Civil Constitution of the Clergy

The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was a 1790 French law that reorganized the Catholic Church under state authority, making clergy elected and salaried public officials.

Department (France): A territorial administrative division of France, introduced during the French Revolution. The law redrew dioceses to match France’s new departmental boundaries.
French Revolution: A period of political and social upheaval in France beginning in 1789 and ending in 1799. Revolutionary political restructuring created the setting for state-led church reform.
Pius VI: Pope from 1775 to 1799 who condemned several measures of the French Revolution. His rejection of the constitution sharpened the conflict between Rome and revolutionary France.
Napoleonic Concordat: The 1801 agreement regulating relations between Napoleon’s government and the Catholic Church in France. Unlike the 1790 law, it restored papal recognition while retaining substantial state influence.
Constitutional bishop: A bishop elected under the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and recognized by the revolutionary state. These bishops embodied the new system of church leadership chosen through elections.
National Constituent Assembly: The French assembly that governed from 1789 to 1791 and drafted the first revolutionary constitution. It debated and enacted the measure as part of its broader reconstruction of France.
Refractory clergy: French clergy who refused the oath required by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Their refusal created a rival clerical community outside the state-approved church.
Papal supremacy: The doctrine that the pope holds supreme authority over the Catholic Church. The constitution’s transfer of control to the state directly challenged this claim.
Constitutional priest: A Catholic priest who accepted the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and its state-supervised church structure. The law required clergy to swear allegiance to the new order.
Decree on the Church's Property: A November 1789 French decree placing church property at the disposal of the nation. Nationalization of church lands preceded the reorganization of church offices.

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