Social terminology in “Traité de la Noblesse” by Gilles-André La Roque de La Lontière (1678)

The “Traité de la noblesse” by Gilles-André de La Rocque de La Lontière is an example of the treatises on nobility that were prevalent in early modern Europe. The author, a renowned French genealogist, heraldist, and royal historiographer, presented his work as a comprehensive summary and conclusion on the issues surrounding nobility in French society. Although Larocque’s voluminous treatise has been referenced by researchers of the French nobility, it has not been the subject of in-depth investigation by Russian historians. This paper aims to address this gap in the historical literature by analysing the major problems outlined in the treatise and the social terminology used by Larocque as a reflection of the process of defining the boundaries of the noble estate in early modern France. The close subject and epistemic connection between the nobiliary discourse and the French erudite intellectual current is demonstrated. The process of closure of the nobility that took place at that time required the delineation of the boundary between the nobility and the roturiers. In this regard, the internal structure of the French nobility was of little interest to La Rocque, who focused on clarifying its lower border. He provides a detailed account of the terms used to define the borderline between the lower levels of nobility. Larocque addresses the controversial question of the dignity of the old and new nobility, concluding that they are equivalent.