The Parlement of Aix-en-Provence was the provincial ''

parlement Under the French Ancien Régime, a ''parlement'' () was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 ''parlements'', the original and most important of which was the ''Parlement'' of Paris. Though both th ...

'' of

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

from 1501 to 1790. It was headquartered in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

, which served as the ''de facto'' capital of Provence.

History

Provence was incorporated into the Kingdom of France in 1481 after the last

Count of Provence The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

left the region to

Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the ...

.Monique Cubells
Le Parlement de Provence
Cite du Livre Two decades later, in 1501, King

Louis XII of France Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), also known as Louis of Orléans was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples (as Louis III) from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Cleves, he succeeded his second ...

(1462–1515) established the Parlement of Provence in Aix-en-Provence.Archives 13
/ref> By 1535, the powers of the were given to the Parlement of Aix. It was modeled after the

Parlement of Paris The ''Parlement'' of Paris () was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. Parlements were judicial, rather than legislative, bodies and were composed of magistrates. Though not representative bodies in the p ...

. It set administrative and regulatory guidelines for Provence. It was also in charge of police and healthcare, as well as the oversight of boarding houses, prostitution, religious freedom, etc. At times, the Parlement was closer to the King of France or the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

, depending on its wishes. For example, in 1590, when it refused to follow

Henry IV of France Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

(1553–1610), the King established another parlement in

Pertuis Pertuis (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in Vaucluse, a Departments of France, department in the southeastern Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, south of the Luberon. Pertuis has existed since at least 981, and a castle was first b ...

. It comprised first presidents, présidents à mortier, advisors, general advocates, advocates for the poor, etc. By 1604, it became legal to purchase a hereditary position and pass it on to one's male heirs. By 1789, only 6% were

commoner A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...

s, the rest of which were aristocrats. A third were only recently ennobled, even though by 1769 it became practically impossible to join the Parlement if one failed to have four aristocratic ancestors. It was dismantled in September 1790, during the French Revolution. Charles de Ribbe, ''Pascalis - Étude sur la fin de la Constitution provençale, 1787-1790'', Dentu, 1854, p. 241

First Presidents

*1501-1502: Michel Riccio (1445-1515) *1502-1507: Antoine Mulet *1507-1509: Accurse Maynier *1509-1530: Gervais de Beaumont *1530-1531: Thomas Cuisinier *1531-1541:

Barthélemy de Chasseneuz Barthélemy de Chasseneuz (1480–1541) was a French jurist. His name has also been recorded as Cassaneus Bertalan, Bartholomaeus Cassaneus, Bartholomäus Cassaneus, Barthelemy de Chassenée, de Chassaneo, Bartholm Chasseneux, Chassanæus, Chassa ...

*1541-1544: Guillaume Garçonnet *1544-1557: Jean Maynier *1557-1564: Jean-Augustin de Foresta (1520-1588) *1564-1590:

Bernard Prévot Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern ...

*1590-1599:

Artus de Prunières Artus or Arthus is a Breton surname or name which means "bear" (cf. arth), and may refer to: * Amédée Artus (1815–1892), French conductor and composer of operettas * Alexandre Artus (1821–1911), French conductor and composer of classical music ...

*1599-1616:

Guillaume du Vair Guillaume du Vair (7 March 1556 – 3 August 1621) was a French bishop, author, lawyer, Magistrate of the Parliament and Keeper of the Seals of France under French king Louis XIII. Life Du Vair was born in Paris. After taking holy orders, he ex ...

*1616-1621: Marc-Antoine d'Escalis *1621-1632: Vincent-Anne de Forbin-Maynier *1632-1636: Hélie Lainé *1636: Guillaume de Fieubet *1636-1642: Joseph de Bernet *1644-1655: Jean de Mesgrigni *1665-1671: Henri de Forbin-Maynier *1674-1690: Arnoul Marin *1690-1710: Pierre-Cardin Lebret *1710-1735: Cardin Lebret (1675-1734) *1735-1747: Jean-Baptiste des Gallois de La Tour *1748-1771: Charles Jean-Baptiste des Gallois de La Tour *1775-1790: Charles Jean-Baptiste des Gallois de La Tour

