Parlement

Parlement, the name applied in France, down to the Revolution, to certain superior and final courts of judicature, in which also the edicts of the king were registered before they became laws. Of these the chief was that of Paris, but there were no fewer than twelve provincial parlements, at Toulouse, Grenoble, Bordeaux, Dijon, Pau, Metz, Besançon, Douai, Rouen, Aix, Rennes, and Nancy. These, though not actually connected with that of Paris, invariably made common cause with it in its struggles with the royal power. The parlement of Paris dated from the 14th century, and already consisted of three chambers, the Grand Chambre, the Chambre des Enquêtes, and the Chambre des Requêtes. By 1344 it had grown in numbers and power, and consisted of 3 presidents and 78 counsellors, of whom 44 were ecclesiastics and 34 laymen. In 1467 Louis XI. made the counsellors irremovable. Its influence grew during the 16th century, and it now began to find courage to deliberate on the royal edicts as well as merely register them, which the king could always force them to do by coming in person and holding a 'lit de justice' (see BED OF JUSTICE). Neither Richelieu nor Louis XIV. permitted such discussion of their edicts, and both the Regent Orleans and Louis XV. followed their policy. The latter exiled the members from Paris in 1753 for their interference in the struggle between the Jansenists and the Jesuits, and in 1770, on the advice of Maupeon, abolished the old parlement altogether and established the Parlement Maupeou. Louis XVI., however, recalled the former counsellors. These in the last days of their existence were grouped as follows: The Grand Chambre, with 10 presidents and 37 counsellors, of whom 12 were clerics; the three Chambres des Enquêtes, each formed by 2 presidents and 23 counsellors; and the Chambre des Requêtes, in which sat 2 presidents and 13 counsellors.