- Date:
- c. 1250 - c. 1789
- Areas Of Involvement:
- Medieval law
- parlementaire
- Curia
Parlement
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What was the Parlement in France?
The Parlement was a historical supreme court in France under the ancien rĂ©gime. Originating from the Kingâs Court (Curia Regis) during the Capetian dynasty (987â1328), it evolved around 1250 under Louis IX into a judicial body called curia regis in parlemento, handling appeals and royal town cases.
Initially a single entity in Paris, other parlements were created in the provinces, but the Parlement of Paris retained authority over nearly half the kingdom. It checked royal edicts, ensuring they aligned with law, justice, and the realm's interests, and could voice remonstrances to the king. The Parlements gained political influence by registering royal decrees as law and took on quasi-administrative functions related to charity, education, and policing. Members acquired hereditary status through the purchase of offices, becoming a powerful elite.
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What was the main role of the Parlement?
The Parlement's main role in France was as a supreme court under the ancien régime. It evolved from the King's Court and by 1250, it was hearing appeals and deciding cases concerning royal towns.
The Parlements also held political power, stemming from their registration of the kingâs edicts and letters patent. They examined measures to ensure they aligned with law, justice, and the realm's interests, and could send remonstrances to the king if they did not. The king could force registration via a lit de justice, but the public deplored such actions. By the 18th century, the members largely sought to maintain their own privileges, which also served to focus more general feelings of political and social discontent.
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How did the Parlement differ from a modern parliament?
The Parlement in France, a supreme court under the ancien rĂ©gime, differed significantly from a modern parliament. Originating from the King's Court (Curia Regis) during the Capetian dynasty (987â1328), it evolved to handle judicial sessions and royal administration matters. Unlike modern parliaments with elected representatives, seats in the Parlement were often hereditary or acquired through venality, creating a self-conscious elite.
The Parlement had the power to register royal edicts, examining them for conformity with law and justice, and could address remonstrances to the king if necessary. However, the king could override this through a lit de justice. Modern parliaments legislate and control the executive, but the French Parlement primarily functioned as a court with quasi-administrative roles. While it claimed to represent the Estates-General, its members were not elected and mainly sought to maintain their privileges.
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Where was the most important Parlement located?
The most important Parlement was located in Paris. Established out of the King's Court, or Curia Regis, the Parlement of Paris held jurisdiction over almost half the kingdom. It was installed in a special pleading chamber on the site of the modern Palais de Justice.
Though other parlements existed in the provinces, the Parlement of Paris was the most significant. As the supreme court under the ancien régime in France, the parlements' political influence came from their registration of royal edicts and letters patent. They examined measures to ensure they aligned with justice, law, and the realm's interests, and they addressed remonstrances to the king if misaligned.
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How did the Parlement influence French laws and government?
The Parlements of France, especially the Parlement of Paris, significantly influenced French laws and government through their power to register royal edicts as law. Before registration, the Parlements examined edicts to ensure they aligned with justice, law, and the realm's interests, and they could send remonstrances to the king if misaligned.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Parlements opposed the crown, a practice that, despite restrictions by Louis XIV, resumed in the 18th century. Though largely motivated by self-interest, this opposition highlighted widespread discontent. The Parlements' actions, including resisting reforms and advocating for privileges, contributed to the political and social tensions that eventually led to the French Revolution.
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What happened to the Parlement during the French Revolution?
During the French Revolution, the Parlements, or the historical supreme courts of France, were swept away early on. They were seen as a source of privilege and reaction.
Leading up to this, the Parlements had a history of conflict with the crown, especially in the 18th century, as its members aimed to protect their privileges, which also channeled broader political and social discontent. The Parlements gained political influence through their power to register royal edicts, which allowed them to assess whether these edicts aligned with the law and the realm's interests.
In 1771, Louis XV dissolved the Paris Parlements and created new ones with appointed judges lacking administrative and political power, but Louis XVI recalled the old Parlements in 1774. By 1788, the crown was forced to recall the Parlements again after dismissing them, amidst growing disorder and tax collection issues.
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Parlement, the supreme court under the ancien rĂ©gime in France. It developed out of the Curia Regis (Kingâs Court), in which the early kings of the Capetian dynasty (987â1328) periodically convened their principal vassals and prelates to deliberate with them on feudal and political matters. It also dealt with the few legal cases submitted to the king as sovereign judge.
Throughout the 12th century and in the first decades of the 13th, the Curia Regis grew in importance, and professional advisers, or consiliarii, were added to its membership. Meanwhile, by a slow process, judicial sessions came to be differentiated from meetings for other business; and by about 1250, during the reign of Louis IX (1226â70), these judicial sessions were being described as curia regis in parlemento (âspeakingâ), or Parlement. The curia in parlemento also began hearing appeals against the judgments of baillis (representatives of the royal administration in the provinces) and deciding cases concerning the royal towns. The expansion of the royal domain further enlarged the competence of the curia in parlemento, which also could serve politically to strengthen the royal power by means of its arrĂȘts (final decisions), since these expressed the kingâs law with incontestable authority.
Louis IX had his curia in parlemento installed in a special Chambre aux Plaids, or pleading chamber, on what is now the site of the modern Palais de Justice in Paris. The Grand Chambre, as the Chambre aux Plaids came to be called, remained the core of Parlement, although other chambres grew up alongside it, including the Chambre des EnquĂȘtes (âinquiriesâ) and the Chambre des RequĂȘtes (âpetitionsâ), both instituted in the 14th century; the criminal chamber, known as the Chambre de la Tournelle (âtowerâ; so called because it sat in a turret in the palace), formally instituted in the 16th century but in existence much earlier; and the Chambre de lâĂdit (âedictâ), instituted in the 16th century to deal with Huguenot affairs but finally abolished in 1669.
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Vacant seats in the Parlement in the later Middle Ages were supposed to be filled by election or co-optation, but from the 14th century members had resigned in favour of their sons or sold their seats to others. In 1552 venality was formally recognized by the crown. Attempts to abolish it later in the century came to nothing, and in 1604 the paulette, a new tax devised by financier Charles Paulet, was established, enabling officeholders to ensure the hereditability of their offices by paying one-sixtieth of its purchase price every year. However, the office of premier president, the head of Parlement, could be acquired only by a nominee of the crown.
Originally there was only one Parlement, that of Paris. Others were created later for the provinces, but the Parlement of Paris retained jurisdiction over nearly half the kingdom.
The political pretensions of the Parlements were based on their registration of the kingâs edicts and letters patent. Before registering a measure, the Parlements examined it to see that it conformed with the principles of law and justice and with the interests of the king and realm; if it did not, they withheld registration and addressed remonstrances to the king. If the king wished to force registration, he had to order it in a letter or appear in person before the Parlement in a special session called the lit de justice (literally âbed of justice,â a term originally used to describe the seat occupied by the king in these proceedings), where his presence would suspend any delegation of authority to his magistrates.
During the 16th and early 17th centuries the Parlements took up a course of systematic opposition to the crown. Although this activity was restricted under Louis XIV (1643â1715), who punished the Parlement by severely restricting their right to remonstrance for nearly 50 years, it was resumed in the 18th century. By that time, the membersâ opposition was largely motivated by their desire to maintain their own privileges; nevertheless, it served to focus more general feelings of political and social discontent. At the same time, however, the Parlements were looked upon as a source of privilege and reaction, and they were swept away early in the French Revolution.
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