Notables

Notables ( French les notables , the respected ones) were the members of the upper social class, whose reputation was based on a high rank, special merit or a large fortune. The appointment by the French king was decisive for membership in this “group of people”. The members were involved in the political process of the state. In a figurative sense, notables also referred to the higher-ranking citizens . In the literal sense of the word, notables means “to be observed” or “noteworthy”. The concept of notables - at least insofar as it is used for corresponding groups in Germany - is not congruent with that of the upper-class citizen , who includes people of bourgeois origin with large wealth and a corresponding lifestyle, while notables, in contrast to this, also include those people who also do not have large Assets held a prominent position in society because of their reputation and rank.

France

In France , the extended council meetings of the king have been known as assemblées des notables since the 15th century . In contrast to the Estates-General , they came about at the request of the King.

The notables represented all three estates , but were less of a hindrance to the absolutist development of the state because, in contrast to the 3rd estate , they had significantly more rights and therefore did not protest against the king.

At the Notable Assembly of 1627, however, this limited form of referendum was officially dispensed with. It was not until 160 years later, in 1787, when the French state was facing bankruptcy due to the American War of Independence and a persistent bad harvest , that the then Minister of Finance, Charles Alexandre de Calonne , had to call the notables to Versailles again . (→ Notable Assembly (1787) ) This overthrew the minister and demanded fundamental reforms, such as the tax reform, which, however , had been rejected by the parliament . Thereupon a convocation of the Estates General was arranged, which was the impetus for the French Revolution .

Hamburg

In the city republic of Hamburg the notables received in the constitution of 1859 a specially created safeguard of their influence on the city regiment. Here the concept of notables was adopted for those eligible voters who sent their members to the citizenship outside of general elections. The notables coming from the deputations should be "a counterweight to the tendency towards the sole rule of certain people classes". The influence of the merchants in the basic committees was considerable. In many cases, Hamburg's Notable MPs were identified across the board with the wholesale interests.

See also

• Dignitaries

literature

• Geert Seelig : The historical development of the Hamburg citizenship and the Hamburg notables. L. Gräfe & Sillem, Hamburg 1900.
• Frank-Michael Wiegand : The notables. Studies on the history of the electoral law and the elected citizenship in Hamburg 1859-1919. Association for Hamburg History, Hamburg 1987, ISBN 3-923356-14-5 , pp. 45ff. and 91f. ( Contributions to the history of Hamburg 30), (Simultaneously: Hamburg, Univ., Diss., 1986).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Heinrich Erdmann: The "electoral robbery" of 1906 as a breach of tradition. On the relationship between the Senate and the citizenship according to the constitutions of 1860 and 1879, 1906, 1919 . Quote: “However, by no means all 192 members of the citizenship were to be appointed by the electorate. Citizenship suffrage was not only a census but also a class and plural suffrage. Within the electorate, limited by tax payments, two particularly privileged electoral classes had been created, whose members had the right to vote not only as wealthy or income taxpayers: the class of owners of urban and suburban land, i.e. the 'hereditary', and the newly created Class of holders of public honorary offices, the so-called 'notables'. These two classes had their own contingents in the citizenry. Of all citizens, only 84 members of the citizenship were to be elected as 'people's deputies'. The landowners and the notables among the citizens entitled to vote were additionally entitled to 48 and 60 members respectively. So each landowner had two votes and the notables, who were also landowners, even had three votes. "