In this study of the Lit de Justice assembly, Sarah Hanley draws on history, legend, ritual, and discourse to show how constitutional ideologies were propagated in the Grand-chambre of the Parlement of Paris during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Originally published in 1983. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Based on extensive archival research, this book explores the origins and development of the lit de justice, a special session held by the king of France in the Parlement of Paris, the highest court of law in the kingdom. The conclusions presented differ greatly from those that are currently accepted.

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.