The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (French: Ordonnance de Villers-Cotterêts) is an extensive piece of reform legislation signed into law by Francis I of France on August 10, 1539, in the city of Villers-Cotterêts and the oldest French legislation still used partly by French courts.
Largely the work of Chancellor Guillaume Poyet, the legislative edict had 192 articles and dealt with a number of government, judicial and ecclesiastical matters (ordonnance générale en matière de police et de justice).
Articles 110 and 111, the most famous, and the oldest still in use in the French legislation, called for the use of French in all legal acts, notarizedcontracts and official legislation to avoid any linguistic confusion:
CX. Que les arrestz soient clers & entendibles. Et affin quil ny ait cause de doubter sur lintelligence desdictz arrestz. Nous voulons & ordonons quilz soient faictz & escriptz si clairement quil ny ait ne puisse auoir aulcune ambiguite ou incertitude ne lieu a en demander interpretation.
110. That decrees be clear and understandable.
And in order that there may be no cause for doubt over the meaning of the said decrees. We will and order that they be composed and written so clearly that there be not nor can be any ambiguity or uncertainty, nor grounds for requiring interpretation thereof.
CXI. De prononcer & expedier tous actes en langage francoys. Et pource que telles choses sont souuentesfoys aduenues sur lintelligence des motz latins contenuz esdictz arrestz. Nous voulons que doresenavant tous arrestz ensemble toutes autres procedeures soyent de noz cours souueraines ou autres subalternes et inferieures, soyent de registres, enquestes, contractz, commissions, sentences, testamens et autres quelzconques actes et exploictz de justice, ou qui en dependent, soyent prononcez, enregistrez et deliurez aux parties en langage maternel francoys et non autrement.
111. On pronouncing and drawing up all legal documents in the French language.
And because so many things often hinge on the meaning of Latin words contained in the said documents. We will that from henceforth all decrees together with all other proceedings, whether of our royal courts or others subordinate or inferior, whether records, surveys, contracts, commissions, awards, wills, and all other acts and deeds of justice or dependent thereon be spoken, written, and given to the parties in the French mother tongue and not otherwise.
The major goal of these articles was to discontinue the use of Latin in official documents (although Latin continued to be used in church registers in some regions of France), but they also had an effect on the use of the other languages and dialects spoken in many regions of France.
Registrations of births and deathsedit
The ordinance was part of a wider legislation regarding the policing of church benefices, to keep vital records registers in the various church local institutions (mainly parishes). The ordinance ordered the creation of at least a register of baptisms, needed for determining the age of candidates for ecclesiastical office, as a proof of one's date of birth, and a register of burials of churchmen, as a proof of one's date of death. Though both registers were kept by religious authorities, they were authenticated by a public notary, always a layman, and were kept in the local royal administration's archives. In fact, as the church kept parish registers since the Middle Ages (the oldest one in France is Giry's, of 1303), these registers were used to meet the ordinance's dispositions.[1]
The national registration was fully laicized in 1792 during the French Revolution by order of the French Republic. These records have continued until the present and are kept at the departmental archives. The civil registration now includes birth, marriage, divorce, and death records.
Other articlesedit
Another article prohibited guilds and trade federations (toute confrérie de gens de métier et artisans') in an attempt to suppress workers' strikes (although mutual-aid groups were unaffected).
Effectsedit
Many of these clauses marked a move towards an expanded, unified and centralized state and the clauses on the use of French marked a major step towards the linguistic and ideological unification of France at a time of growing national sentiment and identity.
Despite the effort to bring clarity to the complex systems of justice and administration prevailing in different parts of France and to make them more accessible, Article 111 left uncertainty in failing to define the French mother tongue. Many varieties of French were spoken around the country, to say nothing of sizeable regional minorities like Occitans, Bretons and Basques whose mother tongue was not French at all.
It was not until 1794 that the government decreed French to be the only language of the state for all official business,[2] a situation still in force under Article 2 of the current French Constitution.[3]
See alsoedit
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Ordonnance de Villers-Cotterêts
La Défense et illustration de la langue française (1549, English: The defense and illustration of the French language), a ten-year later text by Joachim du Bellay which call for the enrichment of the French language and promote its use in literary and scientific works instead of latin.
Sachsenspiegel, c. 1220, first legal document written in German rather than Latin
The first manuscript page of the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts, 1539
Articles 110 and 111 of the ordinance on Légifrance
Printed version of article 111 of the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts, prescribing the use of French in official documents
Referencesedit
^Delsalle, Paul (2009). Histoires de familles: les registres paroissiaux et d'état civil, du Moyen Âge à nos jours : démographie et généalogie. Besançon: Presses universitaires de Franche-Comté. p. 32
^, Article I, archived from the original on 2020-08-20, retrieved 2017-10-08, À compter du jour de la publication de la présente loi, nul acte public ne pourra, dans quelque partie que ce soit du territoire de la République, être écrit qu'en langue française.
^"Constitution du 4 octobre 1958, Article 2". Journal Officiel de la République Française (in French). nº 0238. p. 9151. 5 October 1958. La langue de la République est le français.
