Malesherbes and the Crisis of 1787–8

Abstract Chrétien-Guillaume de Lamoignon de Malesherbes (1721–94) was a minister for Louis XVI twice and his second ministry coincided with the pre-revolutionary crisis of 1787–8. He wrote long contemporaneous memoranda for the king that were in the family archives, unavailable until 2010 when they were published. He was a well-placed and acute observer seen here discussing and analysing policy. This article considers how his writings can help us to understand the characteristics of the crisis and the strategies of the ministry, the opposition of the parlementaires, and the way political mismanagement deepened the implications of an escalating and increasingly unmanageable situation for the monarchy. Malesherbes offers an insider’s understanding of the importance of public opinion to the reform agenda, and throws new light on the parlementaires’s call for the Estates-General. The article is a lengthy analysis of newly available primary sources.