Editing Conciergerie (section)

== Capetian Palace (11th-14th century) ==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px">
File:Le Palais de Justice et le Pont-Neuf 1380-1754.jpg|Plan of the Palace and Conciergerie in 1380 and 1754 (double-click for full size)
File:Karel4 Karel5 Vaclav4.jpg|A banquet hosted by [[Charles V of France]] in honour of [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor]] in the Great Hall (1378)
File:Palais de la Cite.jpg|Palais de la Cité in the [[Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry]] (1412-1416). Conciergerie at left rear
</gallery>

From the 11th to the 14th century, the palace was enlarged and embellished, and gained in importance in the administration of the kingdom. Before he departed on the [[Third Crusade]], [[Philip II of France]] delegated his legal authority the Curia Regis, which had regular assemblies, called [[Parlement]]s, in the Hall of the King, to dispense justice. He moved the royal archives to the building, giving it even greater importance, and named a Concierge, or custodian, to oversee the administration of the palace, which gave the building its name.{{sfn|de Parseval|Mazeau|2019|p=8}} Philip II created the towered façade on the Seine river side and the great hall. The great hall, with its two side-by-side naves, was used for royal ceremonies and judicial sessions. At one end was an immense table of black marble from Germany, decorated with fleurs-de-lis emblems. A piece of the table is now displayed on the wall of the lower hall. The hall was also decorated with polychrome wooden statues of the kings of France. The "Grand Chronicles of France" by Jehan de Jandun described "A new palace, a marvelous and costly work, the most beautiful that France has ever seen."{{Sfn|Delon|2000|p=15}} The only surviving portions of the great hall are the Hall of the Men-at-arms and the Hall of the Guards below.{{sfn|Delon|2000|pp=4-7}}

[[Philip IV of France|Philip IV]] continued the rebuilding between 1285 and 1314. The Grand Hall was built, replacing a smaller earlier hall. The Grand Chamber became the official seat of the Parliament; and he added the silver tower and the Tower of Caesar.{{sfn|Delon|2000|p=65}}

Under [[Charles V of France|Charles V]] (1364–80), the role of the building changed. He decided to move his residence to the [[Medieval Louvre Castle|Louvre Castle]], and the [[Hotel Saint-Pol]]. The concierge of the old palace was given greater authority over lower and middle courts. Prison cells were gradually added to the lower parts of the building, and it became known as the "Conciergerie".{{sfn|de Parseval|Mazeau|2019|p=65}} Its prisoners were a mixture of common criminals and political prisoners. In common with other prisons of the time, the treatment of prisoners was dependent on their wealth, status and associates. Wealthy or influential prisoners usually got their own cells with a bed, desk and materials for reading and writing. Less-well-off prisoners could afford to pay for simply furnished cells known as ''pistoles'', which would be equipped with a rough bed and perhaps a table. The poorest would be confined to dark, damp, vermin-infested cells known as ''[[oubliette]]s'' (literally "forgotten places"). In keeping with the name, they were left to live or die in conditions that were ideal for the [[Bubonic plague|plague]] and other infectious diseases, which were rife in the unsanitary conditions of the prison.