The Triumvirate refers to the trio of ministers who came to power in Old Regime France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 in 1771 following a coup orchestrated by René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou

René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou

René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou was a French politician, chancellor of France, whose attempts at fiscal reform signalled the failure of enlightened despotism in France.-Biography:...

. Maupeou became Keeper of the Seals, Joseph Marie Terray

Joseph Marie Terray

Joseph Marie Terray was a Controller-General of Finances during the reign of Louis XV of France, an agent of fiscal reform, cut short by his death....

became Controller-General of Finances

Controller-General of Finances

The Controller-General of Finances was the name of the minister in charge of finances in France from 1661 to 1791. The position replaced the former position of Superintendent of Finances , which was abolished with the downfall of Nicolas Fouquet.- History :The term "contrôleur général" in...

, and the Duc d'Aiguillon

Emmanuel-Armand de Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon

Emmanuel-Armand de Vignerot du Plessis de Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon was a French soldier and statesman and a nephew of Louis François Armand du Plessis, duc de Richelieu. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs under Louis XV.-Early life:Before the death of his father, he was known at court...

became foreign minister. The Triumvirate was strongly disliked by the general public, in part because of Maupeou's dismissal of both the Paris and provincial parlements

Parlement

Parlements were regional legislative bodies in Ancien Régime France.The political institutions of the Parlement in Ancien Régime France developed out of the previous council of the king, the Conseil du roi or curia regis, and consequently had ancient and customary rights of consultation and...

, which he replaced with restructured and weakened bodies. By 1774, the year of Louis XV's death, factional infighting had alienated the three ministers from each other and weakened their collective power. Despite some successes, most notably Terray's relative stabilization of France's abysmal finances, the Triumvirate marked the failure of enlightened despotism in the Old Regime. The Triumvirate was overturned in 1774 with the King's death and the ascension of Maurepas

Maurepas

Maurepas may refer to:* Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, Count of Maurepas, French statesman* Fort Maurepas, also known as Old Biloxi, a settlement in Louisiana * Maurepas, Louisiana, an unincorporated community in the United States...

.