The (; 'King's Council'), also known as the Royal Council, is a general term for the administrative and governmental apparatus around the King of France during the Ancien Régime designed to prepare his decisions and to advise him. It should not be confused with the role and title of a "", a type of public prosecutor in the French legal system at the same period.
One of the established principles of the French monarchy was that the king could not act without the advice of his council. Under Charles V, it was put forward that the king made decisions only after "good and careful deliberation" (), and this principle was maintained by his successors; the closing formula of royal acts "le roi en son conseil" expressed this deliberative aspect. Even during the period of French absolutism, the expression "" ("as such is our pleasure") applied to royal decisions made with consultation.
The administration of the French state in the early modern period went through a long evolution, as a truly administrative apparatus – relying on old nobility, newer chancellor nobility ("") and administrative professionals – replaced the feudal clientele system. The exact divisions and names of these councils varied over time.
Overview
Role The kings of France traditionally always sought the advice of their entourage (vassals, clerics, etc.) before making important decisions (in the early Middle Ages, this entourage was sometimes called the ), but only in the 12th century did this deliberation take the form of a specific institution called the King's Court ().
The council had only a consultational role: the final decision was always the king's. Although jurists frequently praised (especially in the 16th century) the advantages of consultative government (with the agreement of his counsellors, the king could more easily impose the most severe of his decisions, or he could have his most unpopular decisions blamed on his counsellors), mainstream legal opinion never held that the king was bound by the decisions of his council. The opposite was however put forward by the States General of 1355–1358, and by the Huguenots and by the Catholic League in the second half of the 16th century.
The council's purview concerned all matters pertaining to government and royal administration, both in times of war and of peace. In his council, the king received ambassadors, signed treaties, appointed administrators and gave them instructions (called, from the 12th century on, ), elaborated on the laws of the realm (called ). The council also served as a supreme court and rendered royal justice on those matters that the king reserved for himself (so-called "") or decided to discuss personally.
Council meetings, initially irregular, took on a regular schedule which became daily from the middle of the 15th century.
In addition to the King's Council, the consultative governing of the country also depended on other intermittent and permanent institutions, such as the States General, the Parlements (local appellate courts) and the Provincial Estates. The Parliament of Parisas indeed all of the sovereign courts of the realmwas itself born out of the King's Council: originally a consultative body of the , later (in the thirteenth century) endowed with judicial functions, the Parliament was separated from the King's Council in 1254.
Composition of the King's Council The composition of the King's Council changed constantly over the centuries and according to the needs and desires of the king.
Medieval councils generally included: the crown prince (the "dauphin") – if he was of age to attend the council the "grands" – the most powerful members of the church and of the nobility.
Medieval councils frequently excluded: the queen (both as queen consort or as queen mother) – the queen lost direct political control as early as the 13th century, except in periods of regency; the queen thus attended only in extraordinary circumstances. close relations to the king, including younger sons, grandsons and princes of the royal bloodline () from junior branches of the family – these individuals were often suspected of harboring political ambitions.
The feudal aristocracy would maintain great control over the king's council up until the 14th and 15th centuries. The most important positions in the court were those of the Great Officers of the Crown of France, headed by the constable and the chancellor. Certain kings were unable to reduce their importance (Louis X, Philip VI, John II, Charles VI), while others were more successful (Charles V, Louis XI, Francis I). In the 16th century, those "grands" with administrative or governmental competencies (religious dignitaries, presidents of provincial courts, etc.) were called to the council by a special certificate (or "") and were termed "".
Over the centuries, the number of jurists (or ""), generally educated by the université de Paris, steadily increased as the technical aspects of the matters studied in the council mandated specialized counsellers. Coming from the lesser nobility or the bourgeoisie, these jurists (whose positions sometimes gave them or their heirs nobility, as the so-called or chancellor nobles) helped in preparing and putting into legal form the king's decisions. They formed the early elements of a true civil service and royal administration which wouldbecause of their permanenceprovide a sense of stability and continuity to the royal council, despite its many reorganizations. These counsellors, called conseillers d'État from the reign of Henry III on, were aided in their tasks by the .
In their attempts at greater efficiency, the kings tried to reduce the number of counsellors or to convoke "reduced councils". Charles V had a council of 12 members. Under Charles VIII and Louis XII the king's council was dominated by members of twenty or so noble or rich families. Under Francis I the total number of councillors increased to roughly 70 individuals (the old nobility was proportionally more important than in the previous century).
