French Royal Edict, 1770

Collection

Identifier: MSS-4781

No requestable containers

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of a single printed French royal edict titled Édit du Roi, portant création d'un contrat d’un million deux cent mille livres de rente, au principal de trente millions, au profit de la Compagnie des Indes, published in Paris by P.G. Simon in 1770. The edict spans two disbound leaves (four pages) in quarto format.

Issued in the wake of the dissolution of the Compagnie des Indes (Indies Company), the edict outlines the financial measures undertaken by the French Crown to absorb and restructure the Company’s substantial assets and debts.

Dates

Creation: 1770

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Due to the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to certain materials may require additional advance notice.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers are responsible for using the materials in conformance with United States copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any copyright claimants in collection materials. Copyright for official University records is held by The University of Alabama. The library claims only physical ownership of many manuscript collections. Anyone wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of literary property rights or copyrights. Please contact Special Collections (archives@ua.edu) with questions regarding specific manuscript collections.

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Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals without the consent of those individuals may have legal implications, for which the University of Alabama assumes no responsibility.

Biographical / Historical

Founded in the seventeenth century and restructured multiple times, the Compagnie des Indes (Indies Company) was a powerful mercantile institution under the French monarchy, holding monopolies over colonial trade in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. By the eighteenth century, the Company was deeply entangled in the Atlantic slave trade, transporting enslaved Africans to French colonies and distributing commodities such as coffee, sugar, and tobacco produced through enslaved labor.

Following years of mismanagement, war-related losses, and growing public criticism, the Company was officially abolished in 1769. In response, King Louis XV issued this 1770 edict to nationalize the Company’s assets, valued at thirty-million livres, and convert its capital into a state-managed fund. The edict's goal was to liquidate the Company’s debts and stabilize investor confidence while dissolving the monopoly structure that had enabled exploitative colonial trade systems.