The instructions given to the Deputies of the States-General, as to the grievances to be laid before the King in 1789. The principal demands were: equality in punishments; suppression of the sale of public offices; suppression of seignorial judicial powers, of the Gabelle, the corvée and the militia ballot; religious toleration, and amelioration of the condition of the parish clergy.
Caisse de Poissy.
A species of bank, established at Poissy, near Paris, under municipal control, to secure the proper provisioning of the Paris market. It proceeded by way of loan to the butchers, charging interest on the advances and a percentage on all meat purchased, and as none could enter the markets without a certificate of the payment of this fee, it had absolute control of the trade. It was abolished in 1791, re-established in 1810, under the control of the Prefect of the Seine, and finally abolished in 1858.
Calatrava, Knights of.
A Spanish order of religious chivalry, established by Papal Bull in 1164. The rules of the order were similar to those of the Benedictines, the knights being bound, among other vows, to perpetual celibacy. The object of the order was the expulsion of the Mussulman power from Spain.
Calendar Act.
An Act passed in 1751 substituting the Gregorian for the Julian Calendar. With the exception of Sweden and Russia, England was the last country to adopt the new style.
Calixtines.
The more moderate of the two sections into which the Hussite sect was divided after the death of Jerome of Prague. The more fanatical section was that of John Zisca, known as the Taborites.