Parlements

Parlements were a system of thirteen courts (in 1789) to hear appeals from the lower courts across France.  Although not meant to be political in nature they did hold real power as if the King wished to pass any laws in the regions he needed their assent.  There was a minimum of twelve members for each parlement.  Each member of the parlement was aristocratic.

Each parlement was meant to be equal however Paris would be seen to the most prestigious.  This was for various different reasons: Paris being the capital of France and centre of economic and political activity but also because they had the power to scrutinise all legislation before it was adopted and they could reject it in what was known as a remonstrance.  The jurisdiction of  the Paris Parlement would stretch over a third of France. The King did have some power over the parlements as he could issue a lit de justice which was a royal session of parlement where he could demand that they pass the law.  The King in more extreme circumstance issue a lettres de cachet which could imprison or even exile magistrates

Facing grave economic problems in 1786, Calonne acting as Finance Minister would once again seek to tame France’s economic woes.  His plan was for a national land tax that would affect all citizens even the first and second estate.  He realised that it was unlikely any parlement would agree to this so he called an Assembly of Notables who he believed he could convince.  He could not, it was they who convinced Louis XVI that he was unsuitable for the role and he was removed.

He was replaced by Etienne Brienne whose solution echoed those of his predecessors as he wanted to abolish the corvée and end tax exemption.  The Paris parlement however could not accept these changes.  They stated that only an Estate General a calling of the three estates of France could oversee these changes.  The King took swift and decisive action on August 8th 1787 he used a lit de justice to have a royal session of the parlements of Paris and Bordeaux both of whom he dissolved.  He then added to this by issuing a lettres de cachet to exile the magistrates to Troyes.  He hoped they would see sense and away from the political influences of their cities see sense and accept his demands, they did not.  The parlements in Troyes however wrote to their fellow parlements across France urging them not to accept Brienne’s reforms, which they did.  The King was forced into an embarrassing climb down and France’s much needed economic reforms were not enacted.

If possible relations between the King and parlements worsened.  The Paris parlement sought to make lettres de cachet illegal the king responded with lit de justice to try and nullify their decision.  Events spiraled further when the parlement issued a “Declaration of the Fundamental Laws of France” where they hoped to assert their complete independence.  The King then issued lettres de cachet to have two ministers arrested.  Louis went further and decided that a plenary court would be established to deal with all future legislation.  This triggered a wave of unrest and most famously in Grenoble on the so called Day of Tiles.  The King would eventually take the only route he saw out of this increasing gridlock and call an Estates General on August 8th 1788.

When the Estates were called the Paris parlement sought to control them by stating that all three orders should vote separately.  They had failed however to grasp the changing political mood and with the coming together of the three estates they became an irrelevancy.  An irrelevancy that was ended when the Constituent Assembly passed a decree to remove them.