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Legislative Assembly (France)
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== Reforms == There were numerous reforms passed by the Legislative Assembly that addressed various topics including [[divorce]], [[French emigration (1789–1815)|émigrés]], and the [[clergy]]. The Legislative Assembly implemented new reforms to help create a society of independent individuals with equal rights.<ref name=popkin>Popkin, Jeremy. A Short History of the French Revolution. 6th ed. Hoboken, New Jersey: Pearson Education, INC, 2015. pp. 43–61.</ref> These reforms included new legislation about divorce, government control over registration, and inheritance rights for children. The registration of births, marriages, and deaths became a function under the government instead of the [[Catholic Church in France|Catholic Church]].<ref name=popkin/> The new laws introduced adoption and gave illegitimate children inheritance rights equal to those of legitimate children.<ref name=phillips>Phillips, Roderick. "Women and Family Breakdown in Eighteenth-Century France: Rouen 1780–1800." Social History 1, no. 2 (1976): 197–218. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4284618 JSTOR]</ref><ref>Boring, Nicolas. "France: Inheritance Laws in the 19th and 20th Centuries." [https://www.loc.gov/law/help/inheritance-laws/france.php. Library of Congress]. Retrieved 16 May 2017.</ref> Before 1791, divorces could only be granted for adultery and other violations of the marriage contract,<ref name=popkin/> but under the new reform a couple could also get divorced if they met one or more of the following: * If there was mutual consent of both spouses<ref name=phillips/> * If there was a unilateral incompatibility of character<ref name=phillips/> * If the couple had been formally separated before and needed a legalized divorce<ref name=phillips/> * If there was dissolution of marriage due to "insanity, condemnation to an infamous punishment, violence or ill-treatment, notoriously dissolute morals, desertion for at least two years, absence without news for at least five years, and emigration"<ref name=phillips/> The new divorce laws were not sexually discriminatory as both the man and woman had the right to file for a divorce—the women petitioned for the most divorce decrees.<ref name=phillips/> The émigrés, mainly members of the [[French nobility|nobility]] and public office who fled France after the events of the Revolution turned violent, were a major focus of the Legislative Assembly. In their decree on 9 November 1791, the Legislative Assembly established a three-class hierarchy of émigrés as well as the punishments that would correspond with each class. The first class was composed of the princes and other people of high birth who "formed [emigration’s] rallying point and controlled both its recruiting in France and its organization abroad".<ref name=mitchell>Mitchell, C. J. "Emigrés and the Refractory Clergy." In The French Legislative Assembly of 1791, 43–60. Leiden, The Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1988. Retrieved from [https://books.google.com/books?id=tcsUAAAAIAAJ&q=divorce Google Books]. pp. 45–46.</ref> The second class was composed of officials in public office, [[French Army|soldiers]] and other members of society with less organizational clout than members of the nobility yet more influence than the common people. The third and final class of recognized émigrés encompassed the average French citizens who left France yet commanded little to no direct influence over emigration proceedings.<ref name=mitchell/> In twelve articles, the decree outlined the economic and political punishments of the first and second classes—particularly assigning deadlines by which time emigration would be classified as an act of treason. Article 3 dictated that first class émigrés still abroad after 1 January would be "impeached for treason and punished with death" and articles 6 through 10 imposed a loss of position, salary, and even citizenship for second class émigrés still abroad after 14 September.<ref name=mitchell/> Along with the declaration that emigration could result in the loss of active citizenship, article 6 established the Assembly's right to sequester first class émigrés' revenues and article 11 classified émigré soldiers as deserters.<ref name=mitchell/> As the Legislative Assembly considered third class émigrés to be faultless victims of trickery and seduction by the other two classes, the legislators' decree explicitly avoided issuing punitive measures against third class émigrés—whereas the other classes were to be financially and socially punished, third class émigrés were to be treated with "sympathy and understanding".<ref name=mitchell/> The émigrés decree was vetoed by the king three days later.<ref name=mitchell/> The laws regarding the clergy were mostly made in response to a reform passed by the [[National Assembly (French Revolution)|National Assembly]] in July 1790, known as the [[Civil Constitution of the Clergy]].<ref name=popkin/> In this decree, the National Assembly took the power to appoint bishops and curés away from the king. Many members of the Catholic clergy objected to this ruling.<ref name=popkin/> In response, the National Assembly required a public oath of fidelity from the clergy if they wanted to retain their positions in the Catholic Church.<ref name=popkin/> This decision was not well received by a substantial portion of the clergy, which is why the Legislative Assembly felt it was necessary to address the issue. Those unwilling to take the oath were known as non-juring members.<ref name=popkin/> On 29 November 1791, the Legislative Assembly decreed that any who refused to take the oath were committing a political crime and were liable to punishments including loss of pension and expulsion from their homes in the event of religious disturbances.<ref>MacLehose, Sophia. From the Monarchy to the Republic in France: 1788–1792. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 1904. Retrieved from [http://heinonline.org/HOL/Contents?handle=hein.cow/mrepfrn0001&id=1&size=2&index=cowbooks&collection=cow heinonline.org]. p. 366.</ref>
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