'''La Chambre introuvable''' (
French for "Unobtainable Chamber") was the first
Chamber of Deputies after the
Second Bourbon Restoration (1815-1830). It was dominated by
Ultra-royalists who completely refused to accept the results of the
French Revolution. The name was coined by King
Louis XVIII of France.
The elections, held on
August 14,
1815 under
census suffrage and under the impact of the "
White Terror", produced a heavy ultra-royalist majority: 350 of the 402 members were ultra-royalists.
The "Unobtainable Chamber", which was first assembled on
October 7,
1815, was characterized its zeal in favour of the
aristocracy and the
clergy and aimed at reestablishing the ''
Ancien Régime''. The Chambre introuvable voted the establishment of provost-marshal courts, and
banished all of the
Conventionnels who had voted for
Louis XVI's execution.
King Louis XVIII, confronted with rising discontent in French society, followed the counsels of the
Duc de Richelieu, prime minister since September 1815,
the Duke of Wellington, the British commander of the occupation troops, and the Russian ambassador
Pozzo di Borgo, and dissolved the Chamber on
September 5,
1816.
The subsequent elections resulted in the Ultras being temporarily replaced by the more liberal ''
Doctrinaires'', who attempted to reconcile the Revolution's legacy with the monarchy.
When under the government of
Jean-Baptiste, Comte de Villèle the Ultra-Royalists resumed the majority in the chamber in December
1823, this chamber was dubbed ''Chambre retrouvée'' in reference to the "Chambre introuvable".
See also
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★
France in the nineteenth century
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Bourbon Restoration