- This article is about a Scottish position. For other uses, see Provost.
A provost (introduced into Scots from French) is the ceremonial head of many Scottish local authorities. Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Local government in Scotland is organised through 32 unitary authorities consisting of Councillors elected every four years by registered voters in each of the The modern de facto political leader of a council is often called the convener.
Historically the provost was the chief magistrate or convener of a Scottish burgh council, the equivalent of a mayor in other parts of the English-speaking world. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. A Burgh (ˈbʌʀə is an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland, usually a Town. A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning "greater" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government Previous to the enactment of the Town Councils (Scotland) Act 1900 various titles were used in different burghs, but the legislation standardised the name of the governing body as “the provost, magistrates, and councillors” of the burgh. A police burgh was a Scottish burgh which had adopted a “police system” for governing the town After the re-organisation of local government in Scotland in 1975, the title of Lord Provost was reserved to the four major cities, while other district councils could choose the title to be used by the convener: in 1994 twenty-two councils had provosts. Local government in Scotland is organised through 32 unitary authorities consisting of Councillors elected every four years by registered voters in each of the Year 1975 ( MCMLXXV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A Lord Provost is the figurative and ceremonial head of one of the principal cities in Scotland. [1] Similar provisions were included in the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 whch established unitary council areas in 1996. The Local Government etc (Scotland Act 1994 (1994 c 39 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created the current local government For local government purposes Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as "council areas" which are all governed by unitary authorities designated as The area councils are allowed to adopt the title of provost (or any other) for the convener of the council, as are the area committees of the council. Many large Local government councils in the United Kingdom have a system of area committees, with responsibility for services in a particular part of the Some community councils which include former burghs also use the style for their chairmen. Community councils (CCs are the most local statutory representative bodies in Great Britain.
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History
As a secular title praepositus is also very old; we need only instance the praepositus sacri cubiculi of the late Roman Empire, and the praepositus palatii of the Carolingian court. Secularity ( adjective form secular) is the state of being separate from Religion. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolings, or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family with its origins in the The important developments of the title in France are dealt with below. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. From France the title found its way into Scots, where in Scotland it became the style (provost) of the principal magistrates of the Royal Burghs (roughly speaking, the equivalent of "mayor" in the rest of the UK) ("Lord Provost" in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee), and into England, where it is applied to certain officers charged with the maintenance of military discipline. Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. A royal burgh was a type of Scottish Burgh which had been founded by or subsequently granted a Royal charter. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A Lord Provost is the figurative and ceremonial head of one of the principal cities in Scotland. Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow. Glasgow (ˈglæzgoʊ is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom Aberdeen ( pronounced; Aiberdeen Obar Dheathain is Scotland 's third most populous city and one of Scotland's 32 local government council Dundee (Dùn Dèagh is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and fully named as Dundee City, one of Scotland's 32 local government council England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A Provost Marshal is an officer of the army originally appointed when troops are on service abroad (and now in the United Kingdom as well) for the prompt repression of all offences. The Provost Marshal is the officer in the armed forces who is in charge of the Military police (often called the provost) The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located He may at any time arrest and detain for trial persons subject to military law committing offences, and may also carry into execution any punishments to be inflicted in pursuance of a court martial (Army Act 1881, § 74). A provost sergeant is in charge of the garrison police or regimental police. A Provost Sergeant is a Non-commissioned officer associated with Military police. Garrison (various spellings (from the French garnison, itself from the verb garnir, "to equip" is the collective term for a body of Troops Regimental Police ( RPs) are soldiers responsible for regimental discipline enforcement and unit custody in the British Army, some other Commonwealth armies The 'Provost' also refers to the military police in general. Military police ( MPs) are normally the Police of a Military Organization. The army pronunciation is 'Prov-oh'.
The prévôt or provost in France
The word prévôt (provost) in old French law had many applications. In conformity with its etymology (praepositus) it could be applied to any person placed at the head of a branch of the public service, a position which, according to the old principles, habitually carried with it a right of jurisdiction. Etymology is the study of the History of Words &mdash when they entered a language from what source and how their form and meaning have changed over time In Law, jurisdiction (from the Latin ius iuris meaning "law" and dicere meaning "to speak" is the practical Authority It is thus that there was at Paris the "provost of Paris," who was a royal judge, and the "provost of the merchants" (prévôt des marchands), the head of the Paris municipality. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Michel Le Peletier was the last "Prevot des Marchands" between 1784 and 1789. A silver octagonal coin, dated 1784, commemorates his position. Inscribed "Prevoste De M. L. Le Peletier Conseil D'etat" There were besides - to mention only the principal provosts - the "provosts of the marshals of France" (prévôts des maréchaux de France), of whom more below; the "provost of the royal palace" (prévôt de l'hôtel du roi) or "grand provost of France" (grand prévôt de France), and the "provost general" (prévôt général) or "grand provost of the mint" (grand prévôt des monnaies). The Marshal of France (Maréchal de France and pl Maréchaux de France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a Military rank.
