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Promulgation of the French Commercial Code (1673)

Type Event Region Europe Time 1673

In March 1673 Louis XIV's government, driven by Colbert, promulgated the Ordonnance de Commerce, systematically regulating merchants, partnerships, b…

Timeline

  1. 1671–1672Versailles · VersaillesIn the early 1670s Finance Minister Colbert consolidated local commercial customs and guild rules and commissioned jurists to draft a unified commercial law, aiming to support national mercantilist policy and regulate overseas trading companies and domestic commerce.
  2. 1673Paris · ParisIn March 1673 Louis XIV promulgated the Commercial Code by edict in five books, covering the definition of merchants, companies and partnerships, bills and promissory notes, bankruptcy procedures, and the jurisdiction of commercial courts, establishing for the first time a unified written commercial law system throughout France.
  3. 1674–1680France · FranceDuring the 1670s the Commercial Code was gradually applied in Paris and the commercial ports, regulating partnerships and bills of chartered trading enterprises such as the East India Company, and providing the basic framework for the 1681 Marine Ordinance.

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