The Chambre introuvable (French for "Unobtainable Chamber") was the first Chamber of Deputies elected after the Second Bourbon Restoration in 1815. 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, [1] referring to the impossibility of cooperating with the chamber. [2]
The elections held on 14 August 1815, under census suffrage and the impact of the "White Terror", produced a heavy Ultra-royalist majority: 350 of the 402 members were Ultra-royalists. [2]
The "Unobtainable Chamber", which was first assembled on 7 October 1815, was characterized by its zeal in favour of the aristocracy and the clergy and aimed at reestablishing the Ancien Régime . The Chambre introuvable banned the display of tricolor flags, [2] voted the establishment of military provost-marshal courts, [3] and banished all of the Conventionnels who had voted for Louis XVI's execution. [4] The chamber pursued its militant policy even in defiance of the king himself, proclaiming Vive le roi, quand même ("Long live the king, no matter what"). [2]
Louis XVIII, confronted with rising discontent in French society, followed the counsels of a group of figures including the liberal leader Élie, duc Decazes; 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 5 September 1816. [5]
The subsequent elections resulted in the Ultras being temporarily replaced by the moderate royalist Ministériels and the more liberal Doctrinaires , who attempted to reconcile the Revolution's legacy with the monarchy. [6] [7]
When the Ultra-royalists regained their parliamentary majority at the elections of February–March 1824, the resulting chamber was dubbed the Chambre retrouvée, the "Recovered Chamber", in reference to the Chambre introuvable. [8] [9]