Page "Bastille" Paragraph 44

Many prisoners still continued to come from the upper classes, particularly in those cases termed " déordres des familles ", or disorders of the family.

These cases typically involving members of the aristocracy who had, as historian Richard Andrews notes, " rejected parental authority, disgraced the family reputation, manifested mental derangement, squandered capital or violated professional codes.

" Their families – often their parents, but sometimes husbands and wives taking action against their spouses – could apply for individuals to be detained at one of the royal prisons, resulting in an average imprisonment of between six months and four years.

Such a detention could be preferable to facing a scandal or a public trial over their misdemeanours, and the secrecy that surrounded detention at the Bastille allowed personal and family reputations to be quietly protected.

The Bastille was considered one of the best prisons for an upper-class prisoner to be detained at, because of the standard of the facilities for the wealthy.

In the aftermath of the notorious " Affair of the Diamond Necklace " of 1786, involving the Queen and accusations of fraud, all the eleven suspects were held in the Bastille, significantly increasing the notoriety surrounding the institution.