11th of February, 1302. It was unanimously
declared that "the kings recognized no sovereign on the earth excepting
God, and that it was an abomination to hear Boniface maintain that the
kingdoms were subject to him, not only spiritually but temporally."

Under Philippe V, the _Etats Generaux_ were convoked three times, and
the regularity of their sittings thus seemingly established; this
monarch also, following the procedure established under Louis XI, 1462,
excluded the clergy from the Parlement, in order that he might have
there only docile members. They re-entered it later under the name of
_conseillers clercs_. In 1318 was created the _Conseil etroit_, or
Council of State, which was the deliberative power, as the officers of
the crown and the _clercs du secret_, from whom were selected later the
secretaries of State, constituted the executive power. In the reign of
Philippe VI, in 1338, the great principle of "taxation without
representation is tyranny" was openly proclaimed in a meeting of the
_Etats Generaux_, and the monarchs henceforth found themselves
constrained to wage a varying struggle against this claim of the
representatives of the nation to be consulted before the levying of
imposts upon them. In the Dark Ages, now fast drawing to a close, three
great principles had been promulgated which were to survive through many
tribulations to the present day,--that no tax could be imposed without
the consent of those who were to pay it; that no law could be enacted if
it were not accepted by the representatives of those who were to obey
it; that no judgment was legal unless rendered by the peers of the
accused.

By an ordinance of Philippe VI, dated March 11, 1344, the personnel of
the Parlement was fixed at three presidents and seventy-eight
conseillers, appointed; of the latter, forty-four were ecclesiastics,
and thirty-four, laymen. It was subsequently divided into seven
chambers, the _grand'chambre_, the _chambre criminelle_, or _la
Tourelle_, three _chambres des enquetes_, and two _chambres des
requetes_. The first took cognizance of the important causes which
concerned the State, the city, and the corporations; the criminal
chamber sat in appeal on judgments rendered in the criminal courts
(after 1515 it was given general jurisdiction); the three _chambres des
enquetes_ decided upon the validity of appeals addressed to the
Parlement, and decided as a court of last resort in processes which
entailed punish