Parlement de Normandie
Encyclopedia
The Parliament of Normandy (parlement de Normandie
), also known as the Parliament of Rouen (parlement de Rouen
) after the place where it sat (the provincial capital of Normandy), was a provincial parlement
of ancien regime France
. Its origins are in the court of the exchequer of Normandy
, set up by Rollo
, first duke of Normandy
.
Raised to a souvereign court and given a base in Rouen by Louis XII of France
, this court's name was changed from échiquier to parlement by Francis I of France
on his accession in 1515. The parlement de Rouen had responsibility for the seven great bailliages of Normandy - Rouen
, Caudebec-en-Caux
, Évreux
, Les Andelys
, Caen
, Coutances
and Alençon
. It was thus made up of 4 presidents (of which the first and third were clergy and the other two laymen), 13 clergy councillors, 15 lay councillors, 2 greffiers (a secretary for civil law and one for criminal law), a huissier audiencier (the bailiff who officially assigns documents between lawyers and introduces the judges in the public court room), 6 other huissiers de justice
, 2 advocates general and 1 procurator general. Following letters patent of 1507 from Louis XII, the archbishop of Rouen
and the abbot of Saint-Ouen were 'ex officio' honorary councillors to the parlement.
When the court of the échiquier was made permanent, it was divided into two chambers, one to sit in the morning and the other in the afternoon. This second chamber later became known as the première des enquêtes. The chambre de la Tournelle, entrusted with criminal cases, was built in 1519 and the chambre des vacations was not set up until 1547. Until 1 October 1506, the parlement de Normandie sat in the château de Rouen then in the palais (which was begun in 1499 and only completed long afterwards).
Many kings of France held lits de justice
at the parlement de Normandie. Charles VIII
held one on 27 April 1485 and at it confirmed Normandy's privileges. Louis XII was accompanied there by the main officers of his court on 24 October 1508. On 2 August 1517, Francis I held one there, accompanied by chancellor Duprat
and many officers of his court. Some days later, the dauphin came to the parliament, where he was granted the same honours as the king himself, as the king had ordered. In January 1518, he granted the parlement de Normandie the same privileges as that of the parlement de Paris and, by another edict the following February, temporarily exempted it from the arrière-ban
.
On 8 October 1550, Henri II
held a lit de justice at the parlement de Rouen, accompanied by the cardinals, king Henry II of Navarre
, many dukes, constable Anne de Montmorency, the admiral, the duc de Longueville, chancellor Olivier, and many other lords. Charles IX
was declared of age at the parlement, accompanied by chancellor Michel de L'Hospital.
In 1523, Francis I exempted the parlement from the gabelle and ordained that it would issue to each of his officers and his widow as much salt as it had for his household, without fixing the quantity, paying only the market price, on the condition it did not abuse this privilege. In 1540 chancellor Guillaume Poyet
set the king against the parlement de Rouen, and the king banned it. Commissaires were named for the Tournelle, and a president and 12 councillors sent to Bayeux
, to give justice to the subjects of basse-Normandie until the king raised his ban; and wishing to give to this court's officers a mark of his satisfaction with their conduct, in June 1542 he made the arrière-ban exemption general and perpetual via an edict.
In 1560, the parlement de Normandie and the other provincial parlements were suppressed before being reestablished in June 1568 by Charles IX. In February 1589, an edict of the month by Henry IV of France
transferred the parlement to Caen
after Rouen rose against the king, before it was reestablished in Rouen by another edict of 8 April 1594. Banned again in 1639, for not having opposed the revolt of the va-nu-pieds
strongly enough, it as replaced by commissaires from the parlement de Paris until its reestablishment in January 1641.
In April 1545, Francis I had set up a criminal chamber here to judge cases relating to Protestants, which was replaced by a chambre de l’édit, as part of the execution of the edict of Nantes
of April 1598, suppressed in its turn in January 1685 as part of the edict of Fontainebleau
. Made up at this time of 57 councillors and 2 presidents, an edict of July 1680 created a second chambre des enquêtes, after which the parlement was made up of five chambers, the grand-chambre, the Tournelle, two chambres des enquêtes and the chambre des requêtes du palais right up until the French Revolution
. It was at the parlement de Normandie that, from 1728, the general assemblies of députés of different courts and other notables met to discuss public affairs such as hospitals' needs and other necessities.
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:...
