The Courts of Aids (French: ''Cours des aides'') were sovereign courts in ''

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, primarily concerned with

customs Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

, but also other matters of

public finance Public finance is the study of the role of the government in the economy. It is the branch of economics that assesses the government revenue and government expenditure of the public authorities and the adjustment of one or the other to achiev ...

. They exercised some control over certain

excise tax file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...

es and octroi duties, which were regarded as of a different nature from the taille, the gabelle, and the general imposts of the kingdom. The Paris court sat in the Palais-Vieux, of which a monumental door can still be seen in the

Rue du Temple ''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of ''Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Balkan Peninsula. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for its bl ...

. It was set up to judge appeal-cases of extraordinary (i.e. fiscal) and ordinary (i.e. "domaniale") financial matters relating to the chambre du Trésor (

treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or i ...

Guillaume de Lamoignon de Blancmesnil Guillaume II de Lamoignon, seigneur de Blancmesnil et de Malesherbes (Paris, 1683 —1772) was a French magistrate. Biography The second son of the président Chrétien François de Lamoignon, he was named general avocat for the Parlement of Pa ...

was "premier président" of the Paris Court of Aids from 1746 to 1749.

Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes (, 6 December 1721 – 22 April 1794), often referred to as Malesherbes or Lamoignon-Malesherbes, was a French statesman and minister in the Ancien Régime, and later counsel for the defense of Lou ...

, his son, succeeded him and served from 1750 to 1775. (According to an etching from 1655 Jacques Amelot was the "premier président" of the Cour des Aydes or, in English, Court of Aids. See the Metropolitan Museum of Art Gallery Images for his portrait of 1655 and its inscription.)

References

Legal history of the Ancien Régime Judiciary of France Defunct courts Courts and tribunals disestablished in the 18th century {{France-hist-stub