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 good critic is he who relates the adventures of his soul among masterpieces.”
—Anatole France (1844–1924)
“But as some silly young men returning from France affect a broken English, to be thought perfect in the French language; so his Lordship, I think, to seem a perfect understander of the unintelligible language of the Schoolmen, pretends an ignorance of his mother-tongue. He talks here of command and counsel as if he were no Englishman, nor knew any difference between their significations.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)
““Eh Bien you like this sacred pig of a country?” asked Marco.
“Why not? I like it anywhere. It’s all the same, in France you are paid badly and live well; here you are paid well and live badly.””
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)