The Parlement of Paris

Originally published in 1968, this authoritative study analyses the Parlement as a law court and examines its political role and significance. From its beginning in the mid-13th Century until its fall during the 1789 Revolution, the Paris Parlement stood at the heart of government in France. Its primary function as the crown’s judicial authority grew out of the need for a royal court to dispense justice when the king could no longer do so personally. The book describes how the Parlement evolved sophisticated procedures and a complex organization of chambers, officers and personnel and examines the Parlement’s judicial and political growth, against the social backdrop of the Court and the Palais de Justice.

Part 1: The Court of Law 1. Structure and Organization 2. The Parlement and the Law 3. The Parlement in Paris 4. The Members of the Parlement Part 2: The Political Institution 5. The Medieval Parlement 6. The Parlement in the Sixteenth Century 7. The League, Henry IV and Richlieu 8. The Reign of Louis XIV 9. The Parlement in the Eighteenth Century. Conclusion. Appendix I: A Plan of the Organization of the Parlement Appendix II: A Genealogy of French Monarchs to 1793.

J. H. Shenan