marie seong-hak kim dency, but as the fourth-tier president, below the third-tier presidency to which de Thou was placed.30 Séguier, part of gens du roi, had been superior in ranks to de Thou who was a mere avocat, an auxiliary judicial official. The precedence in the Parlement’s hierarchy was a serious matter. The parquet protested that the order of de Thou’s and Séguier’s posts should be reversed. Séguier demanded that de Thou’s letter of appointment not be registered, in order to preserve “the dignity and recognition of the office of avocat du roi.”31 Ultimately, however, Séguier withdrew his demand, choosing not to resist the wishes of the king, although the members of the parquet wanted to continue protest.32 This incident captured the gist of the venality system: the king created the post for sale, de Thou could afford to purchase it, the king was satisfied with his candidacy, and that was that. As a president of the Parlement of Paris, de Thou was known for his moderate religious views. In 1555, the Parlement of Paris quashed the lower court’s capital punishment verdicts for heresy. The Parlement ruled that the case of a Pierre Lormeau was “badly judged” and reprimanded royal officials in Blois for using unauthorized methods in interrogation. It summoned the judge and the royal prosecutor to Paris to lecture them about their errors in Lormeau’s trial.33 President de Thou chastised them for failing to followprocedural rules, “even with things that concern matters of religion”, and warned them that they would be suspended if they repeated such blunders.34 De Thou becamepremier president of the Parlement of Paris in December 1562. The post of thepremier president, like chancellorship, was a commissioned office at the pleasure of the king, never venal or transmissible. By this time, Chancellor L’Hôpital had already raised much grief among the Catholic population because of his policy granting limited freedom of worship to the Protestants. The papal nuncio Santa Croce commented 30 Avocats du roi were attached to the Parlement but were not magistrates. They assisted the procureur général, the king’s prosecutor, who presented royal cases before the judges. 31 See Filhol, René 1937 p. 17. 32 See Richet, Denis p. 174-175. See also Maugis, Édouard 1913 vol. 1 p. 202-3. 33 Monter, William 1999 p. 152. 34 Cited from ibid. p. 153. 141
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