marie seong-hak kim While he tirelessly worked to bring religious peace, Chancellor L’Hôpital placed major efforts on judicial reforms. He was convinced that disorder in society was prompted by the disarray in the judicial system. The main target of his reform was the venality of office, which he criticized for promoting corruption among judges and obstructing administrative efficiency. In particular, L’Hôpital strongly warned against the growing recalcitrance of officeholders to the crown, entrenched in their offices as a result of venality. His attempt to limit the privileges of theparlementaires by attacking venality and heredity of offices aroused deep misgivings among the latter. Judicial tenure, along with constitutional questions, would become a key issue of contention between the chancellor and the Parlement of Paris headed by Christophe de Thou. De Thou’s background differed sharply from L’Hôpital’s. De Thou came from a family already well established in Paris for over a century when he started his career. Originating from Orléans, the de Thou were gravel merchants in the fifteenth century.21 The early generations served within the municipal echevinage there.22 Jacques de Thou moved to Paris to occupy the post of avocat du roi at the cour des aides, an office which he acquired from his mother’s family, the Viole, a respected judicial family in the capital. Jacques’ son Augustin, Christophe’s father, married into another famous parlementaire family of theMerle and became a president at the Parlement of Paris. Christophe’s own marriage to Jacqueline de Tuleu solidly linked the de Thou to the powerful robe families. Several of Christophe’s children obtained high judicial offices, the most famous being Jacques-August de Thou, the author of Histoire universelle and the president at the Parlement of Paris.23 One daughter married Achille de Harlay, who succeeded Christophe as the premier président at the Parlement of Paris, and another married Philippe Hurault de Cheverny, the future chancellor of France. 20 “Plusieurs peuvent être cives, qui non erunt christiani; mesme l’excommunié ne laisse pas d’estre citoyen.” 21 For de Thou’s biographical information, see Filhol, René 1937 p. 5-10; Descimon, Robert 2001 # 22. 22 Salmon, JohnH. M. 1975 p. 104; see Pattou, Étienne 2008. 23 Hamon, Philippe 1999 p. 53-85. 139
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