{{unreferenced, date=April 2022
:''The phrase "Great Ordinance" was also an early term for
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
, more usually spelt "Great Ordnance".''
In French political history, a great ordinance or grand ordinance (French – Grande ordonnance) was an important royal
ordinance or
decree
A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used ...
. The
French Estates-General might also adopt one to, for example, grant the king the exclusive right to raise troops, and establish the taxation measure known as the taille in support of a standing army.
Examples included:
* the ''Grande ordonnance pour la réforme du royaume'' (the Great Ordinance for the reform of the kingdom):
Louis IX
Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the d ...
forbade
blasphemy, gaming, prostitution,
tourney
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
s, and
trial by ordeal
Trial by ordeal was an ancient judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused was determined by subjecting them to a painful, or at least an unpleasant, usually dangerous experience.
In medieval Europe, like trial by combat, tri ...
, made the circulation of the royal coin compulsory, and delegated the administration of royal justice to jurists (the origin of the French parliament).
* the
Great Ordinance of 1357, intended to curb royal power, but in the end never applied
* the Grande ordonnance which put in place the
compagnies d'ordonnance, the first permanent units of the
French army
The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...
;
* the
Grande ordonnance des Eaux et Forêts (Grand Ordinance of the Waters and Forests) of 1516, by which
Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to:
* Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407)
* Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450
* Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547
* Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...
regulated the management of his domain and of the hunt – this ordinance was revived in 1669.
Colbert also took several other ordinances to be '' Great Ordinances'' :
* the ''Grande ordonnance de procédure civile'' (Grand Ordinance on civil procedure) signed at
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris.
Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Germanois'' or ''Saint-Ge ...
, called the ''
Code Louis'', making it compulsory to record baptisms, marriages and burials in the registers of the civil state (as opposed to the registers of the church);
* the ''
Grande ordonnance criminelle'' (Grand Ordinance on criminal law) in 1670 ;
* the ''Grande ordonnance de la marine'' (Grand Ordinance on the fleet) in 1681 :
* the ''Grande ordonnance sur les colonies'' (Grand Ordinance on the colonies), also known as the ''
Code noir
The (, ''Black code'') was a decree passed by the French King Louis XIV in 1685 defining the conditions of slavery in the French colonial empire. The decree restricted the activities of free people of color, mandated the conversion of all e ...
'' (1685).
Laws and ordinances of the Ancien Régime
Legal history of France