Rue Quincampoix 1719
1719, Paris. The rue Quincampoix is packed with people day and night, and there are stories of servants growing richer than their masters. The Regent has handed the kingdom’s finances to a Scot named John Law. You are a woman who runs a wig shop on a corner of that street.
Historical background
When Louis XIV died in 1715 France was crushed by war debt. Philippe, Duke of Orléans, regent for the young Louis XV, took up the scheme of the Scottish financier John Law. In 1716 Law founded the General Bank, which issued paper money and became the Royal Bank in 1718. In 1717 he founded the Company of the West (the Mississippi Company), holding the Louisiana trade, then merged other trading companies into it to form the Company of the Indies in 1719. The crowds who came to buy shares filled the narrow rue Quincampoix in Paris; the tale of the hunchback who rented out his back as a desk, and the word "millionaire", date from this time.
Shares issued at 500 livres soared towards 10,000 by the end of 1719, and in January 1720 Law became Controller-General of Finances. That same year people rushed to change paper for coin, the system collapsed, and Law left France in December. In March 1720 the Count of Horn murdered a share broker near the rue Quincampoix and was broken on the wheel. The South Sea bubble burst in London that same year. In 1721 the Visa commission audited holders of shares and notes, and the bandit Cartouche was executed. In 1725 Louis XV married Marie Leszczyńska.
Who you are
You begin as a 32-year-old woman running a wig shop on a corner of the rue Quincampoix. You have neither land nor sword, but you have a shop, customers and the street's gossip. Bastien the hunchback, Angus MacLean, a Scottish clerk at the Royal Bank, and old Duval the money-changer are the people of this life, and the shadow of the bandit Cartouche is never far away.
The current of history: The Mississippi and South Sea bubbles
With the invitation "Rue Quincampoix" you walk into the middle of the share mania, choosing which company’s shares to stake your money and fate on.
Sides you can take
- Mississippi Company Buy shares in John Law's company and give yourself to the Paris frenzy.
- South Sea Company Try your luck across the sea with London’s South Sea Company.
Tips
Questions and answers
How close is this scenario to real history?
John Law's General Bank and Royal Bank, the Mississippi Company and the Company of the Indies, the share mania in the rue Quincampoix and the hunchback story, the collapse of 1720 and Law's flight, the Count of Horn affair, the South Sea bubble, the Visa commission, Cartouche and the king's wedding in 1725 are historical. The starting map, realms, real historical figures and the major events of the current of history follow actual history. You and the companions, rivals and loves around you are fictional people who could have lived then, and once you start, history may diverge according to your choices and those of the AI rulers.
What station do I start in?
You start as a 32-year-old common woman living in Paris, a wigmaker. You belong to the Kingdom of France and have no land.
Is it free? Can I play right away?
Yes. Crown & Plough is a free browser game with no account and nothing to install. The "Start in this scene" button on this page opens the scenario's intro screen directly, and progress is saved automatically in your browser. It works on phones too.
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