Parliament of Brittany

The Parliament of Brittany is a building located at Rennes in which a court of Justice sat, under the Ancien Mode.

Parliament under the Old Mode

Like the others Parliaments of France under the Old Mode, the Parliament of Brittany is a court of Justice, court sovereign handing down mainly judgments on call of the sentences of lower jurisdictions.

The Parliaments also had legislative prerogatives authorizing them to affirm a certain autonomy with regard to the royal capacity. The Breton being interested to defend the rights of the Province preserved by the treaty of union with France, “Breton freedoms”, the exercise of this bargaining power by the Breton Parliament held a great place in the life of this institution and consequently in the life of all the province.

With this official motivation of resistance to the royal innovations, constantly defense mixed with its institutional attributions and like aristocratic corporation that with the privileges with the Noblesse. Of the same composition and with the very close interests, the Parliament of Brittany and the States of Brittany were always interdependent, whether it is in defense or the attack.

Created in March 1553 by an edict of Henri II, the Parliament of Brittany was dissolved as an institution by the French revolution in February 1790.

In a restricted direction, Parliament of Brittany indicates the palate located in the middle of the town of Rennes and where the advisers of the Parliament sat starting from 1655; monument entirely restored after the fire of the February 5th 1994, consequence of an incident related to the violent demonstrations of sailor-fishermen. In buildings adapted to the requirements of the 21e century, the Court of Appeal of Rennes could take again the activity that it deployed there since nearly two centuries; other exercises of justice being held rather in the legal city of recent construction.

History

1485 : The duke François II establishes a sovereign Parliament with Vannes sitting at the autumn. He is moulted in “great days” by Charles VIII; after 1532, the calls are judged by the Parlement of Paris what contributed to delay the re-establishment of a sovereign court in the province.
Mars 1553: Creation of the Parliament of Brittany, sitting alternatively at Rennes (August-October) and Nantes (February-April).
August 2nd 1554: First meeting in Rennes followed by the second to Nantes on February 4th, 1555
June 1557: Fixing in Nantes of the two meetings: each meeting shared between the large-room and the room of the investigations. Sixty judges.
1561 : Fixing in Rennes of the two meetings (convent of Cordeliers)
December 1575: Creation of the court of criminal appeal, the Small tower
September 1580: Creation of the room of the requests, delivering sentences themselves prone to call before the Parliament
1591: Beginning of the prolongations of the meetings, without increase in the pledges
March 20th 1598: Amnesties members of Parliament members of a league of the Court established in Nantes in 1589 by the Philippe-Emmanuel of Lorraine, Duc of Mercoeur
1599 - 1600: Prohibition of the magistrates of the meeting of August
1578: Rennes is authorized with raising taxes for the construction of a building for the Parliament. It will be in particular a tax on the cider pots.
July 1600: The meetings become semi-annual: February at July and August at January.
September 15th 1618: Pose first stone
1631: Conflict with Richelieu following the restoration of the Groundage.
January 16th 1655: Taking possession of the building by the senior of the presidents of the Parliament
January 22nd 1668: Creation of the room of reformation of the Nobility of Brittany
September 18th 1675: Louis XIV transfer court to Valves to punish Rennes to have taken part in the Revolt of the stamped paper
February 1st 1690: First meeting following the return of the court in Rennes
February 1704: Creation of a room of call of the businesses concerning National Forestry Commission; room joined together little time after to the body of the officers
Mars 1724: Only one annual meeting from November 12th to August 24th and creation of a room of vacations for certain businesses during the holidays; a second room of the investigations is created like for one short duration a second room of the requests
July 15th 1769: Re-establishment of the Parliament in its integrity after the business of the Duke of Pivot (1766)
September 1771: Removal of the Parliament consequently of the blow of majesty suggested to Louis XV by the chancellor of Maupeou
December 1774: Recall of the Parliament following the advent of Louis XVI
1788: Very strong opposition of the Parliament to the edicts fixing the creation of “large baillages”. The Parliament refuses to name deputies with the General states.
1789 : Last meeting.
February 3rd 1790: End of the legal existence. However cancellation, of the only fact of the National Assembly, ratified forever by the Breton members of Parliament, who declared it, the same day “of absolute nullity and with perpetuity” (Toublanc Thesis)

Jurisdiction

So by its vocation first, the Parliament of Brittany is primarily occupied by the calls of the judgments given in its civil matter spring as well as out of criminal matter, it had to inform and intervene like jurisdiction of first authority in a broad pallet of lawsuit and particular questions which escaped for various reasons from competences from the other jurisdictions from the province.

