The Administration of Justice at the Fortress of Louisbourg, 1713-1758 ~ The Costume of Paris

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The Administration Of Justice At The Fortress Of Louisbourg (1713-1758)

General Introduction

The Costume of Paris

From 1713-1758, Louisbourg adhered to the Coutume de Paris (Custom of Paris) for its civil law. This customary law, first reduced to writing in France in 1580, applied in the City of Paris and the surrounding province of Ile-de-France and was administered judicially by the Parlement de Paris. The Coutume was imposed on New France by King Louis XIV's Edicts of April 1663 and May 1664 and it was was directed primarily at rights in immoveable property, rather than at the law of persons.

For construction at Louisbourg, the following work proved most useful: Desgodets et Goupy, Des Batiments, Suivant La Coutume De Paris, Traitant de ce qui concerne les Servitudes réelles, les Rapports des Jurés-Experts, les Réparations locatives, douairieres, usufruitieres, bénéficiales, &C Rouen: Chez La Veuve de Pierre Dumesnil, 1787.

Reading Material: John A Dickinson, "New France: Law, Courts and the Coutume de Paris, 1608-1760," Manitoba Law Review, 23 1-2 (1996): 32-54.

General Introduction