La Chambre introuvable (
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
for "Unobtainable Chamber") was the first
Chamber of DeputiesChamber of Deputies was the name given to several parliamentary bodies in France in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries:* 1814–1848 during the Bourbon Restoration and the July Monarchy, the Chamber of Deputies was the Lower chamber of the French Parliament, elected by census suffrage.*...
elected after the
Second Bourbon RestorationThe Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the restored Bourbon Kingdom of France which existed from 1814 until the July Revolution of 1830, with the interval of the "Hundred Days" from Napoleon Bonaparte's return from Elba to the Battle of Waterloo in 1814–15. The regime was a constitutional...
(1815-1830). It was dominated by Ultra-royalists who completely refused to accept the results of the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
. The name was coined by King
Louis XVIII of FranceLouis XVIII , Louis Stanislas Xavier de France, was King of France and Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815. Louis XVIII spent twenty-three years in exile, from 1791 to 1814, due to the French Revolution, and was exiled again in 1815, upon the return of Napoleon Bonaparte...
.
The elections, held on August 14, 1815 under census suffrage and under the impact of the "
White TerrorIn general, the term White Terror refers to acts of violence carried out by reactionary groups as part of a counter-revolution...
", produced a heavy ultra-royalist majority: 350 of the 402 members were ultra-royalists.
The "Unobtainable Chamber", which was first assembled on October 7, 1815, was characterized by its zeal in favour of the
aristocracyAristocracy is a form of government, in which a few of the most prominent citizens rule. This may be a hereditary elite, or it may be by a system of cooption where a council of prominent citizens add leading soldiers, merchants, land owners, priests, and lawyers to their number...
and the
clergyClergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. The term ultimately comes from the Greek κλῆρος - klēros, "a lot", "that which is assigned by lot" or metaphorically, "inheritence"....
and aimed at reestablishing the
Ancien RégimeAncien Régime refers primarily to the aristocratic, social, and political system established in France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties...
.
La Chambre introuvable (
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
for "Unobtainable Chamber") was the first
Chamber of DeputiesChamber of Deputies was the name given to several parliamentary bodies in France in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries:* 1814–1848 during the Bourbon Restoration and the July Monarchy, the Chamber of Deputies was the Lower chamber of the French Parliament, elected by census suffrage.*...
elected after the
Second Bourbon RestorationThe Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the restored Bourbon Kingdom of France which existed from 1814 until the July Revolution of 1830, with the interval of the "Hundred Days" from Napoleon Bonaparte's return from Elba to the Battle of Waterloo in 1814–15. The regime was a constitutional...
(1815-1830). It was dominated by Ultra-royalists who completely refused to accept the results of the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
. The name was coined by King
Louis XVIII of FranceLouis XVIII , Louis Stanislas Xavier de France, was King of France and Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815. Louis XVIII spent twenty-three years in exile, from 1791 to 1814, due to the French Revolution, and was exiled again in 1815, upon the return of Napoleon Bonaparte...
.
The elections, held on August 14, 1815 under census suffrage and under the impact of the "
White TerrorIn general, the term White Terror refers to acts of violence carried out by reactionary groups as part of a counter-revolution...
", produced a heavy ultra-royalist majority: 350 of the 402 members were ultra-royalists.
The "Unobtainable Chamber", which was first assembled on October 7, 1815, was characterized by its zeal in favour of the
aristocracyAristocracy is a form of government, in which a few of the most prominent citizens rule. This may be a hereditary elite, or it may be by a system of cooption where a council of prominent citizens add leading soldiers, merchants, land owners, priests, and lawyers to their number...
and the
clergyClergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. The term ultimately comes from the Greek κλῆρος - klēros, "a lot", "that which is assigned by lot" or metaphorically, "inheritence"....
and aimed at reestablishing the
Ancien RégimeAncien Régime refers primarily to the aristocratic, social, and political system established in France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties...
. The Chambre introuvable voted the establishment of military
provost-marshalThe Provost Marshal is the officer in the armed forces who is in charge of the military police .There may be a Provost Marshal serving at many levels of the hierarchy and he may also be the public safety officer of a military installation, responsible for the provision of fire and ambulance...
courts and
banishedBanishment may refer to* The Banishment, a 2008 film by Andrey Zvyagintsev* Exile...
all of the Conventionnels who had voted for Louis XVI's execution.
King Louis XVIII, confronted with rising discontent in French society, followed the counsels of the
Duc de RichelieuArmand Emmanuel Sophie Septemanie du Plessis, duc de Richelieu was a prominent French statesman during the Bourbon Restoration...
, prime minister since September 1815,
the Duke of WellingtonField Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, KP, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Anglo-Irish soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the nineteenth century....
, the British commander of the occupation troops, and the Russian ambassador Pozzo di Borgo, and dissolved the Chamber on September 5, 1816.
The subsequent elections resulted in the Ultras being temporarily replaced by the more liberal
DoctrinairesDoctrinaires was the name given during the Bourbon Restoration to the little group of French Royalists who hoped to reconcile the Monarchy with the Revolution, and power with liberty...
, who attempted to reconcile the Revolution's legacy with the monarchy.
When under the government of
Jean-Baptiste, comte de VillèleJean-Baptiste Guillaume Joseph Marie Anne Séraphin, comte de Villèle , was a French statesman. Several time Prime minister, he was a leader of the Ultra-royalist faction during the Bourbon Restoration.- Youth :...
the Ultra-Royalists resumed the majority in the chamber in December 1823, this chamber was dubbed
Chambre retrouvée in reference to the "Chambre introuvable".