The ministry, its divisions, and the parlement of Paris, 1785–1786.

One crucial aspect of the warfare at Versailles after 1783 was its speedy spread to other parts of the political nation. The most important victim of this process was the parlement of Paris. By 1787 Calonne and Breteuil had between them accomplished the most destructive political feat of the reign of Louis XVI – the crippling of the parti ministériel. By mid-1784, the senior magistrates had beaten off the attacks of the lower chambers and their clique of allies in the grand'chambre over judicial and criminal reform. A period of calm would no doubt have ensued had they had a stable ministry at Versailles with which to negotiate. This, unfortunately, was precisely what was denied them. Part of the problem was Breteuil. The queen's favourite minister was boxed in at the maison du roi by his enemies, and his only way of breaking out of this lay in extending his field of operations to Paris. The main target of his manoeuvres was Calonne, and this is hardly surprising. As John Hardman has pointed out, there was an institutional as well as a personal rivalry between the two men. There was a considerable overlap in the competences of the maison and the contrôle, especially where the administration of Paris was concerned. If Breteuil was checked at Versailles, it was logical for him to use his influence in the capital to undermine Calonne's financial operations on the bourse and the passage of edicts and loans through the parlement. A deeper cause of the subsequent upheavals lay in the personality of Calonne himself, and his abysmally low standing with the magistrature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]