December 14, 2023
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The Ordinance of Villers Cotterets French Ordonnance de Villers Cotterets is an extensive piece of reform legislation signed into law by Francis I of France on August 10 1539 in the city of Villers Cotterets and the oldest French legislation still used partly by French courts Largely the work of Chancellor Guillaume Poyet the legislative edict had 192 articles and dealt with a number of government judicial and ecclesiastical matters ordonnance generale en matiere de police et de justice Contents 1 Articles 110 and 111 2 Registrations of births and deaths 3 Other articles 4 Effects 5 See also 6 Gallery 7 ReferencesArticles 110 and 111 editArticles 110 and 111 the most famous and the oldest still in use in the French legislation called for the use of French in all legal acts notarized contracts and official legislation to avoid any linguistic confusion CX Que les arrestz soient clers amp entendibles Et affin quil ny ait cause de doubter sur lintelligence desdictz arrestz Nous voulons amp ordonons quilz soient faictz amp escriptz si clairement quil ny ait ne puisse auoir aulcune ambiguite ou incertitude ne lieu a en demander interpretation 110 That decrees be clear and understandable And in order that there may be no cause for doubt over the meaning of the said decrees We will and order that they be composed and written so clearly that there be not nor can be any ambiguity or uncertainty nor grounds for requiring interpretation thereof CXI De prononcer amp expedier tous actes en langage francoys Et pource que telles choses sont souuentesfoys aduenues sur lintelligence des motz latins contenuz esdictz arrestz Nous voulons que doresenavant tous arrestz ensemble toutes autres procedeures soyent de noz cours souueraines ou autres subalternes et inferieures soyent de registres enquestes contractz commissions sentences testamens et autres quelzconques actes et exploictz de justice ou qui en dependent soyent prononcez enregistrez et deliurez aux parties en langage maternel francoys et non autrement 111 On pronouncing and drawing up all legal documents in the French language And because so many things often hinge on the meaning of Latin words contained in the said documents We will that from henceforth all decrees together with all other proceedings whether of our royal courts or others subordinate or inferior whether records surveys contracts commissions awards wills and all other acts and deeds of justice or dependent thereon be spoken written and given to the parties in the French mother tongue and not otherwise The major goal of these articles was to discontinue the use of Latin in official documents although Latin continued to be used in church registers in some regions of France but they also had an effect on the use of the other languages and dialects spoken in many regions of France Registrations of births and deaths editThe ordinance was part of a wider legislation regarding the policing of church benefices to keep vital records registers in the various church local institutions mainly parishes The ordinance ordered the creation of at least a register of baptisms needed for determining the age of candidates for ecclesiastical office as a proof of one s date of birth and a register of burials of churchmen as a proof of one s date of death Though both registers were kept by religious authorities they were authenticated by a public notary always a layman and were kept in the local royal administration s archives In fact as the church kept parish registers since the Middle Ages the oldest one in France is Giry s of 1303 these registers were used to meet the ordinance s dispositions 1 The national registration was fully laicized in 1792 during the French Revolution by order of the French Republic These records have continued until the present and are kept at the departmental archives The civil registration now includes birth marriage divorce and death records Other articles editAnother article prohibited guilds and trade federations toute confrerie de gens de metier et artisans in an attempt to suppress workers strikes although mutual aid groups were unaffected Effects editMany of these clauses marked a move towards an expanded unified and centralized state and the clauses on the use of French marked a major step towards the linguistic and ideological unification of France at a time of growing national sentiment and identity Despite the effort to bring clarity to the complex systems of justice and administration prevailing in different parts of France and to make them more accessible Article 111 left uncertainty in failing to define the French mother tongue Many varieties of French were spoken around the country to say nothing of sizeable regional minorities like Occitans Bretons and Basques whose mother tongue was not French at all It was not until 1794 that the government decreed French to be the only language of the state for all official business 2 a situation still in force under Article 2 of the current French Constitution 3 See also edit nbsp Wikisource has original text related to this article Ordonnance de Villers Cotterets La Defense et illustration de la langue francaise 1549 English The defense and illustration of the French language a ten year later text by Joachim du Bellay which call for the enrichment of the French language and promote its use in literary and scientific works instead of latin Sachsenspiegel c 1220 first legal document written in German rather than Latin Pleading in English Act 1362 English law mandating use of English instead of French in oral argument in court Proceedings in Courts of Justice Act 1730 British law mandating use of English instead of Latin in court writingGallery edit nbsp The first manuscript page of the Ordinance of Villers Cotterets 1539 nbsp Articles 110 and 111 of the ordinance on Legifrance nbsp Printed version of article 111 of the Ordinance of Villers Cotterets prescribing the use of French in official documentsReferences edit Delsalle Paul 2009 Histoires de familles les registres paroissiaux et d etat civil du Moyen Age a nos jours demographie et genealogie Besancon Presses universitaires de Franche Comte p 32 Decret du 2 thermidor an II 20 juillet 1794 Article I archived from the original on 2020 08 20 retrieved 2017 10 08 A compter du jour de la publication de la presente loi nul acte public ne pourra dans quelque partie que ce soit du territoire de la Republique etre ecrit qu en langue francaise Constitution du 4 octobre 1958 Article 2 Journal Officiel de la Republique Francaise in French nº 0238 p 9151 5 October 1958 La langue de la Republique est le francais Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ordinance of Villers Cotterets amp oldid 1178034136, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