), also known as the Parliament of Rouen (parlement de Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
) after the place where it sat (the provincial capital of Normandy), was a provincial parlement
Parlement
Parlements were regional legislative bodies in Ancien Régime France.The political institutions of the Parlement in Ancien Régime France developed out of the previous council of the king, the Conseil du roi or curia regis, and consequently had ancient and customary rights of consultation and...
of ancien regime 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...
. Its origins are in the court of the exchequer of Normandy
Exchequer of Normandy
Set up by Rollo, first duke of Normandy, at the start of the 10th century, the Exchequer of Normandy or Exchequer of Rouen was the sovereign court of Normandy, later superseded by the parliament of Normandy.-Source:* Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers by...
, set up by Rollo
Rollo
Rollo has multiple meanings. It may mean:a first name*Rollo Armstrong, member of British dance act Faithless* Rollo May, American psychologist...
, first duke of Normandy
Duke of Normandy
The Duke of Normandy is the title of the reigning monarch of the British Crown Dependancies of the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey. The title traces its roots to the Duchy of Normandy . Whether the reigning sovereign is a male or female, they are always titled as the "Duke of...
.
History
Louis XII of France
Louis proved to be a popular king. At the end of his reign the crown deficit was no greater than it had been when he succeeded Charles VIII in 1498, despite several expensive military campaigns in Italy. His fiscal reforms of 1504 and 1508 tightened and improved procedures for the collection of taxes...
, this court's name was changed from échiquier to parlement by Francis I of France
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
on his accession in 1515. The parlement de Rouen had responsibility for the seven great bailliages of Normandy - Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
, Caudebec-en-Caux
Caudebec-en-Caux
Caudebec-en-Caux is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Geography:Caudebec-en-Caux is located W.N.W. of Rouen, on the right bank of the River Seine. The tidal bore in the estuary of the Seine which is known as the mascaret in French, but...
, Évreux
Évreux
Évreux is a commune in the Eure department, of which it is the capital, in Haute Normandie in northern France.-History:In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century CE, was named Mediolanum Aulercorum, "the central town of the Aulerci", the Gallic tribe then inhabiting the area...
, Les Andelys
Les Andelys
Les Andelys is a commune in the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern France.-Geography:It lies on the Seine, about 35 km northeast of Évreux.The commune is divided into two parts, Grand-Andely and Petit-Andely.-Population:-Sights:...
, Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
, Coutances
Coutances
Coutances is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.-History:Capital of the Unelli, a Gaulish tribe, the town took the name of Constantia in 298 during the reign of Roman emperor Constantius Chlorus...
and Alençon
Alençon
Alençon is a commune in Normandy, France, capital of the Orne department. It is situated west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon .-History:...
. It was thus made up of 4 presidents (of which the first and third were clergy and the other two laymen), 13 clergy councillors, 15 lay councillors, 2 greffiers (a secretary for civil law and one for criminal law), a huissier audiencier (the bailiff who officially assigns documents between lawyers and introduces the judges in the public court room), 6 other huissiers de justice
Bailiff
A bailiff is a governor or custodian ; a legal officer to whom some degree of authority, care or jurisdiction is committed...
, 2 advocates general and 1 procurator general. Following letters patent of 1507 from Louis XII, the archbishop of Rouen
Archbishop of Rouen
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen is an Archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of France, the ecclesiastical province of the archdiocese comprises the majority of Normandy....
and the abbot of Saint-Ouen were 'ex officio' honorary councillors to the parlement.
When the court of the échiquier was made permanent, it was divided into two chambers, one to sit in the morning and the other in the afternoon. This second chamber later became known as the première des enquêtes. The chambre de la Tournelle, entrusted with criminal cases, was built in 1519 and the chambre des vacations was not set up until 1547. Until 1 October 1506, the parlement de Normandie sat in the château de Rouen then in the palais (which was begun in 1499 and only completed long afterwards).
