Lit de justice

For the horse, see Lit de Justice.
Lit de justice of king Charles VII at the Parlement of Paris, in 1458, by Jean Fouquet

In France under the Ancien Régime, the lit de justice (French pronunciation: [li də ʒystis], "bed of justice") was a particular formal session of the Parlement of Paris, under the presidency of the King of France, for the compulsory registration of the royal edicts and to impose his sovereignty. It was named thus because the king would sit on a throne, under a baldachin.[1] In the Middle Ages, not every appearance of the King of France in parlement occasioned a formal lit de justice.

  1. ^ Jean Rey, Histoire du drapeau, des couleurs et des insignes de la monarchie française, Vol. 2, Paris 1837, p.40