A Master of Requests () is a

counsel A counsel or a counsellor at law is a person who gives advice and deals with various issues, particularly in legal matters. It is a title often used interchangeably with the title of ''lawyer''. The word ''counsel'' can also mean advice given ...

of the French ''Conseil d'État'' (Council of State), a high-level judicial officer of

administrative law Administrative law is a division of law governing the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law includes executive branch rulemaking (executive branch rules are generally referred to as "regul ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The office has existed in one form or another since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. The occupational title derives from two words. In jurisprudence and administration, the French term ''maître'' is an

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an Honorary title (academic), h ...

for a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

who acts in proceedings before a court of law), and ''requêtes'' are "

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...

s" or "

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to an officia ...

s". (The legal term ''une requête civile'' is "a petition to an

appellate court An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appel ...

against a judgment.")

Ancien Régime France

The Masters of Requests (Counsels of State), more fully ''maîtres des requêtes ordinaires de l'hôtel du Roi'', were originally, during the Middle Ages, judges of a council convened to examine petitions laid by

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 before the Royal Household (''hôtel du roi''). A number of traditions from this time survived until the 18th century, such as the King's accompaniment by two Masters ordinarily on Sundays and festival days, on his way to and from church, and their close attendance upon him during mass, so as to better receive petitions from the public. The role of the Masters of Requests was greatly expanded during the Renaissance: their duties, as defined by the Edict of 1493, and subsequently modified during the reigns of Francis I and Henry II, were to serve as deputies to and work closely under the Lord Chancellor of France and provide royal oversight of the judicial system at all levels. In this way, the Masters of Requests became key to expanding royal power into the provinces and in national unification, a role that would be taken over in the 17th century by royal

intendant An intendant (; ; ) 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 the War of the Spanish Success ...

s, who were recruited from among the ranks of the Masters of Requests. The Masters toured on circuits to inspect provincial courts, and could preside over bailiwick courts, at the Grand Conseil, and at sittings of

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 ...

where they sat on equal footing as Presidents of Court. They also received petitions against royal officers and intervened in cases of abuse.Salmon, p.68. In addition to their judicial duties, they were occasionally given temporary financial or diplomatic tasks. They participated in the King's judicial and financial decisions and sat on the King's ''conseil privé''. From their members were generally recruited other high-level royal officers and government officials, such as Councillors of State, provincial

s of commerce or finance, the Comptroller-General, Lieutenant-General of Police, and so forth. The Masters of Requests were chosen from among the best judges and members of the Parlements. As prestigious offices, they were sold and bought, although the King could also make appointments. Under

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

, Masters' offices were extremely expensive, but they conferred nobility on the holder. (see

French nobility The French nobility () was an Aristocracy, aristocratic social class in France from the France in the Middle Ages, Middle Ages until its abolition on 23 June 1790 during the French Revolution. From 1808 to 1815 during the First French Empire, ...

) Under Louis XII, there were six Masters of Requests; Francis increased their number to eighteen; Henry II to thirty-two. In the 17th century, there were generally eighty Masters of Requests, with numbers reaching eighty-eight in 1723, but

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

brought them back to eighty in 1752. They fell to sixty-seven members in 1787.Bluche, p.200.

Post-1799 France

The Masters of Requests (Counsels of State), or more fully ''maîtres des requêtes au Conseil d'État'', are members of the French

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

who fall between the rank of ''auditeur'' (junior counsellor) and Councillor of State.

References

* Bluche, François. ''L'Ancien régime: Institutions et société.'' Collection: Livre de poche. Paris: Editions de Fallois, 1993. * Salmon, J.H.M. ''Society in Crisis: France in the Sixteenth Century.'' Methuen: London, 1975.

Notes

{{reflist Titles Political history of the Ancien Régime Law of the Ancien Régime Offices in the Ancien Régime

Ancien Régime France

Post-1799 France

See also

References

Notes