Fronde, a name given to a revolt in France opposed to the Court of Anne of Austria and Mazarin during the minority of Louis XIV. The war which arose, and which was due to the despotism of Mazarin, passed through two phases: it was first a war on the part of the people and the parlement, called the Old Fronde, which lasted from 1648 till 1649, and then a war on the part of the nobles, called the New Fronde, which lasted till 1652, when the revolt was crushed by Turenne to the triumph of the royal power. The name is derived from the mimic fights with slings in which the boys of Paris indulged themselves, and which even went so far as to beat back at times the civic guard sent to suppress them.