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 1.67

pISSN : 1229-702X
https://journal.kci.go.kr/krfh

The University of Paris began to establish a closer relation with the kingship and to intervene in the political affairs since the beginning of the 14th century. The royal support like the chart for privilege and protection and the foundation fo the Navarre college assured the University of Paris not only social autonomy but also political authority. The relation of the University of Paris with the politics of French kingdom was more consolidated by the advance of the graduated students to the royal offices, in particular to the Parlement de Paris. As the crisis of papacy, the university of Paris acted as a spiritual pastor of the kingdom and wanted guide the politics of kingdom in the moral dimension. However this ideal of the university was frustrated in front of the political crises in the beginning of the 15th Century.

This article aims at tracing the process in which the idea and the administration of the French education that had been dominated by the religious authority has shifted from the religion to the politics. It was not until the beginning of 1760s that the necessity of the new education was raised and the argument on the education reform began to get serious. In the past studies the influence of Lumières, in particular Emile of Rousseau, has been emphasized. But this article focuses on the expulsion of the Jesuits.

This article explores the meaning and function of the Education Bills, which had been presented to the National Assembly from 1791 to 1795, such as Talleyrand’s bill, Condorcet’s bill, Lanthenas’s bill, Lakanal’s bill, Romme’s bill, the decree of frimaire, the legislation of brumaire(an III) and the decree of brumaire(an IV). The following three conclusions are drawn from this research. First, the evolution of Education bills is similar to the course of the Revolution. The Revolution did not stop radicalizing. The Terror and the revolutionary government were the height of this radicalization (Romme’s bill). The Revolution became conservative and reactionary after the coup d’Etat of thermidor(the decree of brumaire). Secondly, the fact that Lakanal’s bill and the decree of frimaire don’t correspond to the general trend can be explained taking into consideration not only the conflict and compromise between clans but also the personal relations between deputies. Thirdly, the ecclesiastics, who had monopolized the education more than a thousand years and did not want to renounce their monopoly, interfered with the organization of public instruction, frustrating its attempt to renovate education. This article ends with the conclusion that the education bills did fail. But, thanks to the seeds sown by these bills, true public instruction was organized about 100 years later.