Louis XVI Agrees to Civil Constitution: French Clergy Under State Control
Louis XVI signed away the Catholic Church's independence in France, putting priests on the government payroll and making bishops elected officials. He agonized for months. The Pope would condemn it. Half the clergy would refuse the oath. But the Assembly had already seized Church lands worth billions in today's money, and the Revolution needed cash. His signature bought temporary peace with radicals who'd behead him in three years. The Civil Constitution didn't just split the French Church—it made religious loyalty a political test, turning village priests into revolutionaries or traitors overnight.
December 26, 1790
236 years ago
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