France
The word prévôt (provost) applied to a number of different persons in pre-Revolutionary France. Following its historical meaning (from Latin praepositus), the term referred to a seignorial officer in charge of managing burgh affairs and rural estates and, on a local level, customarily administered justice. Therefore, at Paris, for example, there existed the Lord Provost of Paris who presided a lower royal court and the Provost of Merchants (prévôt des marchands), or Dean of Guild, headed the burgh council and the burgh's merchant company. In addition, there were Provost Marshals (prévôts des maréchaux de France), the Provost of the Royal Palace (prévôt de l'hôtel du roi), otherwise known as the Lord High Provost of France (grand prévôt de France), and the Provost General (prévôt général) or High Provost of the Mint (grand prévôt des monnaies).
Read more about this topic: Provost (civil)
Famous quotes containing the word france:
“The best of America drifts to Paris. The American in Paris is the best American. It is more fun for an intelligent person to live in an intelligent country. France has the only two things toward which we drift as we grow older—intelligence and good manners.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)