Thus Israelite French consistories were, like their Protestant namesakes, parastatal entities to represent these religious minorities to the administration, which in return used to control them.
He required the following: proper decorum should be maintained in the synagogue; Jews should take up mechanical trades (to replace usury); and the leaders should ensure that no young men evaded military service.
Napoleon's administration introduced the concept of the consistory to the various countries which were under the sway of France during his era and where Jews had been emancipated, such as Belgium (French-annexed from 1794 to 1814), and the client states of Holland and Westphalia.
Napoleon's youngest brother, Jérôme Bonaparte, ruled over Westphalia, where he established the Royal Westphalian Consistory of the Israelites [he] by decree of March 31, 1808.
Consistorial President Israel Jacobson was largely responsible for establishing this, as he hoped to use it to introduce his own ideas about Reform Judaism, including organs in the synagogue and the covering of coffins with flowers.
[1] The consistory ordered the introduction of confirmation for Jewish youths and removed the prohibition against consumption of leguminous plants on Passover.
During the middle of the nineteenth century, various Jewish communities worked to introduce either a consistory or a synod which should, by an authoritative vote, settle the difficulties which arose when the demands of the time came into conflict with the traditional Halakah law.
Members changed the method of electing the delegates, and dropped provisions assigning the rabbis secondary roles as government informers.
In the beginning of the 20th century, there were twelve consistories: Paris, Nancy, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseilles, Bayonne, Epinal, Lille, Besançon, Algier, Constantine, and Oran.