This vol., while encompassing the entire reign of Louis XIV & all the parlements of the realm, has the narrow focus of investigating the impact of royal policy on the judicial authority of the parlements as revealed in their relations with the king's councils, notably the one that specialized in judicial affairs, the Conseil Prive. This is above all a study of the evolution of conciliar jurisprudence & judicial procedure, as much an exercise in what the French call "l'histoire du droit" as an opportunity to observe in a novel way the resolution of some of the most pressing political problems in the Age of Louis XIV. But the overall aim is to understand the practical consequences of royal absolutism for the kingdom's highest judicial institutions.

This vol., while encompassing the entire reign of Louis XIV & all the parlements of the realm, has the narrow focus of investigating the impact of royal policy on the judicial authority of the parlements as revealed in their relations with the king¿s councils, notably the one that specialized in judicial affairs, the Conseil Prive. This is above all a study of the evolution of conciliar jurisprudence & judicial procedure, as much an exercise in what the French call ¿l¿histoire du droit¿ as an opportunity to observe in a novel way the resolution of some of the most pressing political problems in the Age of Louis XIV. But the overall aim is to understand the practical consequences of royal absolutism for the kingdom¿s highest judicial institutions.

This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. This is the first scholarly study of the political and economic relationship between Louis XIV and the parlements of France, the Parlement of Paris and all the provincial tribunals. The author explains how the king managed to impose strict political discipline for which this reign, and only this reign, is known. Hurt shows that the king built upon that discipline to extract large sums of money from the judges in the parlements, thus damaging their economic interests. When the king died in 1715, the regent, Philippe d’Orléans, after a brief attempt to befriend the parlements through compromise, resorted to the authoritarian methods of Louis XIV and perpetuated the Sun King’s political and economic legacy. This study calls into question current revisionist understanding of Louis XIV and insists that absolute government had a harsh reality at its core. Based upon extensive archival research, this remarkable book will be of interest to all students of the history of early modern France and the monarchies of Europe.

Politics in eighteenth-century France was dominated by the relationship between the crown and the magistrates of the Parlement of Paris. The Parlement provided a traditional check upon the King's authority, but after 1750 it entered a period of prolonged confrontation with the government of Louis XV. The religious, financial and administrative policies of the monarchy were subject to sustained opposition, and the magistrates employed arguments which challenged the foundations of royal authority. This struggle was brought to an abrupt conclusion in 1771, when Chancellor de Maupeou implemented a royal revolution, breaking the power of the Parlement. In order to explain why the crown and the Parlement drifted into conflict, this study re-examines the conduct of government under Louis XV, the role of the magistrates, and the structure of judicial politics in eighteenth-century France.