These offices, which were mostly in areas of the judicial system, were retained in exchange for an annual tax of one-sixtieth of the value known as the paulette.
[1] These offices provided access to power and opportunities for profit for those who bought them.
The more important offices, which were more expensive, also conferred on their holders personal noble status that became hereditary, generally after three generations.
Through venality of office, many bourgeoisie could hope for eventual noble status, and this provided an important avenue of social mobility for the expanding middle class.
[2] Louis XIV replenished his treasury by proliferating the amount of offices, as did his successors.