The Jesuit colleges had been closed on April 1, 1763, and by a further arrêt of March 9, 1764, the Jesuits are required to renounce their vows under pain of banishment.

At the end of November 1764, the king signs an edict dissolving the Society throughout his dominions, for they are still protected by some provincial parlements, as in Franche-Comté, Alsace, and Artois.

In the draft of the edict, he cancels numerous clauses that imply that the Society is guilty, and writing to Choiseul he concludes: "If I adopt the advice of others for the peace of my realm, you must make the changes I propose, or I will do nothing. I say no more, lest I should say too much."