Prévôt des marchands

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Prévôt des marchands ( French Prévôt : Vogt , analogously: Head of the Merchants' Guild) was the elected head of the Association of Paris River Skippers, who later represented the economic interests of the entire Parisian citizenship and thus was the representative of the citizens also with the king , who was the The municipality did not want to recognize the rank of a city , but still needed a conversation partner and mediator from the ranks of the residents, for example on tax issues .

history

The river boatmen - similar to the Nautae in Gallo-Roman times - united against competition from Rouen in the 12th century . The association was initially based in the Parloir aux Bourgeois, which was initially installed at the foot of the Rue Saint-Denis near the Grand Châtelet , but was temporarily relocated to the left bank of the Seine in the 14th century, near the Porte Saint-Jacques, with which it was markedly far from the political and economic centers. In 1357 the Prévôt Étienne Marcel relocated him to the Place de Grève , in the famous Maison aux Piliers, which he had bought for this purpose and which was immediately regarded as the Hôtel de Ville .

In its political work, the royal Prévôt de Paris was soon confronted with this business association, which not only acquired and expanded its rights and privileges, but also knew how to use them. Already in the time of Louis VI. († 1137) he had acquired his position, which Ludwig VII confirmed in 1171. He had the monopoly of river navigation in the Détroits, which meant the middle Seine and its tributaries. From Ludwig IX. were then the chairman of the association, the Prévôt des marchands, and his four aldermen, the Échevins , who were elected for four and two years from the merchant aristocracy of the city, accepted by the king as interlocutors in all areas in which the royal administration - that of the Capital did not grant the status of a municipality, which in turn gave the largest city in the kingdom a dangerous special position - could not use a representative institution of the Parisian bourgeoisie.

As a result, the association quickly transformed itself from representing the interests of trade into an organ to defend the common interests of the citizens. In fact, the Prévot des marchands and the lay judges created a municipal administration with officials who looked after the material needs of the city - garbage collection, road construction, night watch, supervision - as well as the commercial justice system and the port and market police.

The Prévôt des marchands, elected for four years, was confirmed in office. He must have been born in Paris. The office headed by the Prévôt and the Échevins was called Prévôté des marchands .

Most of the Prévôts des marchands only regulated economic life and the city and questions of commercial law. Important prévôts des marchands that also played a political role were:

After the Maillotins uprising (1382), the Prévôté des marchands fell into the hands of the king. The Garde de la prévôté des marchands Jean Jouvenel (appointed in 1389), appointed by him, identified himself very quickly with the interests of the Parisians and took a path on which he was able to regain the old privileges over time. The Prévôté des marchands was officially re-established in January 1412 under the rule of the Bourguignons .

The power of the Prévôt des marchands was constantly opposed to the power of the Prévôt de Paris, who was a bailiff appointed by the king with his seat in the Grand Châtelet on today's Place du Châtelet . From the 1440s, the Prévôt des marchands and the majority of lay judges were elected from among the royal officials and no longer from among the merchants.

See also

literature

  • Jean Favier , Dictionnaire de la France médiévale , 1993