How did Louis XI establish a Royal Postal Service in France?

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postal system A United States Postal Service worker retrieving mail from a mailbox in Manheim, Pennsylvania.

In 1477, Louis XI established the Royal Postal Service in France by organizing a system that employed 230 mounted couriers.1

This initiative was part of a broader trend among emerging nation-states to create efficient, state-controlled relay systems. While this service was not intended for public use, its reliability and security eventually led to the carriage of unofficial correspondence, which the state later legalized to capture the associated fiscal advantages.1