Details

Subjects:

Biron, Charles de Gontaut, duc de, 1562-1602.
France. Parlement (Paris).
Criminal justice, Administration of -- France -- History.
Criminal justice, Administration of.
Offenses against religion.
Trials (Treason).
Trials (Blasphemy).
Trials (Heresy).
France.
History.
Criminal law -- France -- History.
Criminal law.
Crime -- France.
Crime.
Trials (Heresy) -- France.
Trials (Blasphemy) -- France -- Early works to 1800.
Trials (Treason) -- France.
Offenses against religion -- France.
France -- History -- 14th century.
France -- History -- 15th century.
France -- History -- 16th century.

Form/Genre:

Codices.
Finding tabs.
Judicial records.
Criminal court records.
Manuscripts, French.
Manuscripts, European.

Language:

French, with long passages in Latin.

Biography/History:

Royal secretary and chief scribe of the Parlement of Paris for 60 years. He was also the nephew of the famous poet Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux.

Summary:

A manuscript compendium of criminal cases between 1312 and 1603, made during the early 17th century from the records of the Parlement of Paris. This institution was created in 1307, replacing the king's council and initially had jurisdiction over the entire kingdom. Although more regional parlements were established in the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries, the Parisian body maintained the largest jurisdiction, presiding over northern and central France; it was known simply as the Parlement. These parlements were initially not legislative bodies, but functioned as courts of appeal for both civil and criminal and as tribunals in special cases involving the nobility. Records in this 3-volume codex begin at the end of the reign of Philip IV; the first legal question in the collection concerns the payment of tithes. Other notable types of cases include trials for illegal possession of arms, murder and other various violent crimes, theft, and contumacy. One particularly notable case is of a trial against Charles de Gontaut, duc de Biron, who was executed for high treason in 1602 (v.3, f.297v-307v). There are also a number of trials for heresy, blasphemy, and other religious controversies as well as several entries concerning the trials of condemned booksellers. Orders for imprisonment, banishment, galley service, and execution are also present. All entries are chronologically organized and dated according to the appropriate session of the Parlement. Many entries contain marginal notes that summarize longer entries. 2 loose leaves inserted in volume 2 (f.301r).

Contents:

Volume I: Recueil criminel depuis 1312 [jusqu'a 1424].
Volume II: Recueil criminel...Tome 2d, depuis 1423 jusqu'à 1499.
Volume III: Recueil criminel...Tome 3, depuis 1499 jusqu'à 1603.

Notes:

Ms. codex.
Title and author from the title page in the first volume (f.[ii]r).
Incipit: Registre premier du greffe criminel començant en 1312 et finissant en 1314. Philippus Dei gratiâ françorum Rex...(v.1, f.1r); Explicit: ... en vertu de leures patentes du Roy decernées à cet effet contre le[-] receveur, que le pain de prisonniers et necessitez de la lou[r] n'eussent esté entierement payées. (v.3, f.315v).
Pagination: Paper; v.I: 398 leaves, [iv], 1-39, 49, 51-73, 174-175, 76-203, 203, 203, 204-365, 368-529, 540-790, [ii]; contemporary pagination in ink, upper right corners; v.II: 338 leaves, [i, 1-332, v]; v.III: 318 leaves, [i, 1-315, ii]. Modern foliation in all volumes in pencil, lower right recto; all references in the record are made to the modern foliation.
Layout: Written in 20-29 long lines; text block outlined in drypoint.
Script: Written in a cursive script, possibly by multiple hands.
Watermarks: several sets of watermarks; grapevine with initials F. G. below; two coats of arms: circular ornamentation with grapes and a star at the top surrounding a serpent, and circular ornamentation with a crown surrounding an unidentified object; 3 names of papermakers: is T. Dupuy, B. Go[f]o[hr]ier, and an illegible name.
Binding: Contemporary calf (Zacour-Hirsch); gilt spine and titles with volume numbers and dates of contents.
Origin: Written in France, in the early 18th century (Zacour-Hirsch).
Paper finding tabs in volume 1 indicate the start of new entries.

Penn Provenance:

Sold by Gaston Saffroy (Paris), 1948 (clipping from bookseller's catalogue inside upper cover of the first volume).

Cited in:

Described in Zacour, Norman P. and Hirsch, Rudolf. Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Libraries of the University of Pennsylvania to 1800 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1965), p. 158 (Ms. Lea 50).

Cited as:

UPenn Ms. Codex 1205.

OCLC:

232624706

Access Restriction:

Volumes 1-2: Access to this item is subject to staff review.