Judicial Politics, War Finance and Absolutism: The Parlement of Besancon and Venality of Office, 1699-1705

During the War of the Spanish Succession, how was Louis XIVable to extract badly needed funds from France’s privilegednoble judges without inciting serious resistance? This articleanswers this question by examining the monarchy’s successfulefforts to expand venal officeholding in the Parlement of Besançon.It argues that Louis XIV’s achievement depended largelyon the skilful management of judicial politics. The Bisontinparlementaires long opposed the expansion of venality. The king’sministers and their local agents were able to overcome theiropposition by fashioning an effective strategy of divide andrule that convinced the majority of the judges to support thecrown’s policies while simultaneously marginalizing thosedetermined to resist. This strategy established a model forthe royal government’s political management of the sovereigncourts. Louis XIV’s successors, however, permitted thismodel to decay at their peril.