Polysynody

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.

At the end of the reign of King Louis XIV of France, the aristocracy reacted against the concentration of powers in the person of the king, and against the takeover of the administration by commoners from the bourgeoisie (whom the king had empowered 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 Beauvilliers (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.