The officers of the admiralties must be received by the room of the requests (examination of the law and information of “good life and manners”, sentence of reception).

First authority

businesses relative to the “privileges, prerogatives and preeminences of the former barons de Bretagne”
businesses concerning the chapters; strongholds of the bishops (régaires)
businesses concerning the royal officers and the ecclesiastics (following “letters of committimus”)
businesses which have occurred in Parliament
abuse or embezzlement of the clerks, ushers and prosecutors
businesses concerning the privileges of the cities, communities and parishes
establishment of the payments of the fairs and markets
questions of general police force (on request of the parquet floor)
businesses of “catches to part”
disputes of the judges relative to their loads
conflicts of jurisdiction
disputes against the taxes and spices
questions of choice of the jurisdiction for the businesses of seizure in several springs
questions of supervision, or concerning the “interdicts” and foolish

Calls omisso medio

calls “like inefficient judge”
calls of royal jurisdictions concerning the “possessory one” of the benefit (out présidiaux)
calls of “denial of justice” and “reference”
calls of the judgments given by the judge provost, conservative of the privileges of the university of Nantes
calls of the jurisdictions of the régaires or the chapters
calls “like abuse”
calls of the “real seizures” and simple permissions to seize
calls of the legal beams, “banished”, adjudications of buildings
calls of the sentences delivered on the quality of “profit heir”
calls of the consular and arbitration sentences

Suits at law

With regard to the stop of Grand' Room and if one does not take account of some lawsuits having lasted more than ten years, the time between the sentence of first authority (Présidial) and the stop of call is from two to three years until the beginning of the XVIIIe century, but increases regularly and exceeds five years at the end of the century.

For the same sample of stops, the Parliament confirms the judgment in 60% of the cases; it is broken in 30% of the cases, some being the object of a evocation before the Court (remain less than 10% of stop before making right …). More half of the procedures relate to questions of successions, property and obligation.

Administrative competence

The Parliament of Brittany had some administrative prerogatives such as the supervision of the Paroisse S or the general police force. The dispute and complaints of which it was informed made it possible him to be informed enough general difficulties to justify stops known as of payment exceeding the strictly legal framework. In the same way, the royal ordinances and edicts could require a more or less immediate adaptation. One of the great innovations of the laws of the August 16th and 24th 1790 will be the distinction of the judicial and administrative courts besides.

The parishes were to require its agreement before very raised sums of money intended for its own needs (repairs…) : one thus counts forty requests for Breton parishes for one six-month period of 1693.

The Recteur S were to make the publicity of these stops, the most general being sometimes called “stops of payment”, thus much of the judgments delivered on remonstrance of the Public prosecutor of the king finished by the formula: which will be printed, read, published, recorded and posted at the conclusion of the great parochial masses and everywhere where need will be. without one knowing besides who decided this distribution.

Palate of the Parliament of Brittany

The plans were drawn by the architect of the city, Germain Gaultier and were re-examined by Solomon de Brosse (originator of the frontages).

Files

The files of the Parliament of Brittany did not undergo particular destruction; distributed between the many sections of under-series 1 B, they are preserved by the Departmental records of Ille-et-Vilaine. If funds of the criminal (calls; 1 B G and 1 B N) were the base many reports and theses of history, the funds of the civil courts were about not exploited.

See too

States of Brittany
the Departmental records of Ille-et-Vilaine preserve (in addition to the files of the Parliament) the files of Association for the rebirth of the palate of the Parliament of Brittany (A.R.P.), under-series 141 J, that is to say 6 meters linear.

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