The political and administrative systems in France in the 17th and 18th centuries under the Bourbon kings, before the French Revolution; it is also applied more widely to much of the rest of Europe. The monarch had (in theory) unlimited authority, including the right to imprison individuals without trial. There was no representative assembly. Privilege, above all, was the hallmark of the ancien régime: the nobility were privileged before the law, in matters of taxation, and in the holding of high offices. The French Revolution was an uprising by the underprivileged.