Parlements

A sovereign judicial authority in France, the chief being in the capital, Paris. First established in the 12th century, this functioned as a court of appeal, and as a source of final legal rulings. There were also provincial Parlements, those of Toulouse, Bordeaux, Rouen, Aix, Grenoble, Dijon, and Rennes. Political importance derived from their power to register royal edicts, and to remonstrate against them. This power could be overidden by the king, either by order or by lit de Justice (a personal intervention).