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Origin and history

Dombes' parliament was founded in 1523 by François I for the principality of Dombes, originally attached to the Duchy of Bourbon. After the confiscation of the property of the connétable de Bourbon, the principality remained under royal sovereignty but independent of the Paris Parliament. A "Sovereign Council of Dombes" was then established in Lyon, marking the birth of this autonomous appeal court.

In 1696, the Duke of Maine, Louis Auguste de Bourbon, transferred the parliament to Trévoux and imposed the residence of magistrates. Between 1697 and 1703, the court temporarily sat in the former bailiff audience, while a new building was built outside the medieval ramparts under the direction of Claude Cachet de Montézan and his son. Inaugurated in 1703, the palace was enlarged between 1715 and 1724 by Jean Boissieux, with the addition of a graft, archives and a chapel dedicated to Saint Louis.

The principality was attached to France in 1762, and the parliament was incorporated into Dijon's parliament in 1771. The building then became a stewardship, and under the First Empire the sub-prefecture, the courthouse and the gendarmerie were welcomed. In the 19th century, major changes removed the chapel (1874) and refurbishing the spaces for administrative offices. Today, it is still home to a trial court.

The audience room, decorated in 1698 with frescoes by Pierre Paul Sevin de Tournon, has been decorated since 1920: mouldings, royal coats of arms and portraits of magistrates, including the Duke of Maine. These elements, as well as the vestibule (protected in 1991 and incorporated into the overall inscription of the monument in 2006), testify to its past prestige.

The Dombes Parliament played a central role in the legal and fiscal life of the principality. Court of Appeal, he also ruled on taxes, reflecting the administrative autonomy of this territory until its definitive integration into the kingdom. Its composition included presidents from the local aristocracy, such as the Cachet de Montezan, an influential family that marked its architectural and institutional history.

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