Essai sur la noblesse de France

Henri de Boulainvilliers's Essai sur la noblesse de France (Treatise on the French Nobility) was a posthumously published work that analyzed the decline of the French nobility. In it, Boulainvilliers defended the aristocracy and critiqued the absolutism of Louis XIV, questioning the legitimacy of French political institutions. He argued that the noble classes were originally Germanic Franks who conquered the native populations, establishing their ruling status through military might and preserving their superiority in their blood. This theory contributed to the idea of "race" as an explanation for historical events. Boulainvilliers's work also touched upon the distinction between nobles who gained rank through military service (noblesse d'épée) and those who acquired it through holding state office (noblesse de robe).123