michel de l’hôpital & christophe de thou in early 1562 that nothing would be better than to replace Chancellor L’Hôpital with Christophe de Thou, “who is a very good Catholic.”35 The dealings between L’Hôpital and de Thou would exhibit the entanglement of constitutional, political, and legal issues in the context of the unprecedented religious crisis. The history of theancien régime was marked by recurring incidents of the contest of will between the crown and the law courts over the registration of royal edicts and ordinances. When a parlement viewed the proposed legislation as being against the public good and fundamental laws, it formulated its reservations in remonstrances, which amounted, in the modern context, to introducing amendments to legislation.36 The judges of the sovereign courts claimed that it was their duty to prevent measures contrary to the interest of the king, even if this implied that the king had to be disobeyed. This reasoning, from which emanated justifications for their political role, had ample grounds to clash with the principle of royal sovereignty.37 Most of the time, the king accepted the parlement’sremonstrance. Other times, the king ordered the court to proceed to registration by issuing a lettre patente (calledlettre de jussion). The court, persisting in refusal to register, addressed to the kingitératives andréitératives remontrances. Normally, after protracted wrangling involving threats and defiance, some compromise was attained.38 If not, the impasse was ultimately broken when the king decided to exercise his power of justice in person, assuming his role as le roi justicier, and held alit de justice. The court then had no choice but to surrender to royal will, although it still could record its 35 Kim, Seong-Hak 1997 p. 92. 36 This process could take three forms depending on the degree of solemnity: remontrances (could be formulated by the courts and also by the assemblies of estates); réprésentations (could be presented also by inferior tribunals), and the lettres. Barbiche, Bernard 1999 p. 109-110. 37 Ibid. p. 107-108. 38 Ibid. p. 110. 142 The Crown and the Law Courts
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