Editing Louis XIV (section)

===Relations with the major colonies===
[[File:Jean Nocret - Louis XIV et la famille royale - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Louis and his family portrayed as Roman gods in a 1670 painting by [[Jean Nocret]]. L to R: Louis's aunt, [[Henrietta Maria of France|Henriette-Marie]]; his brother, [[Philippe I, Duke of Orléans|Philippe, duc d'Orléans]]; the Duke's daughter, [[Princess Marie Louise of Orléans (1662–1689)|Marie Louise d'Orléans]], and wife, [[Henrietta Anne Stuart|Henriette-Anne Stuart]]; the Queen-mother, [[Anne of Austria]]; three daughters of [[Gaston, Duke of Orléans|Gaston d'Orléans]]; Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV; the Dauphin [[Louis, Dauphin of France (1661–1711)|Louis]]; Queen [[Maria Theresa of Spain|Marie-Thérèse]]; ''[[Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier|la Grande Mademoiselle]]''.]]

Louis's legal reforms were enacted in his numerous [[Great Ordinances]]. Prior to that, France was a patchwork of legal systems, with as many traditional legal regimes as there were provinces, and two co-existing legal systems—[[Old French law#Pays de coutumes|customary law]] in the north and [[Roman law|Roman civil law]] in the south.{{Sfn|Merryman|2007|p={{Page needed|date=October 2020}}}} The ''Grande Ordonnance de Procédure Civile'' of 1667, the ''Code Louis'', was a comprehensive legal code imposing a uniform regulation of [[civil procedure]] throughout the kingdom. Among other things, it prescribed baptismal, marriage and death records in the state's registers, not the church's, and it strictly regulated the right of the ''Parlements'' to remonstrate.{{Sfn|Antoine|1989|p=33}} The ''Code Louis'' later became the basis for the [[Napoleonic code]], which in turn inspired many modern legal codes.

One of Louis's more infamous decrees was the ''Grande Ordonnance sur les Colonies'' of 1685, the ''[[Code Noir]]'' (black code). Although it sanctioned slavery, it attempted to humanise the practice by prohibiting the separation of families. Additionally, in the colonies, only Roman Catholics could own slaves, and these had to be baptised.

Louis ruled through a number of councils:
* Conseil d'en haut ("High Council", concerning the most important matters of state)—composed of the king, the crown prince, the controller-general of finances, and the secretaries of state in charge of various departments. The members of that council were called ministers of state.
* Conseil des dépêches ("Council of Messages", concerning notices and administrative reports from the provinces).
* Conseil de Conscience ("Council of Conscience", concerning religious affairs and episcopal appointments).
* Conseil royal des finances ("Royal Council of Finances") headed by the "chef du conseil des finances" (an honorary post in most cases)—this was one of the few posts in the council available to the high aristocracy.<ref>{{Harvnb|Petitfils|2002|pp=223–225}}</ref>