Encyclopédie de la fausse noblesse et de la noblesse d'apparence (Collection "Noblesses d'hier et d'aujourd'hui")

by Pierre Marie Dioudonnat

French

671 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Michael Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Encyclopedia of False Nobility and Apparent Nobility". The French are picky about a lot of things, including who gets to be called an aristocrat. (Remember that the majority of patents to titles were destroyed during the Revolution, in order to "level" classes in the Republic.) The families listed herein apparently have pretensions above their station, and the author doesn’t hesitate to label many of them "famille bourgeoisie." Entries are very brief but sources are included for most, as well as the province or department where the family is or was located.