the Parliament of Brittany, which
replaced the ancient _Grands-Jours,_ in March, 1553, and sat alternately
at Nantes and at Rennes; the Parliament of the Dauphine, established at
Grenoble in 1451 to replace the Delphinal Council; the Parliament of
Burgundy, established at Dijon in 1477, which took the place of the
_Grands-Jours_ at Beaune; the movable Parliament of Dombes, created in
1528, and consisting at the same time of a court of excise and a chamber
of accounts; the Parliament of Normandy, established by Louis XII. in
April, 1504, intended to replace the Exchequer of Rouen, and the ancient
ducal council of the province; the Parliament of Provence, founded at Aix
in July, 1501; the Parliament of Toulouse, created in 1301; and the
Parliament of Paris, which took precedence of all the others, both on
account of its origin, its antiquity, the extent of its jurisdiction, the
number of its prerogatives, and the importance of its decrees. In 1551,
Henry II. created, besides these, an inferior court in each bailiwick, the
duties of which were to hear, on appeal, all matters in which sums of less
than two hundred livres were involved (Fig. 311). There existed, besides,
a branch of the _Grands-Jours,_ occasionally sitting at Poitiers, Bayeux,
and at some other central towns, in order to suppress the excesses which
at times arose from religious dissensions and political controversy.

The Parliament of Paris--or _Great French Parliament_, as it was called by
Philip V. and Charles V., in edicts of the 17th of November, 1318, and of
the 8th of October, 1371--was divided into four principal chambers: the
Grand Chamber, the Chamber of Inquiry, the Criminal Chamber, and the
Chamber of Appeal. It was composed of ordinary councillors, both clerical
and lay; of honorary councillors, some of whom were ecclesiastics, and
others members of the nobility; of masters of inquiry; and of a
considerable number of officers of all ranks (Figs. 312 to 314). It had at
times as many as twenty-four presidents, one hundred and eighty-two
councillors, four knights of honour, four masters of records; a public
prosecutor's office was also attached, consisting of the king's counsel,
an attorney-general and deputies, thus forming an assembly of from fifteen
to twenty persons, called a _college_. Amongst the inferior officers we
may mention twenty-six ushers, four receivers-general of trust money,
three commissioners for the receipt of goods which had been