Master of Requests (France)

A Master of Requests (

Conseil d'État (Council of State),^[1] a high-level judicial officer of administrative law in France. The office has existed in one form or another since the Middle Ages

.

The occupational title derives from two words. In jurisprudence and administration, the French term maître is an honorific for a barrister (a lawyer who acts in proceedings before a court of law), and requêtes are "appeals" or "petitions".^[1] (The legal term une requête civile is "a petition to an appellate court against a judgement.")^[1]

Ancien Régime France

The Masters of Requests (Counsels of State), more fully maîtres des requêtes ordinaires de l'hôtel du Roi, were originally, during the Middle Ages, judges of a council convened to examine petitions laid by commoners before the Royal Household (hôtel du roi). A number of traditions from this time survived until the 18th century, such as the King's accompaniment by two Masters ordinarily on Sundays and festival days, on his way to and from church, and their close attendance upon him during mass, so as to better receive petitions from the public.

The role of the Masters of Requests was greatly expanded during the Renaissance: their duties, as defined by the Edict of 1493, and subsequently modified during the reigns of

bailiwick courts, at the Grand Conseil, and at sittings of Parlement where they sat on equal footing as Presidents of Court. They also received petitions against royal officers and intervened in cases of abuse.^[2]

In addition to their judicial duties, they were occasionally given temporary financial or diplomatic tasks.

Comptroller-General

, Lieutenant-General of Police, and so forth.

The Masters of Requests were chosen from among the best judges and members of the Parlements. As prestigious offices, they were sold and bought, although the King could also make appointments. Under

Louis XIV, Masters' offices were extremely expensive, but they conferred nobility on the holder. (see French nobility

)

Under

Louis XV brought them back to eighty in 1752. They fell to sixty-seven members in 1787.^[3]