The Jean Nicolas Database. The French Rebellion, 1661-1789

Résumé

This article introduces the Jean Nicolas Database, a comprehensive resource doc-umenting 8,516 rebellions in France between 1661 and 1789. Based on a survey con-ducted by Jean Nicolas from the early 1980s to the late 1990s, the database records each event’s typology, chronology, location, participant characteristics, forms of con-frontation and violence, legal consequences, sources, and authorship. In addition to detailing the construction methodology of the database, the article critically evaluates its reliability by analyzing biases introduced during the original data collection pro-cess. It also provides methodological guidance to end users to mitigate the database’s limitations.