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The
Council of Ancients or
Council of Elders was the
upper houseAn upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.- Possible specific characteristics :An upper house is usually distinct from the lower house in at least one of the following respects:...
of the
DirectoryThe Executive Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate...
(French:
Directoire), the legislature of
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
from August 22, 1795 until November 9, 1799, roughly the second half of the period generally referred to as the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
. The Council of Ancients was the senior of the two halves of the republican legislative system. The Ancients were 250 members who could accept or reject laws put forward by the
Council of Five HundredThe Council of Five Hundred , or simply the Five Hundred was the lower house of the legislature of France during the period commonly known as the Directory , from August 22, 1795 until November 9, 1799, roughly the second half of the period generally referred to as the...
(
Conseil des Cinq-Cents). Each member had to be at least 40 and a third of them would be replaced annually. They had no power to draft laws, but any laws rejected could not be re-presented for at least a year.The
Lower houseA lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house.Despite its theoretical position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide the lower house has come to wield more power...
was the
Council of Five HundredThe Council of Five Hundred , or simply the Five Hundred was the lower house of the legislature of France during the period commonly known as the Directory , from August 22, 1795 until November 9, 1799, roughly the second half of the period generally referred to as the...
(
Conseil des Cinq-Cents).
Besides functioning as a legislative body, the Council of Ancients selected the five Directors, who jointly held executive power, from a list provided by the Five Hundred.
Presidents of the Council of Ancients
- 28 October 1795 : Claude Antoine Rudel Du Miral (due to age)
- 28 October 1795 - 2 November 1795 : Louis-Marie de La Révellière-Lépeaux
- 2 November 1795 - 23 November 1795 : Pierre-Charles-Louis Baudin, known as Baudin des Ardennes
- 23 November 1795 - 22 December 1795 : François Denis Tronchet
François Denis Tronchet , was a French jurist.Born in Paris, he became an avocat at the Parlement de Paris, and gained a great reputation in a consultative capacity. In 1789, he was elected deputy to the Estates-General...
- 22 December 1795 - 22 January 1796 : Théodore Vernier
- 22 January 1796 - 20 February 1796 : Guillaume François Charles Goupil de Préfelne
- 20 February 1796 - 21 March 1796 : Claude Ambroise Régnier
- 21 March 1796 - 20 April 1796 : Jacques Antoine Creuzé-Latouche
- 20 April 1796 - 20 May 1796 : Jean-Barthélemy Lecouteulx de Canteleu
- 20 May 1796 - 19 June 1796 : Charles-François Lebrun
- 19 June 1796 - 19 July 1796 : Jean Étienne Marie Portalis
- 19 July 1796 - 18 August 1796 : Jean Dussaulx
- 18 August 1796 - 23 September 1796 : Honoré Muraire
- 23 September 1796 - 22 October 1796 : Roger Ducos
Pierre Roger Ducos , better known as Roger Ducos, was a French political figure during the Revolution and First Empire, a member of the National Convention, and of the Directory.-In the Revolution:...
- 22 October 1796 - 21 November 1796 : Jean-Girard Lacuée
- 21 November 1796 - 21 December 1796 : Jean-Jacques Bréard, known as Bréard-Duplessis
- 21 December 1796 - 20 January 1797 : Boniface Paradis
- 20 January 1797 - 19 February 1797 : Sébastien Ligeret de Beauvais
- 19 February 1797 - 21 March 1797 : Joseph Clément Poullain de Grandprey
- 21 March 1797 - 20 April 1797 : Jean François Bertrand Delmas
- 20 April 1797 - 20 May 1797 : Edme-Bonaventure Courtois
- 20 May 1797 - 19 June 1797 : François Barbé-Marbois
François Barbé-Marbois, marquis de Barbé-Marbois was a French politician.-Early career:Born in Metz, where his father was director of the local mint, Barbé-Marbois tutored the children of the Marquis de Castries. In 1779 he was made secretary of the French legation to the United States...
- 19 June 1797 - 19 July 1797 : Louis Bernard de Saint-Affrique
- 19 July 1797 - 18 August 1797 : Pierre Samuel Dupont de Nemours
- 18 August 1797 - 4 September 1797 : André Daniel Laffon de Ladébat, known as Laffon-Ladébat
- 6 September 1797 - 23 September 1797 : Jean-Antoine Marbot
- 23 September 1797 - 22 October 1797 : Emmanuel Crétet
- 22 October 1797 - 21 November 1797 : Jean-Pierre Lacombe-Saint-Michel
- 21 November 1797 - 21 December 1797 : Jean François Philibert Rossée
- 21 December 1797 - 20 January 1798 : Jean-Baptiste Marragon
- 20 January 1798 - 19 February 1798 : Jean Rousseau
Jean Rousseau was a French viol player, composer, and author remembered principally for his Traité de la viole , a valuable source of information on the performance practices of his time.----...
- 19 February 1798 - 21 March 1798 : Pardoux Bordas
- 21 March 1798 - 20 April 1798 : Étienne Mollevaut
- 20 April 1798 - 20 May 1798 : Jacques Poisson de Coudreville
- 20 May 1798 - 19 June 1798 : Claude Ambroise Régnier
- 19 June 1798 - 19 July 1798 : Jean Antoine Marbot
General Jean Antoine Marbot , was a French general and politician.Marbot was a member of the Garde du Corps but resigned upon the outbreak of the French Revolution. In 1791 he was elected a deputy to the Legislative Assembly. He took part in the French Revolutionary Wars in the Cerdagne against Spain...
- 19 July 1798 - 18 August 1798 : Lavaux
- 18 August 1798 - 23 September 1798 : Pierre Antoine Laloy
- 23 September 1798 - 22 October 1798 : Benoît Michel Decomberousse
- 22 October 1798 - 21 November 1798 : Emmanuel Pérès de Lagesse
- 21 November 1798 - 21 December 1798 : Jean-Augustin Moreau de Vormes
- 21 December 1798 - 20 January 1799 : Jean-Baptiste Perrin des Vosges
- 20 January 1799 - 19 February 1799 : Dominique Joseph Garat
Dominique Joseph Garat was a French writer and politician.He was born at Bayonne. After a good education under the direction of a relation who was a curé, and a period as an advocate at Bordeaux, he came to Paris, where he obtained introductions to the most distinguished writers of the time, and...
- 19 February 1799 - 21 March 1799 : Jean-Aimé Delacoste
- 21 March 1799 - 20 April 1799 : Mathieu Depère
- 20 April 1799 - 20 May 1799 : Claude-Pierre Dellay d'Agier
- 20 May 1799 - 19 June 1799 : Charles Claude Christophe Gourdan
- 19 June 1799 - 19 July 1799 : Pierre-Charles-Louis Baudin, known as Baudin des Ardennes
- 19 July 1799 - 18 August 1799 : Louis-Thibaut Dubois-Dubais
- 18 August 1799 - 24 September 1799 : Mathieu-Augustin Cornet
- 24 September 1799 - 23 October 1799 : Joseph Cornudet des Chaumettes
- 23 October 1799 - 10 November 1799 : Louis-Nicolas Lemercier