Prévôts royaux
But the most important and best known provosts, who formed part of a general and comprehensive organization, were the "royal provosts" (prévôts royaux), the lower category of the royal judges. It must be borne in mind, however, that the magistrates belonging to the inferior category of royal judges (juges subalternes) had different designations in many parts of France. In Normandy and Burgundy they were called châtelains, and elsewhere--especially in the south--viguiers. Normandy (Normandie Norman: Normaundie) is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. Burgundy (Bourgogne Burgund is a region historically situated in modern-day France and Switzerland, inhabited in turn by Celts ( Gauls) These were titles which had established themselves in the great fiefs before their reunion with the Crown and had survived this. Throughout the Commonwealth realms The Crown is an abstract metonymic concept which represents the legal authority for the existence of any government The royal provosts, on the other hand, were a creation of the Capetian monarchy. For a full history of the Capetian family see Capetian dynasty.
The date of this creation is uncertain, but was without doubt some time in the 11th century. The provosts replaced the viscounts wherever the viscounty had not become a fief, and it is possible that in creating them the Crown was imitating the ecclesiastical organization in which the provost figured, notably in the cathedral chapters. A viscount ( VAI-count is a member of the European Nobility whose comital title ranks usually as in the British peerage, above a Chapter ( Latin capitulum) designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran The royal provosts had at first a double character. In the first place they fulfilled all the functions which answered locally to the royal power. They collected all the revenues of the domain and all the taxes and dues payable to the king within the limits of their jurisdiction. Doubtless, too, they had certain military functions, being charged with the duty of calling out certain contingents for the royal service; there survived until the end of the ancien régime certain military provosts prevots d'épée ("provosts of the sword") who were replaced in the administration of justice by a lieutenant. Ancien Régime ( pronounced: /ɑ̃sjɛ̃ ʁeʒim/ refers primarily to the aristocratic social and political system established in Finally, the provosts administered justice, though certainly their competence in this matter was restricted. They had no jurisdiction over noblemen, or over feudal tenants (hommes de fief), who claimed the jurisdiction of the court of their over-lord, where they were judged by their peers— the other vassals of the same lord. A vassal (also called feodary or fedary) in the terminology that both preceded and accompanied the feudalism of Medieval Europe, Neither had they jurisdiction over the open country, the pies pays, where this belonged to local seigneurs; and even in the towns over which they were set their jurisdiction was often limited by that of the municipal courts established for the benefit of the burgesses. Burgess is an English word that originally meant a freeman of a Borough or Burgh. The second characteristic of the old provosts was that their office was farmed for a limited time to the highest bidder. It was simply an application of the system of farming the taxes. Tax farming was originally a Roman practice whereby the burden of Tax collection was reassigned by the Roman State to private individuals or groups The provost thus received the speculative right to collect the revenues of the royal domain in the district under his jurisdiction; this was his principal concern, and his judicial functions were merely accessory. By these short-term appointments the Crown guaranteed itself against another danger: the possible conversion by the functionary of the function into an inheritable property. Very early, however, certain provostships were bestowed en garde, i. e. the provost had to account to the king for all he collected. The prévôtes en ferme were naturally a source of abuses and oppression, the former seeking to make the most of the concession he had bought. Naturally, too, the people complained. From Joinville we learn how under St Louis the provostship of Paris became a prévôté en garde. Jean de Joinville (c 1224 &ndash December 24, 1317) was one of the great Chroniclers of medieval France. At the death of Louis XI the prévôtés en ferme were still numerous and provoked a remonstrance from the States-general of 1484. Louis XI ( July 3, 1423 – August 30, 1483) called the Prudent (le Prudent and the Universal Spider ( Middle In France under the Ancien Regime, the States-General or Estates-General (French états généraux) was a Legislative assembly Their suppression was promised by Charles VIII in 1493, but they are again referred to in the grande ordonnance of 1498. Charles VIII, called the Affable (l'Affable 30 June 1470 &ndash 7 April 1498 was King of France from 1483 to his death They disappeared in the 16th century, by which time the provosts had become regular officials, their office, however, being purchasable.
