Editing Poitiers (section)

===16th century===
[[File:Braun Poitiers UBHD.jpg|thumb|upright=2.0|Poitiers in the 16th century]]
The type of political organization existing in Poitiers during the [[late medieval]] and [[early modern]] period can be sheened through a speech given on 14 July 1595 by [[Maurice Roatin]], the town's mayor. He compared it to the [[Roman Empire|Roman state]], which combined three types of government: [[monarchy]], [[aristocracy]], and [[democracy]]. He said the [[Consul|Roman Consulate]] corresponded to Poitiers' mayor, the [[Roman Senate]] to the town's peers and ''[[Magistrate|échevins]]'', and the [[Elections in the Roman Republic|democratic element in Rome]] corresponded to the fact that most important matters "can not be decided except by the advice of the ''Mois et Cent''" (the broad council).[[#Notes|<sup>1</sup>]] The mayor appears to have been an advocate of a mixed constitution; not all Frenchmen in 1595 would have agreed with him, at least in public; many spoke in favor of [[absolute monarchy]] which would be pioneered by the [[Absolutism (European history)|Father of Absolutism]], [[Louis XIV]] '''Le Roi Soleil''.' The democratic element was not as strong as the mayor's words may have seemed to imply: In fact, Poitiers was similar to other French cities such as, [[Paris]], [[Nantes]], [[Marseille]], [[Limoges]], [[La Rochelle]], and [[Dijon]], in that the town's governing body (''[[Municipal council|corps de ville]]'') was "''highly exclusive and oligarchical:"'' With a small number of professionals and family groups controlling most of the city offices. In Poitiers many of these positions were granted for the lifetime of the office holder, an archaic byproduct of the [[Absolute monarchy in France|Age of Absolutism in France]].[[#Notes|<sup>2</sup>]]

The city government in Poitiers based its claims to legitimacy on the theory of government where the mayor and ''échevins'' held jurisdiction of the [[fief]]'s administration separate from the monarchy: that is, they swore allegiance and promised support for him, and in return he granted them local authority. This gave them the advantage of being able to claim that any townsperson who challenged their preeminence was being treasonous to the king's decree. Annually the mayor and the 24 ''échevins'' would swear an [[oath of allegiance]] "between the hands" of the king or his representative, usually the [[Lieutenant-General (France)|lieutenant general]] or the [[Sénéchaussée]]. For example, in 1567, when [[Maixent Poitevin]] was mayor, [[King of france|King]] [[Henry III of France|Henry III]] came for a visit, and, although some townspeople were disgruntled regarding the licentious behavior of his entourage, Henry smoothed things over with a warm speech acknowledging their allegiance and graciously thanking them for it.[[#Notes|<sup>2</sup>]]

In this era, the [[Mayor|mayor of Poitiers]] was preceded by sergeants wherever he went, consulted deliberative bodies, carried out their decisions, "heard civil and criminal suits in first instance", tried to ensure that the food supply would be adequate, and visited markets.[[#Notes|<sup>2</sup>]]

In the 16th century, Poitiers impressed visitors because of its large size, and important features, including "royal courts, universities, prolific printing shops, wealthy religious institutions, cathedrals, numerous parishes, markets, impressive domestic architecture, extensive fortifications, and castle."[[#Notes|<sup>3</sup>]]16th-century Poitiers is closely associated with the life of [[François Rabelais]] and the community of [[Bitard]]s.