Coutumes are legal customs

Custom (law)

Custom in law is the established pattern of behavior that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law." Customary law exists where:...

 of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

During the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 and early modern period

Early modern period

In history, the early modern period of modern history follows the late Middle Ages. Although the chronological limits of the period are open to debate, the timeframe spans the period after the late portion of the Middle Ages through the beginning of the Age of Revolutions...

 the French kings and their vassals constantly asserted the importance and, in effect, primacy of customary law, especially in the lands north and west of Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. The area where the French customary law (droit coutumier) was in force was known as the pays de coutume. In the south of France Roman law

Roman law

Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the 7th century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the language of government. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence — from the Twelve...

 was paramount (pays de droit écrit). The line separating the two areas was generally the river Loire

Loire (river)

The Loire is the longest river in France. With a length of , it drains an area of , which represents more than a fifth of France's land area. It is the 170th longest river in the world...

, from Geneva

Geneva

Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

 to the mouth of the Charente.

A number of regional coutumes were compiled in the 13th and 14th centuries. The Coutumes de Beauvaisis

Coutumes de Beauvaisis

The Coutumes de Beauvaisis is a monument of medieval French law composed by Philippe de Beaumanoir at the end of 13th century in Old French prose. The text covers a wide range of topics both on procedural and substantive law and is quite voluminous, which explains its attractiveness to scholars...

, compiled by Phillipe de Remy, had a long-lasting influence on French law. There were about 60 such regional coutumes. There were also more than 300 coutumes locales in specific towns and villages. Voltaire

Voltaire

François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...

 said that in France a traveler changed laws as often as he changed horses.

However, by the 16th century the Coutumes of Paris (first published in 1510) had been adopted in all areas except Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

, Burgundy and Brittany

Brittany

Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

. Further development of customary law had been halted by the late 16th century.

When the Napoleonic code

Napoleonic code

The Napoleonic Code — or Code Napoléon — is the French civil code, established under Napoléon I in 1804. The code forbade privileges based on birth, allowed freedom of religion, and specified that government jobs go to the most qualified...

 entered into force in 1804 all the coutumes were abolished.

North America

In 1664 under the royal Act creating the French East India Company

French East India Company

The French East India Company was a commercial enterprise, founded in 1664 to compete with the British and Dutch East India companies in colonial India....

 the Coutumes of Paris became the only legal code in New France

New France

New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...

. In 1866 the Civil Code of Lower Canada

Civil Code of Lower Canada

Civil Code of Lower Canada was the civil code in force in Lower Canada from July 1, 1866 to June 30, 1867 and in Quebec from July 1, 1867 to December 31, 1993...

 was adopted in Lower Canada

Lower Canada

The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...

. The majority of the Code's rules derived from the Coutumes of Paris.