Kingdom of France

For other uses of the term, see Ancien Régime. For the history of France in this period, see Early Modern France. The Ancien Régime, a French term rendered in English as "Old Rule," "Old Kingdom," or simply "Old Regime", refers primarily to the aristocratic, social and political system established in France from (roughly) the 15th century to the 18th century under the late Valois and Bourbon dynasties. The administrative and social structures of the Ancien Régime were the result of centuries of nation-building, legislative acts (like the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts), internal conflicts and civil wars, but they remained a confusing patchwork of local privilege and historic differences until the French Revolution brought about a radical suppression of administrative incoherence.
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