The Superintendent of Finances (french: Surintendant des finances) was the name of the minister in charge of finances in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

from 1561 to 1661. The position was abolished in 1661 with the downfall of Nicolas Fouquet, and a new position was created, the

Controller-General of Finances The Controller-General or Comptroller-General of Finances (french: Contrôleur général des finances) was the name of the minister in charge of finances in France from 1661 to 1791. It replaced the former position of Superintendent of Finances (''S ...

History

Before 1561

Prior to the creation of the position "Surintendant des finances", France's royal financial administration had been run—from the time of Charles VII—by two financial boards which worked in a collegial manner: the four ''Généraux des finances'' oversaw the collection of taxes (

taille The ''taille'' () was a direct land tax on the French peasantry and non-nobles in ''Ancien Régime'' France. The tax was imposed on each household and was based on how much land it held, and was directly paid to the state. History Originally ...

, etc.) and the four ''Trésoriers de France'' (Treasurers) oversaw revenues from royal lands (the "domaine"). Together they were often referred to as "Messieurs des finances". The four members of each board were divided by geographical circumscriptions ("recettes générales" or " généralités"; the areas were named Languedoïl, Languedoc, Normandy, and Outre-Seine and Yonne), with the directors of the "Languedoïl" region typically having an honorific preeminence. The double-board was assisted in its work by four "contrôleurs généraux". Before 1523-24, the King's Council had very little direct say on the day-to-day running of the double-boards. In 1523,

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 ...

, in an effort to exert a more direct control over royal finances during his European wars and to circumvent the double-board (accused of poor oversight) -- created a separate Royal Treasury (''Trésor de l'Épargne'') directly under the control of the King's Council (analogous institutions had existed before), but the initial results were disappointing. From this moment through the next 40 years, numerous administrative reforms were attempted: increase in the number of "généralités"; unification of the tasks of the double-board into new positions (such as two "contrôleurs généraux" subservient to the Royal Treasurer); changes in the royal financial courts (" Cour des Comptes", "

Cour des Aides The Courts of Aids (French: ''Cours des aides'') were sovereign courts in ''Ancien Régime'' France, primarily concerned with customs, but also other matters of public finance. They exercised some control over certain excise taxes and octroi duties, ...

"); creation of numerous provincial financial officers and boards; creation of the positions of "intendents" of finance (see below). With the increased role of the King's Council in financial matters, certain high-ranked nobles (like Anne de Montmorency or Charles of Lorraine, Cardinal of Guise) exerted a stronger advisory role over finances. Although there was no official "Minister of Finances" in this period, certain individuals exerted an equivalent administrative role. ;Under Francis I: *1518–1524:

Jacques de Beaune Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

, baron de Semblançay ;Under Henry II: *1552: André Guillart *1556: Jean de Saint Marcel d'Avançon

Surintendant des finances

The position "Surintendant des finances" was officially created in 1561 during the reign of Charles IX, although some royal financial advisors had performed analogous duties previously. The position grew out of the positions of

Intendant An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...

s of Finances, officially created in 1552 by Henry II to oversee royal finances during the king's travels in Germany (he sought an alliance with Protestant Princes). At the time, three Intendants of Finances were named, and one of them would also participate in the Privy Counsel, thus the designation "superintendent". In 1561, the position fell to two individuals: Artus de Cossé-Brissac and the comte de Chaulnes. An administrative ruling on 23 October 1563 mandated once-a-week reunions of the Conseil du Roi (King's Counsel) to deal with financial questions of finances; to this meeting would come the superintendent of finances and other officers of country's financial administration, such as the Treasurer (trésorier de l'Épargne). In 1567, Cossé was promoted to maréchal de France; he resigned his post in favor of

René de Birague René de Birague (original name: Renato Birago; 2 February 1506 – 24 November 1583) was an Italian patrician who became a French cardinal and chancellor. Biography Born at Milan, he was the son of Giangiacomo Galeazzo Birago, ambassador o ...

(as did too, apparently, the comte de Chaulnes); René de Birague was thus the sole "superintendent". In 1570, the position was assumed by the ''Conseil royal des finances''. Henry III suppressed the ''Conseil royal des finances'' in 1574 and named a superintendent. Henry IV replaced the superintendent with a counsel. In this way, the position appeared intermittently, its fate tied to that of the ''Conseil des finances''. On 5 September 1661, Nicolas Fouquet was arrested for financial misdealings and brought to trial. On the 12th, the position of Supertintendant was replaced by a ''Conseil royal des finances'', attended by an

intendant An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...

