42 / Henri Sée
In 1765 the assembly of the clergy itself urged a reform among the regular clergy.
The government, without calling upon the authority of the Pope to interfere in a question
of internal order, established a “commission for the regulars” in 1766. It functioned until
1789. This commission suppressed several congregations, and in many cases joined into
one group monks scattered in various organizations. It reduced the number of monks
from 26,000 to 17,000. From 1770 to 1789 the number of Benedictines decreased from
6434 to 4300, and the number of Franciscans fell from 9820 to 6064. But the laxity of
morals continued. And it must be said in addition that many monks were favorable to the
new ideas, read the writings of the philosophers, and were impregnated with the new
doctrines. From among this class the constitutional clergy recruited most of its adherents
at the time of the Revolution.
The decadence was less felt among the new corporations, especially among those
composed of women, such as the Sisters of Charity, of Wisdom, and of the Good
Shepherd, who were engaged in the work of instruction and charity. Their material con-
dition, too, was less prosperous. They possessed little real property and derived income
only from personal property. Their principal resources were furnished by alms and by
the support of pensioners. The old abbeys, on the other hand, often enjoyed consider-
able revenues.
The High Secular Clergy
In many cases the bishops possessed temporal power which conferred dignity and wealth
upon them. A considerable number can be named who held old ecclesiastical seigniories.
Thus the bishop of Strasbourg, who was prince-bishop of Strasburg and landgrave of
Alsace, had large domains in that province. They netted him an income of about 800,000
livres. The archbishop of Cambrai was duke of Cambrai, and his domains had a popula-
tion of 75,000 inhabitants. The archbishop of Besançon, as bishop of Strasbourg, was a
prince of the Empire.
The bishops and archbishops received a great portion of the revenues of the clergy.
It seems, if the Royal Almanach is correct, that certain dioceses, especially in the south-
east, were quite poor, netting only a few thousand livres. They were not very extensive,
either. Most of the bishoprics of Brittany had less than 30,000 livres in revenues. Yet it
seems that the official publications underestimated these revenues. However this may be,
some of the bishoprics brought their incumbents more than 40,000 livres in revenues.
That of Rennes netted almost 60,000; Condom, 70,000; Verdun, 74,000; Beauvais, 96,000;
and Strasbourg, the richest, 400,000. Most of the archbishoprics netted from 40,000 to
70,000 livres. Rouen brought 100,000; Albi, 120,000; Narbonne, 160,000; Paris, 200,000.
Moreover, the bishops possessed almost all the abbeys in commendam, which generally
almost doubled their revenue. Thus Berni, the archbishop of Albi, received 100,000 livres
in this way; Dillon, the archbishop of Narbonne, 120,000; La Rochefoucauld, the arch-