Viguerie

In France, a viguerie or Latin: vicaria was a mediaeval administrative court. A viguerie is named for the place it serves or is found in, that is, the main town of the borough, which need not be its [chef-lieu] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (administrative capital).

Appearing during the Carolingian dynasty, the [viguerie] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) started as the seat of civil and criminal justice, taking its name from the Count or Viscount. With the the decline of local power and its transfer to Royal jurisdiction, the [viguerie] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) became the lowest court, having no more to do with higher justice and dealing only with day-to-day affairs. It was administered by a [vigleur] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), judge whose remit varied, over time and space, from that of a judge of a Court of Assize to that of a Court of Common Pleas.

[Vigueries] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) largely disappeared after 1749, following an edict suppressing the lower courts. Even so, in many regions such as Provence, they survived until the French Revolution. In Languedoc, Rouergue and Carladez, they transformed into the lowest Courts of Appeal.

See also

• In other regions similar courts were called [châtellenie] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [prévôté] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [vicomté] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [baillage] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) and [sénéchaussée] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help).
• Ancien Régime in France (section Justice)