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title: "Civil Constitution of the Clergy Explained | Model Diplomat"
description: "The Revolution's bid to reform the Catholic Church created a bitter schism, splitting clergy into oaths and turning millions of French believers against the"
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/lessons/civil-constitution-of-the-clergy"
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The Civil Constitution of the Clergy

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Lesson 12 min 20 XP

# The Civil Constitution of the Clergy

How the Revolution's attempt to reform the Catholic Church created a bitter schism that turned millions of French people against the revolutionary government.

## The Church and the Old Regime

The Catholic Church was the largest institutional landowner in France, controlling perhaps 10% of all land. It collected the tithe (dime) from peasants, ran schools and hospitals, maintained parish registers, and served as the moral and social anchor of village life. The higher clergy — bishops and abbots — were overwhelmingly drawn from the nobility and lived lavishly, while parish priests often shared the poverty of their flocks.

The Revolution's early moves against the Church were primarily financial. On November 2, 1789, the Assembly nationalized all Church property, using it as collateral for the assignats — paper currency designed to solve the government's fiscal crisis. Monasteries were dissolved. Religious orders were suppressed. These measures were controversial but not necessarily fatal to the Church's role in French life.

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