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Institutions

Parlement and members of a parlement

Parlement; parlementaire

Parlement here names an old-regime court, not a modern legislative parliament.

From the book

The Gods Are Athirst

Anatole France · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Meaning

Related words and phrases.

Parlement here names an old-regime court, not a modern legislative parliament. Gamelin attends the Revolutionary Tribunal in the former chamber of the Parlement of Paris, where the setting makes institutional succession visible. Later parlementaires are members of such former courts, listed among prisoners of very different social positions. Their presence in a single alleged conspiracy is asserted by the prosecution’s grouping; the narration explicitly allows that they may not even know one another.

Places to read

  1. Chapter IX, paragraph 13Frenchl’ancienne salle du Parlement de Paris: the former chamber of the Parlement of Paris. A judicial space is occupied by a new tribunal.
  2. Chapter XXIV, paragraph 2Frenchparlementaires, journaliers: members of the old parlements, day labourers. The supplied English disambiguates the historical office from a modern member of parliament.