Lit de justice

The king, fresh from his devotions in Sainte-Chapelle, would enter, accompanied by his chancellor, the princes du sang, dukes and peers, cardinals and marshals, and take his place upon the cushions on a dais under a canopy of estate (the lit) in a corner of the chamber.

The records of a lit de justice of Charles V, May 21, 1375, gives an impression of the panoply of personages: the Dauphin, the duc d'Anjou brother of the king, the Patriarch of Alexandria, 4 archbishops, 7 bishops, 6 abbots, the rector and several members of the University of Paris, the Chancellor of France, 4 princes of the blood, several comtes and seigneurs, the Provost of Merchants and the echevins of the city of Paris, "several other wise and notable folk and a great crowd of people".

In the 17th century, it was a rare event but it was revived under Louis XV, raising controversy among the parliamentary noblesse de robe, mindful of their threatened prerogatives.

As relations between Henry III and the Parlement of Paris became strained, the king used his presence in the lit de justice to enforce his will upon a recalcitrant court.

The lit was used to enact an edict respecting the French currency over the parlements' objection as well as stripping the Duke of Maine of his control over the child King Louis XV's education and of the rank of prince du sang.