The most important matters of state were discussed in a smaller council of 6 or fewer members (3 members in 1535, 4 in 1554), while the larger council was consulted for judicial or financial affairs. Francis I was sometimes criticized for relying too heavily on a small number of advisors, while Henry II, Catherine de' Medici, and their sons found themselves frequently unable to negotiate between the opposing Guise and Montmorency families in their council. In periods of crisis, the number of members of the Council tended to increase: 100 councillors under Charles IX, during the worst moments of the Wars of Religion.
From 1661 to the French Revolution, royal administration was divided between the various sections of the King's Council (roughly 130 people) and a small group of ministers and secretaries of state. The royal governmental councils (see below) were the most important and were presided by the king personally. Despite popular opinion, the king did in fact listen to his counsellors and often adopted the opinion of the majority: according to Saint-Simon (whose distrust of Louis XIV makes this statement all the more believable), Louis XIV only went against the advice of his council six times.
Royal Councils Over time, the council began progressively to divide itself into separate subcouncils according to the affairs to be discussed. As early as the 13th century, one can distinguish a small council of a few members – the ("narrow council") or – and a much larger council which came thus to be called the .
Under Charles VII, a subcouncil appeared to handle particularly contentious judicial affairs. An ordinance by Charles VIII in 1497, and reaffirmed by Louis XII in 1498, removed this body from the king's council and established it as an autonomous court with the institutional name . The Grand Conseil became thus a superior court of justice (that the king did not attend) with its own legal and judicial personnel and with a purview over contentious affairs submitted directly to the king (affairs of "", or "justice reserved" for the king). This removal of the Grand Conseil from the council apparatus permitted the remaining sections of the council to focus on political and administrative affairs, but the need for further subsections continued.
Francis I created a – a small informal group reuniting the chancellor, a secretary of commandments and several other close confidants – to deal with political and diplomatic issues, including war. The remaining large council (of 50–60 members) took the name of ("Regular Council") or ("Council of State"), but lost in its prestige, all the more so given that the king no longer regularly attended its sessions; in his absence the large council was presided by the chancellor.
Beginning in 1560, a separate council was created to handle financial affairs: the ; around 1600 this council was reunited with the state council as the . Further sections followed for judicial affairs (the or ) and for notices and administrative reports from the provinces (the ); these are detailed below.
Despite these divisions into subcouncils, from a judicial point of view these various sections were all aspects of the same Council, and the decisions of the various sections were all considered to reflect the king's wishes. Even when the king was not in fact present as his councils, there were still considered to be presided over by him, and only the closing formula of their decisions changed: the expression "" was used when the king was not present at the meeting, the expression "" when he was.
The subcouncils of the King's Council can be generally grouped as "governmental councils", "financial councils" and "judicial and administrative councils". With the names and subdivisions of the 17th – 18th century, these subcouncils were:
Governmental Councils: ("High Council", concerning the most important matters of state) – composed of the king, the crown prince (the "dauphin"), the chancellor, the , and the secretary of state in charge of foreign affairs. ("Council of Messages", concerning notices and administrative reports from the provinces) ("Council of Conscience", concerning religious affairs and episcopal appointments)
Financial Councils: ("Royal Council of Finances")
Judicial and Administrative Councils: or or or ("Privy Council" or "Council of State", concerning the judicial system)
The King's Council also included various commissions and bureaus. In addition to the above administrative institutions, the king was also surrounded by an extensive personal and court retinue (royal family, valets, guards, honorific officers), regrouped under the name .
At the death of Louis XIV, the Regent Philippe II, Duke of Orléans abandoned several of the above administrative structures, most notably the Secretaries of State, which were replaced by councils. This system of government, called the Polysynody, lasted from 1715 to 1718.
Governmental Councils Governmental councils were always presided by the King in person. Decisions made in these councils were called .
These councils met in the King's Apartment, in a room called the (present in all royal residences). Members were informed of meeting times by the king and the cabinet bailiffs, and at the beginning of the session the doors of the cabinet were closed and were guarded from outside, to prevent any interruptions or spies, as the meetings were secret. The meetings took place around an oval table with the king at one end, seated in an armchair; all other members were seated on folding stools (these folding chairs were symbolic of the council's itinerant nature, as the council was held to follow the king wherever he went).