Meanings
plural lits de justice
- historyA special parliamentary session headed by the king in pre-Revolutionary France, where royal edicts could be forcibly registered.
A decision of a lit de justice could only be stamped by the Parliament.
2024, Mehmet Baha Karan, A History of Banks, Springer, page 1473 more examples
They would then be officially registered by edicts of the King in that special process, the lit de justice (which could also be used to enforce edicts that the Parlement resisted).
2001, Antonia Fraser, Marie AntoinetteThe Parlement's remonstrances were not effective, and the Six Acts were enforced by a lit de justice in March 1776.
2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 300This, however, is only a hypothesis which leaves out of account the special circumstances that led to the lit de justice of 24 July.
2015, Robert J Knecht, Francis I and Sixteenth-Century France, Routledge
Origin
- Frenchlit de justice
- Englishlit de justice
From French lit de justice, referring to the throne occupied by the king when sitting in one of his judicial courts. Compare earlier bed of justice.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
lit de justice. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lit%20de%20justice
“lit de justice.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lit%20de%20justice. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lit de justice,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lit%20de%20justice.
Source: lit de justice on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.