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Châtelet de Paris banner
register from the
reign of Francis I
(National Archives Y9, France)
Inscribed 2011
What is it
The Châtelet banners series dealt with the registration
and publication of French legislative texts of which the
Y9 register is the third volume. Covering the period
from 1515 to 1546, it covers the reign of the dynamic
French Renaissance King Francis I.
Why was it inscribed
The register shows in detail the extraordinary legislative,
administrative and legal output of Francis I, most notably
his decree of 1537 requiring printers and booksellers to
deposit a copy of their work in his royal library (and later,
other state institutions). Other countries later followed
the French example in the establishment of the legal
deposit system which helped safeguard the preservation
of knowledge.
Where is it
Archives Nationales, Paris, France
Like many of his royal contemporaries, Francis I was
influenced by the ideas of the Italian Renaissance. A man
of great energy, he was a renowned patron of the arts
and learning who transformed the cultural life of France
during the course of his reign.
Francis undertook a large-scale building programme,
constructing several châteaux, all lavishly decorated,
including Fontainebleau and the Louvre. His patronage
brought Leonardo da Vinci to France for the artist’s final
years, together with many of his paintings, including the
Mona Lisa. The art collection Francis gathered became
the foundation for the French royal art collection, which is
now housed at the Louvre. As a Renaissance prince, he also
dabbled in warfare – in which he was less successful – and
encouraged overseas exploration, most notably in Quebec.
He established the royal library, made French the official
language in place of Latin and set up a requirement for a
registry of births, marriages and deaths in every parish.
� The Archives Nationales in Paris
The energetic output of administrative initiatives during
Francis’s reign was recorded in the Châtelet de Paris
banners. These registers, dating from 1416 onwards,
recorded official administrative decrees and statues
considered worthy of publication. Among the most
famous of these initiatives was the king’s 1537 decree
introducing the legal requirement for a copy of each
book to be deposited in the royal library. The printing
of books was less than 100 years old and France was the
first country to introduce this now commonplace practice,
which ensured the conservation in a single place of every
written and printed work produced in France.
The creation of a central repository went beyond Francis’s
renowned patronage of the arts. The Catholic Francis was
keen to control the spread of the new Protestant ideas. As
no work could be sold until a copy had been deposited in
the royal library, the content of published work could be
scrutinized for heretical ideas and controlled more closely.
The concept of legal deposit, by which authors would
eventually be able to register and date their work, was
also an important stage in the development of copyright.
184 Châtelet de Paris banner register from the reign of Francis I (National Archives Y9, France)
King Francis I of France �