Download or read book Patrons, Brokers, and Clients in Seventeenth-century France written by Sharon Kettering and published by New York : Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1986 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A bold new study of politics and power in 17th-century France, this book argues that the French Crown extended its control over the provinces and laid the foundations for a centralized state by removing patronage power from the provincial governors and putting it instead in the hands of newly-created provincial power brokers--regional notables who cooperated with the Paris ministers in exchange for their patronage.