Baptism and Citizenship from the Ancien Regime to the French Revolution

The essay wants to be a contribution to a more comprehensive understaniding of the relations between Churches and States during the Ancien Regime, moving from the analysis of the double effect of baptism, which included also the civil effect of attributing a primary or "anagraphical" level of citizenship, not to be confused with the much more restricted political citizenship; and points out that in attributing civil rights, baptism included many who were excluded from political citizenships, such as women and serfs, but excluded on a confessional basis those not belonging to the official and compulsory Church, operating in this way against the principles of tolerance.