In the reign of Louis XIV there were four chief councils, the _Conseil
d’État_ known unofficially as the _Conseil d’en haut_, the _Conseil des
dépêches_, the _Conseil des finances_, and the _Conseil des parties_.
Of these the _Conseil d’État_ was by far the most important. It
consisted of not less than four and not more than five members,
nominated by the King at his pleasure without any formality. They were
chosen from the Secretaries of State, the Controller-General and the
_Chef du Conseil des finances_, but no office carried with it a seat
in the council. They had the title of _Ministre d’État_, or briefly
_Ministre_. The appointment was for life, but might be terminated by
dismissal or resignation.
The following are the names of those who sat in the _Conseil d’État_
from the death of Mazarin to the death of Louis XIV: Fouquet, Le
Tellier, Lionne, Colbert, Villeroy _père_, Pomponne, Louvois, Croissy,
Le Peletier, Seignelay, Pontchartrain, Beauvillier, Torcy, Chamillart,
Desmaretz, Voysin, Villeroy _fils_. Of these seventeen, eight were
fathers and sons, viz. the two Villeroys, Le Tellier and Louvois,
Colbert and Seignelay, Croissy and Torcy. Only three, the Villeroys and
Beauvillier, were _ducs et pairs_, or even belonged to the old nobility.
The Council met in the presence of the King every Sunday, Wednesday and
Thursday, and every other Monday.
The _Conseil des dépêches_, also presided over by the King, met once a
fortnight. It was composed of the Chancellor, the Ministers, and the
Secretaries of State.
The _Conseil royal des finances_, also presided over by the King,
consisted of the Chancellor, the _Chef du Conseil des finances_, the
Controller-General, and two councillors.
The _Conseil des parties_, also called the _Conseil privé_, sat, not in
the royal apartments, but in the _Palais de justice_. It was usually
presided over, not by the King, but by the Chancellor, and was composed
of thirty _conseillers d’État_ and over eighty masters of requests. It
was the supreme judicial and administrative body of the kingdom.
(See A. de Boislisle, _Les Conseils sous Louis XIV_, Appendices
to vols. IV.-VII. of his edition of Saint-Simon’s _Memoirs_, and
separately, 1901.)