France forbade barbers to practice surgery, although the practice continued elsewhere in Europe. Jean-Sorieus Petit established the French Royal Surgery.
Bouquel's Supériorité de l'homme sur la femme argued that men were superior to women but in 1749 Dinouart argued, in Le Triomphe du sexe, that women were the equals of men.
A 5 percent tax on all incomes introduced, but the clergy were exempted after they protested. The Parlement objected to their exclusion but the king overruled that objection.
Louis XV began storing grain surpluses to be used in case of famine. Rather than relieve concern, this practice led to increases in prices and continued shortages.
Aristocratic Reaction. Population pressure on aristocratic families, along with weaker monarchy, encouraged aristocratic pretensions. Few middle-class people allowed to obtain noble titles. Aristocrats' sons had a growing monopoly on top offices within the French church.
Diderot's encyclopedia banned for containing radical ideas. Despite a temporary relaxation of censorship in the early 18th century, the government continued to censor objectionable works of the Enlightenment.
Louis XV issued edicts that limited parlementary power and outlawed the judicial strike. Louis and the Parlement were engaged in a struggle for control, with Louis trying to continue as an absolute monarch.