Other transformations had previously taken place. The creation of the royal baillis reduced the provosts to a subaltern rank. Bailiff (from Late Latin baiulivus, Adjectival form of baiulus) is a Governor or Custodian (cf Each bailli had in his district a certain number of provosts, who became his inferiors in the official hierarchy. When appeals were instituted (and this was one of the earliest instances of their introduction) the provost, the sphere of whose competency was limited, was subject to an appeal to the bailli, though his judgment had hitherto been without appeal. Moreover, in the fourteenth century they had ceased to collect the revenues of the royal domain, except where the prévôté was en ferme, and royal collectors (receveurs royaux) had been appointed for this purpose. The summoning of the feudal contingents, the ban and arrière-ban, had passed into the hands of the baillis. Thus the provosts were left for their sole function as inferior judges for non-nobles, the appeals from their sentences going to the baillis, who also had jurisdiction in the first instance over actions brought against nobles and in cases reserved for the crown judges (cas royaux). This corresponded to a principle which had also applied in the chief feudal Courts in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, where a distinction was made between judicial acts which could be performed en prévôté, and those which had to be performed in a solemn assize (assise); this did not, however, always imply the existence of a superior and an inferior official, a provost and a bailli. The Court of Assize, or Assizes, is a medieval term for Legal codes (such as Assizes of Jerusalem) that continues to be used in modern times
The provost in the exercise of his legal functions sat alone as judge, and he alone exercised the judicial authority at his tribunal; but he had to consult with certain lawyers (avocats or procureurs) chosen by himself, whom, to use the technical phrase, he "summoned to his council" (appelait à son conseil). In 1578 official counsellors (conseillers-magistrats) were created, but were suppressed by the ordonnance of Blois of 1579. The office was restored in 1609 by a simple decree of the royal council, but it was opposed by the parlements, and it seems to have been conferred in but few cases. This article is for the Ancien Régime institution For the post-Revolutionary and present-day institution see French Parliament.
Prévôts des maréchaux
The "provosts of the marshals of France", mentioned above, were non-legal officials (officiers de la robe courte) forming part of the body of the maréchaussée which was under the ancien régime what the gendarmerie was after the Revolution. Ancien Régime ( pronounced: /ɑ̃sjɛ̃ ʁeʒim/ refers primarily to the aristocratic social and political system established in A gendarmerie or gendarmery (dʒɛnˈdɑrməriː or /ˌʒɑndɑrməˈriː/ after the French is a Military body charged with Police duties among civilian The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an Their original function was to judge offences committed by persons following the army, but in the course of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries they acquired the right of judging certain crimes and misdemeanours, by whomsoever committed. They became stationary, with fixed spheres of authority, and the offences falling within their competency came to be called cas prévôtaux. These were, the worst crimes of violence, and all crimes and misdemeanours committed by old offenders (repris de justice), who were familiarly known as the gibier des prévôts des maréchaux (gaol-birds). Theirs was really a kind of military jurisdiction, from which there was no appeal; but the provost was bound to associate with himself a certain number of ordinary judges or graduates in law. The provost of the marshals did not himself judge what was a cas prévôtal; this had in each case to be decided by the nearest bailliage or presidial court. The presidial judges also dealt with cas prévôtaux in concurrence with the provosts of the marshals.
In Fiction
In the Cadfael series of historical detective novels by Ellis Peters, taking place at 12th Century Shrewsbury, England, an important role is played by the town's Provost - who in addition to this position is a prominent shoemaker. Cadfael (ˈkædvaɪl approximately "CAD-vile" is the fictional detective in a series of murder mysteries by the late Edith Pargeter writing Edith Mary Pargeter, BEM ( September 28, 1913 in Horsehay, Shropshire, England &ndash October 14, 1995 Shrewsbury ( /ˈʃruːzbri/ or /ˈʃroʊzbri/ is the County town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland
See also
References
- ^ Whitakers Concise Almanack 1995, London, 1994. A provost is a senior official in a number of Christian churches The Provost Marshal is the officer in the armed forces who is in charge of the Military police (often called the provost) The Provost of Peterhead was the head of the Peterhead Burgh council in Scotland. The district councils with provosts were Angus, Bearsden and Milngavie, Clydebank, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Dumbarton, Dunfermline, East Kilbride, Eastwood, Ettrick and Lauderdale, Falkirk, Gordon, Hamilton, Inverclyde, Inverness, Kyle and Carrick, Monklands, Motherwell, Nairn, Nithsdale, Perth and Kinross, Renfrew and Strathkelvin
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone
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