Offices in the Reflection of the Legislative Acts of Henry II (1574—1589): All for Sale?

Abstract

The venality of offices was profitable for both the crown (replenishment of the treasury, loyalty of officials) and officials (prestige of royal service, salary or fee for service, social mobility, etc.), so the unity of interests ensured the development of this practice. However, the royal policy of selling offices was always criticized by the society. As the king was the only one who could establish new offices and abolish the old ones, it is reasonable to ask if the king or his entourage had any concept of the policy of venality of offices. For a detailed examination it is proposed to focus on the reign of Henry III (1574—1589), the last king of the Valois dynasty, as it was the period that preceded the introduction in 1604 of paulette, an annual payment for office (droit annuel), connected with the legalization of possessory rights on offices. Edicts and other orders connected with offices were singled out of legislation acts of Henry III. A special attention was paid to the edicts of the establishment of new offices. The results of the analysis, presented in form of a table, allow us to draw a conclusion that the crown was interested in new offices from financial point of view, as well as the perspective of the reforms that Henry III was ready to carry out.