Président à mortier

*1542: Jean Maynier d'Oppède *1543: François de La Fonds (also Lafont) *1553: Rémy Ambroix *1554: Jean-Augustin de Foresta *1554: Louis Puget de Fuveau *1558: François de Pérussis de Lauris *1559: Gaspard Garde de Vins *1568: Louis de Coriolis *1573: Boniface de Pellicot *1575: Claude de Pérussis *1575: Robert de Montcalm *1585: François d'Estienne de Saint-Jean *1585: Louis Chaine (also Chène) *1587: Raimond de Piolenc *1595: Marc-Antoine Escalis *1600: Laurent de Coriolis de Corbières *1604: Joseph Aimar de Montlaur *1610: Honoré Aimar de Montsallier (also Aymar) *1613: Jean-Baptiste Chaine *1615: Vincent-Anne de Forbin-Mainier d'Oppède *1616: Jean-Louis Monier de Châteaudeuil *1621: Gabriel Estienne de Saint-Jean *1622: Antoine Séguiran de Bouc *1624: Jean-Baptiste Forbin de la Roque-d'Anthéron *1630: Jean-Augustin Foresta de la Roquette *1632: Louis de Paule *1643: Charles de Grimaldi-Régusse (1612-1687) *1625: Honoré de Coriolis *1644: Lazare du Chaine de la Roquette *1645L Henri de Forbin-Maynier d'Oppède *1645: Melchior de Forbin de la Roque *1650: Louis de Cormis de Bregançon *1651: Pierre de Coriolis de Villeneuve d'Espinouse *1655: Henri d'Escalis de Sabran de Bras *1662: Auguste Thomas de la Garde *1662: Jean de Simiane de la Cepède de la Coste *1673: Jean-Baptiste de Forbin-Maynier d'Oppède *1674: Gaspard Grimaldy de Régusse *1674: Claude Milan de Cornillon *1686: Joseph-Anne de Valbelle de Tourves *1690: Jean-Baptiste-Joseph de Coriolis de Villeneuve d'Espinouse *1694: Silvy Raousset de Boulbon *1694: Antoine Albert du Chaine de Saint-Martin-d'Alignosc *1694: Pierre-Joseph de Laurens de Saint-Martin de Pallières *1699: François Boyer de Bandol *1702: Jean-Baptiste Thomassin de Saint-Paul *1702: Jean-Baptiste de Maliverny *1702: Honoré-Henri de Piolenc *1705: Jean-Estienne de Thomassin de Saint-Paul *1709: Pierre-Joseph de Laurent de Saint-Martin de Pallières *1712: Pierre de Coriolis d'Espinouse *1718: Cosme-Maximilien-Marcelin-Louis-Joseph de Valbelle de Sainte-Tulle *1718: Zacharie de Raousset de Boulbon *1720: Charles de Grimaldi-Régusse *1724: Charles-Louis-Sextius de Grimaldi-Régusse *1731: Joseph-Claude de Maliverny *1731: Jean-Louis-Gabriel de Thomassin de Saint-Paul *1733: Jean-Baptiste Bruny d'Entrecasteaux *1736: François-Charles-Xavier de Coriolis de Villeneuve d'Espinouse *1740:

André-Elzéard d'Arbaud de Jouques André-Elzéard d'Arbaud de Jouques (1676–1744) was a French aristocrat, lawyer and public official. Biography Early life André-Elzéard d'Arbaud was born in 1676. His father was Jacques Arbaud. Career He received the hereditary List of Fren ...

(1676-1744) *1740: Gaspard de Gueidan (1688-1767) *1742: Louis de Thomassin de Peynier *1746: Jules-François-Paul Fauris de Saint-Vincens *1747: Alexandre-Jean-Baptiste de Boyer d'Eguilles *1748: Jean-Luc de Thomassin de Peynier *1756: Joseph-Étienne de Thomassin de Saint-Paul *1756: Bruno-Paul-Théodore Bruny d'Entrecasteaux (also Pierre-Paul-Théodore) *1766: Pierre de Laurens de Peyrolles *1767: Michel-Antoine d'Albert de Saint-Hippolyte *1768:

André-Elzéard d'Arbaud de Jouques II André-Elzéard d'Arbaud II de Jouques (1737-1793) was a French aristocrat, lawyer and public official. Biography Early life André-Elzéard d'Arbaud II was born in 1737. His father was Jean-Joseph-Augustin d'Arbaud de Jouques (unknown-1768) an ...

(1737-1793) *1776: Jean-Louis-Martin Arlatan de Montaud *1776: François-Marie-Jean-Baptiste de Cabre *1777: Jean-Baptiste Jérome Bruny de la Tour-d'Aigues *1782: Alexandre de Fauris de Saint-Vincens (1750-1815) *1782: Jean-Baptiste-Joseph-Guillaume-Bruno Bruny d'Entrecasteaux *1782: Michel-Gabriel-Albert d'Albert de Saint-Hippolyte

Counsellors

* Jean-François-Marie d'Arquier (1782)

References

{{Authority control Ancien Régime 1501 establishments in France 1790 disestablishments in France Aix-en-Provence