Many kings of France held lits de justice
Lit de Justice
Lit de Justice is an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred by Robert Sangster's Swettenham Stud, and purchased by the French racing operation Mise de Moratalla who named him for a famous Parlement of Paris known as the Lit de justice...
at the parlement de Normandie. Charles VIII
Charles VIII of France
Charles VIII, called the Affable, , was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. Charles was a member of the House of Valois...
held one on 27 April 1485 and at it confirmed Normandy's privileges. Louis XII was accompanied there by the main officers of his court on 24 October 1508. On 2 August 1517, Francis I held one there, accompanied by chancellor Duprat
Antoine Duprat
Antoine Duprat was a French Cardinal and politician, who was chancellor of France.-Life:Duprat was born in Issoire in Auvergne. Educated for the law, he won a high position in his profession and in 1507 became first president of the Parlement of Paris...
and many officers of his court. Some days later, the dauphin came to the parliament, where he was granted the same honours as the king himself, as the king had ordered. In January 1518, he granted the parlement de Normandie the same privileges as that of the parlement de Paris and, by another edict the following February, temporarily exempted it from the arrière-ban
Ban (medieval)
The ban was a political and territorial institution in the Frankish kingdoms, meaning a grant of power to command men. Following its civil, military or religious meanings, it ended up as a metonym for territory where such a grant applied...
.
On 8 October 1550, Henri II
Henry II of France
Henry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,...
held a lit de justice at the parlement de Rouen, accompanied by the cardinals, king Henry II of Navarre
Henry II of Navarre
Henry II was the eldest son of John III of Navarre and Catherine I of Navarre, sister and heiress of Francis Phoebus, King of Navarre; he was born at Sangüesa.-King of Navarre:...
, many dukes, constable Anne de Montmorency, the admiral, the duc de Longueville, chancellor Olivier, and many other lords. Charles IX
Charles IX of France
Charles IX was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death. His reign was dominated by the Wars of Religion. He is best known as king at the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.-Childhood:...
was declared of age at the parlement, accompanied by chancellor Michel de L'Hospital.
In 1523, Francis I exempted the parlement from the gabelle and ordained that it would issue to each of his officers and his widow as much salt as it had for his household, without fixing the quantity, paying only the market price, on the condition it did not abuse this privilege. In 1540 chancellor Guillaume Poyet
Guillaume Poyet
Guillaume Poyet was a French magistrate born in Angers. After practising successfully as a barrister at Angers and Paris, he was instructed by Louise of Savoy, mother of the king Francis I, to uphold her rights against the constable de Bourbon in 1521. This was the beginning of his fortunes...
set the king against the parlement de Rouen, and the king banned it. Commissaires were named for the Tournelle, and a president and 12 councillors sent to Bayeux
Bayeux
Bayeux is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in northwestern France.Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England.-Administration:Bayeux is a sub-prefecture of Calvados...
, to give justice to the subjects of basse-Normandie until the king raised his ban; and wishing to give to this court's officers a mark of his satisfaction with their conduct, in June 1542 he made the arrière-ban exemption general and perpetual via an edict.
In 1560, the parlement de Normandie and the other provincial parlements were suppressed before being reestablished in June 1568 by Charles IX. In February 1589, an edict of the month by Henry IV of France
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
transferred the parlement to Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
after Rouen rose against the king, before it was reestablished in Rouen by another edict of 8 April 1594. Banned again in 1639, for not having opposed the revolt of the va-nu-pieds
Revolt of the va-nu-pieds
The Revolt of the va-nu-pieds was a popular uprising in Normandy in 1639 following Louis XIII of France's decision to set up the gabelle in Cotentin in place of the privilege of the quart-bouillon.-Bibliography:...
strongly enough, it as replaced by commissaires from the parlement de Paris until its reestablishment in January 1641.
In April 1545, Francis I had set up a criminal chamber here to judge cases relating to Protestants, which was replaced by a chambre de l’édit, as part of the execution of the edict of Nantes
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes, issued on 13 April 1598, by Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholic. In the Edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity...
of April 1598, suppressed in its turn in January 1685 as part of the edict of Fontainebleau
Edict of Fontainebleau
The Edict of Fontainebleau was an edict issued by Louis XIV of France, also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes of 1598, had granted the Huguenots the right to practice their religion without persecution from the state...
. Made up at this time of 57 councillors and 2 presidents, an edict of July 1680 created a second chambre des enquêtes, after which the parlement was made up of five chambers, the grand-chambre, the Tournelle, two chambres des enquêtes and the chambre des requêtes du palais right up until the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. It was at the parlement de Normandie that, from 1728, the general assemblies of députés of different courts and other notables met to discuss public affairs such as hospitals' needs and other necessities.
Organisation
Sources
- Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers by DiderotDenis DiderotDenis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....
& d’AlembertJean le Rond d'AlembertJean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert was a French mathematician, mechanician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. He was also co-editor with Denis Diderot of the Encyclopédie...
, vol. 12, p. 60