Fundamental laws of the Kingdom of France

The fundamental laws of the Kingdom of France were a set of unwritten principles which dealt with determining the question of royal succession, and placed limits on the otherwise absolute power of the king from the Middle Ages until the French Revolution in 1789.

[2][a] Early writers in the 9th to the 16th century, such as Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel, Jonas of Orléans and Hincmar of Reims, saw the king as the embodiment of divine justice, from which he drew his authority.

[4] It remained the basis of Frankish law throughout the early Medieval period, and influenced future European legal systems.

[6] Despite this evolution and Bodin's theories, the power of the king remained strictly controlled by traditional institutions, like parliaments, and provincial, parish, and clergy groups, and local customs.

Thus, for example, when Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685, he was acting in response to his entourage, his court, and influential men in the kingdom.