高等法院与法国旧制度下的社会治理

The Parlements and Social Administration in Old Regime France

法国旧制度下的高等法院以对抗王权而著称,但它的职能决不限于政治方面。以往的研究过于强调高等法院与王权的政治斗争,对于它所承担的社会治理职能却很少关注。研究发现,高等法院具有广泛的社会治理职能:从监管公共卫生到监督生活必需品供给,从管理行会到监控乞丐,几乎无所不包。这些职能的主旨是要维护公共秩序与社会稳定。此外,高等法院还把控制城市贫困人口当作自身的重要任务。法官们积极参与收容机构的兴建与管理,以遗赠的方式救助穷人。随着法国绝对君主制的发展,高法法官的治理职能逐渐受到行政官僚的挑战,由此加剧了司法权与行政权的冲突。考察高等法院在社会治理中发挥的作用,有助于认识旧制度下司法贵族群体的社会角色,有助于理解高等法院与王权之间既冲突又合作的复杂关系。

The Parlements of the Old Regime France were famous for their conflicts with the royal government.However,overemphasizing the political struggles of the parlements has caused historians to neglect their important function of policing the society,and that is the main research content in this article.The police power of the parlements included a wide variety of subjects,such as the supervision of the public hygiene;the provision of the basic necessities of life;the regulation of trade guilds,and the management of urban beggars.The main purpose of such practices was to maintain public order and social stability.One of the most important tasks of parlements＇social administration was to control the urban vagrants and beggars.The magistrates of parlements participated actively in the establishment and management of the hospitals.In addition,they helped the poor through their legacies.The parlements was not the only agent in policing the society,and the magistrates faced the competition of gouverneurs,intendants and lieutenant de police.Researching the role of the parlements in social administration is helpful to understand the complicated relationship between the judicial noble and the royalty.