, named the Contrôleur général des finances; this position first fell to

Jean-Baptiste Colbert Jean-Baptiste Colbert (; 29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His lasting impact on the organization of the countr ...

List of Surintendants des finances

*1561-1567: Artus de Cossé-Brissac; Louis d' Ongnies, comte de Chaulnes *1568-1571: René de Birague *1574-1588: Pompone de Bellièvre *1588-1594: François d'O *1594-1597: A Council of 9 members: Pompone de Bellièvre, Henri I de Montmorency,

Albert de Gondi Albert de Gondi, duc de Retz (4 November 1522 in Florence – 1602) seigneur du Perron, comte, then marquis de Belle-Isle (1573), duc de Retz (from 1581), was a marshal of France and a member of the Gondi family. Beginning his career during the ...

, Gaspard de Schomberg, Jacques de la Grange-le-Roy, Pierre Forges de Fresnes, Philippe Hurault de Chiverny and Nicolas de Harlay, sieur de Sancy *1597-1611: Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully *1611-1616: A Council of 3 members:

Pierre Jeannin Pierre Jeannin (1542–1623) was a French statesman, otherwise known as a surintendant des finances (Finance Superintendent). In 1573 he married Anne Gueniot and had one daughter, Charlotte Jeannin. Career He was born at Autun. A pupil of th ...

Guillaume de L'Aubespin Guillaume may refer to: People * Guillaume (given name), the French equivalent of William * Guillaume (surname) Other uses * Guillaume (crater) See also * '' Chanson de Guillaume'', an 11th or 12th century poem * Guillaume affair, a Cold War ...

and Jacques-Auguste de Thou *1616-1617: Claude Barbin *1617-1619:

*1619-1623: Henri de Schomberg *1623-1624: Charles de La Vieuville *1624-1626: A Council of 2 members: Jean de Bochart,

Michel de Marillac Michel de Marillac (October 1563 in Paris – 7 August 1632 in Château de Châteaudun) was a French jurist and counsellor at the court of Louis XIII of France, one of the leading '' dévots''. His uncle was Charles de Marillac, Archbishop of ...

*1626-1632:

Antoine Coiffier de Ruzé, marquis d'Effiat Antoine Coiffier (or Coëffier) de Ruzé d'Effiat, marquis d'Effiat, (1581- 7 July 1632) was a French noble and Superintendent of Finances to Louis XIII during the years 1626 to 1632. He was also a Marshal of France. Biography As the nephew of Mar ...

*1632-1640: A Council of 2 members: Claude de Bullion,

Claude Bouthilier Claude may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...

*1640-1643: Claude Bouthilier *1643-1647: A Council of 3 members: Nicolas de Bailleuil; Claude de Mesmes, comte d'Avaux; Michel Particelli d'Hémery *1647-1648: Council of above without de Bailleuil *1648-1649:

Charles de La Porte Charles de La Porte (1602 in Paris – 8 February 1664 in Paris) was a French nobleman and general. He was marquis then duke of La Meilleraye, duke of Rethel and peer of France, baron of Parthenay and of Saint-Maixent, count of Secondigny, ...

*1649-1650: Same council as earlier *1650-1651: René de Longueil *1651-1653: Charles de La Vieuville *1653-1659: A Council of 2 members: Nicolas Fouquet, Abel Servien *1659-1661: Nicolas Fouquet

References

*''This article is largely based on a translation of the article Surintendant des finances from the

French Wikipedia The French Wikipedia (french: Wikipédia en français) is the French-language edition of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. This edition was started on 23 March 2001, two months after the official creation of Wikipedia. It has article ...

on 12 August 2006.'' * Bernard Barbiche, ''Les Institutions de la monarchie française à l'époque moderne'', Paris: PUF, collection "Premier Cycle", 1999. * Daniel Dessert, ''Argent, pouvoir et société au grand siècle'', Paris: Fayard, 1984. * Arlette Jouanna, Philippe Hamon, Dominique Biloghi, Guy Le Thiec, "Finances", ''La France de la Renaissance: Histoire et Dictionnaire,'' Paris: Laffont, 2001. {{Finance Ministers of France Offices in the Ancien Régime Economic history of the Ancien Régime