Constitution et Lois fondamentales dans le Dictionnaire universel de Jean-Baptiste Robinet

Abstract

« La Bibliothèque de l’homme d’État et du citoyen », directed by Jean-Baptiste Robinet, fits into the context of the publication of encyclopedias in the last third of the 18th century. From this work in thirty volumes, the structure and the scope of the articles relating to the notions of Constitution and Fundamental Laws will be analyzed. They deserve to be highlighted: indeed, the idea of Constitution found a new meaning which would continue to develop until the Revolution of 1789, while that of Fundamental Laws was renewed thanks to the school of natural law. The study of these two articles, as well as that of the concepts directly associated with them, makes it possible to understand the method by which Robinet defends the foundations of traditional monarchy while encouraging the expression of more modern ideas. English title: Constitution and Fundamental Laws in Jean-Baptiste Robinet's Universal Dictionary Keywords: Constitution, Fundamental Laws, History of Law, Encyclopedism, Jean-Baptiste Robinet