Polysynody (from Greek πολυς numerous, several, and Greek συνοδος meeting, assembly) was the system of government in use in France between 1715 and 1718 and in which each minister (secretary of state) was replaced by a council. Events September 1 - King Louis XIV of France dies after a reign of 72 years, leaving the throne of his exhausted and indebted country to his great-grandson Louis XV. Regent for the new, five years old monarch is Philippe dOrléans, nephew of Louis XIV. September - First of the... Events May 15 - James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the worlds first machine gun. ...

At the end of the reign of King Louis XIV of France, there was a reaction of the aristocracy against the concentration of powers in the person of the king, and against the takeover of the administration by commoners from the bourgeoisie (to whom the king had given power on purpose in order to weaken the unpredictable aristocracy). An aristocratic ideal of government emerged around the personalities of Fénelon (the famous archbishop of Cambrai and tutor of the Duke of Burgundy, grandson of Louis XIV and heir to the throne), the duc de Beauvillier (governor of the duke of Burgundy), the duc de Chevreuse (son-in-law of Colbert), and the duc de Saint-Simon (reformist in the circle of the duke of Burgundy and author of famous historical memoirs). They advocated the creation of councils made up of aristocrats which would assist the king in the exercise of government power. Louis XIV (Louis-Dieudonné) (September 5, 1638 – September 1, 1715) reigned as King of France and King of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death. ... Bourgeois at the end of the thirteenth century. ... François de Salignac de la Mothe, more commonly known as François Fénelon (1651 - 1715), was a French Roman Catholic theologian, poet and writer. ... Cambrai (Dutch: Kamerijk) is a French city and commune, in the Nord département, of which it is a sous_préfecture. ... Louis, duke of Burgundy Louis, duke of Burgundy (August 16, 1682 - February 18, 1712) was the son of Louis, the Grand Dauphin, and grandson of King Louis XIV of France. ... Paul de Beauvillier, count and later (1679) 2nd duc de Saint-Aignan (1648-1714), often referred to as the duc de Beauvillier, was a French government official under King Louis XIV. Born in Saint-Aignan (then in the Berry province, now in the Loir-et-Cher département), he was... Charles Honoré dAlbert, duc de Luynes, de Chaulnes et de Chevreuse (1646-1712), more simply known as the duc de Chevreuse, was a high-ranking French official under King Louis XIV. The duc de Chevreuse was the grandson of the duchesse de Chevreuse, one of the leading members of... Jean_Baptiste Colbert Jean_Baptiste Colbert (August 29, 1619 _ September 6, 1683) served as the French minister of finance, for 22 years, under King Louis XIV. He is notable for his work at improving the state of French manufacturing and bringing the economy back from the brink of bankruptcy; although, historians... Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon (January 16, 1675 - March 2, 1755), French soldier, diplomatist and writer of memoirs, was born at Versailles. ...

At the death of Louis XIV, the regent Philippe d'Orléans, in search of political support, satisfied the aristocracy by replacing the ministers and secretaries of state with eight councils (declarations of September 15 and December 14, 1715) which were dominated by the ancient aristocracy (descending from medieval knights, as opposed to the new aristocracy of recently ennobled lawyers and civil servants). The Council of the Regency, chaired by the regent, had no real power. The other councils shared government power. There was: the Council of Matters within the Kingdom (Conseil des affaires du dedans du royaume), the Council of Conscience (Conseil de conscience) for religious matters, the Council of War (Conseil de guerre), the Council of the Navy (Conseil de marine), the Council of Finance (Conseil de finance), the Council of Foreign Affairs (Conseil des affaires étrangères), and the Council of Commerce (Conseil de commerce) for internal and foreign trade as well as for royal factories (manufactures). Each council had ten members and elected one president. Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, Philippe Charles (August 2, 1674 - December 2, 1723) called Duke of Chartres (1674-1701), and then Duke of Orléans (1701-1723) was Regent of France from 1715 to 1723. ... September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). ... December 14 is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events September 1 - King Louis XIV of France dies after a reign of 72 years, leaving the throne of his exhausted and indebted country to his great-grandson Louis XV. Regent for the new, five years old monarch is Philippe dOrléans, nephew of Louis XIV. September - First of the...

Although the regent Philippe d'Orléans was cautious enough to admit all the ministers of the last government of Louis XIV (except for Nicolas Desmarets, controller-general, i.e. minister of finance, dismissed by the regent), as well as many of the high officers and civil servants of Louis XIV, to sit in the councils alongside the aristocrats, this system of government worked poorly due to the absenteeism and ineptitude of the aristocrats, as well as to conflicts of personalities.

As a result, between 1718 and 1723 the regent gradually abolished the councils despite the passionate defense of the abbot de Saint-Pierre (Discours sur la polysynodie, 1718), and he reestablished the offices of minister and secretary of state, reverting to the "ministerial despotism" of Louis XIV. Events May 15 - James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the worlds first machine gun. ... Events February 16 - Louis XV of France attains his majority Births February 24 - John Burgoyne, British general (d. ... Charles-Irénée Castel, abbé de Saint-Pierre (February 18, 1658 _ April 29, 1743), French writer, was born at the château de Saint-Pierre-Église near Cherbourg. ...