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marie seong-hak kim probity. Kaiser explained that the period of the Religious Wars witnessed a distinct “phenomenon of acculturation,” in which the judicial elites effected a “transformation of the image of judge.”131 In this situation, the judges may have found Chancellor L’Hôpital’s impatient approach to religious and judicial policy unwise and unsympathetic. It has been seen above that L’Hôpital stressed the importance of the mercuriales and pushed for more frequent sessions.132 The Parlement’s remonstrance in the 1560s could be seen as a collective protest by the judges to their former colleague: “why are you picking on us?” As mentioned above, the strained relationship between the crown and the Parlement of Paris should not be exaggerated. Judges were devoted to the king; the Parlement would strengthen rather than weaken the monarchy.133 In a sense, The disagreements surrounding the registration of royal edicts can be seen as part of the usual political process. While L’Hôpital and the judges collided over venality, the system had to be preserved, in which both the king and his judges had vested interests. A similar assessment can be made for the relationship between L’Hôpital and de Thou. The offices L’Hôpital and de Thou occupied pitted them against each other in public encounters, but they were doing their job. This is not to question the veracity of their intentions, but to suggest that their respective conception of royal office and attitude to venality may have been influenced by their duties and also their backgrounds. L’Hôpital was not deeply steeped as de Thou was in the capital’s burgeoning judicial corporative culture, mentality, or wealth. After he was disgraced, L’Hôpital retired to his modest estate in Vignay, and he complained about his poverty. He wrote: “Even when I get tired of the countryside I cannot go to Paris, because I do not have a place to stay there. I remain condemned to my muddy land, my refuge and exile to which my destiny assigned me.”134 131 Ibid. p. 15-16. 132 Discourse of 7 September 1560, at the Parlement of Paris, in L’Hospital, Michel de 2013 p. 375. The practice of mercuriales became more frequent during L’Hôpital’s chancellorship. Maugis, Édouard 1913 vol. 1 p. 341-67. 133 Daubresse, Sylvie 2005. 134 L’Hospital, Michel and Nalèche, Louis Bandy de 1857 p. 355. 163

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