AULARD

aulard, francois victor alphonse (1849- ), french historian, was born at montbron in charente in 1849. having obtained the degree of doctor of letters in 1877 with a latin thesis upon c. asinius pollion and a french one upon giacomo leopardi (whose works he subsequently translated into french), he made a study of parliamentary oratory during the french revolution, and published two volumes upon _les orateurs de la constituante_ (1882) and upon _les orateurs de la legislative et de la convention_ (1885). with these works, which were reprinted in 1905, he entered a fresh field, where he soon became an acknowledged master. applying to the study of the french revolution the rules of historical criticism which had produced such rich results in the study of ancient and medieval history, he devoted himself to profound research in the archives, and to the publication of numerous most important contributions to the political, administrative and moral history of that marvellous period. appointed professor of the history of the french revolution at the sorbonne, he formed the minds of students who in their turn have done valuable work. to him we owe the _recueil des actes du comite de salut public_ (vol. i., 1889; vol. xvi., 1904); _la societe des jacobins; recueil de documents pour l'histoire du club des jacobins de paris_ (6 vols., 1889-1897); and _paris pendant la reaction thermidorienne et sous le directoire, recueil de documents pour l'histoire de l'esprit public a paris_ (5 vols., 1898-1902), which was followed by an analogous collection for paris sous le consulat (2 vols., 1903-1904). for the societe de l'histoire de la revolution francaise, which brought out under his supervision an important periodical publication called _la revolution francaise_, he produced the _registre des deliberations du consulat provisoire_ (1894), and _l'etat de la france en l'an viii et en l'an ix_, with the reports of the prefects (1897), besides editing various works or memoirs written by men of the revolution, such as j.c. bailleul, chaumette, fournier (called the american), herault de sechelles, and louvet de couvrai. but these large collections of documents are not his entire output. besides a little pamphlet upon danton, he has written a _histoire politique de la revolution francaise_ (1901), and a number of articles which have been collected in volumes under the title _etudes et lecons sur la revolution francaise_ (5 vols., 1893-1908). in a volume entitled _taine, historien de la revolution francaise_ (1908), aulard has submitted the method of the eminent philosopher to a criticism, severe, perhaps even unjust, but certainly well-informed. this is, as it were, the "manifesto" of the new school of criticism applied to the political and social history of the revolution (see _les annales revolutionnaires_, june 1908). see a. mathiez, "m. aulard, historien et professeur," in the _revue de la revolution francaise_ (july 1908). (c. b.*) aulic council (_reichshofrat_), an organ of the holy roman empire, originally intended for executive work, but acting chiefly as a judicature, which worked from 1497 to 1806. in the early middle ages the emperor had already his _consiliarii_; but his council was a fluctuating body of personal advisers. in the 14th century there first arose an official council, with permanent and paid members, many of whom were legists. its business was largely executive, and it formed something of a ministry; but it had also to deal with petitions addressed to the king, and accordingly it acted as a supreme court of judicature. it was thus parallel to the king's council, or _concilium continuum_, of medieval england; while by its side, during the 15th century, stood the _kammergericht_, composed of the legal members of the council, in much the same way as the star chamber stood beside the english council. but the real history of the aulic council, as that term was understood in the later days of the empire, begins with maximilian i. in 1497-1498. in these years maximilian created three organs (apparently following the precedent set by his burgundian ancestors in the netherlands)--a _hofrat_, a _hofkammer_ for finance, and a _hofkanzlei._ primarily intended for the hereditary dominions of maximilian, these bodies were also intended for the whole empire; and the _hofrat_ was to deal with "all and every business which may flow in from the empire, christendom at large, or the king's hereditary principalities." it was thus to be the supreme executive and judicial organ, discharging all business except that of finance and the drafting of documents; and it was intended to serve maximilian as a _point d'appui_ for the monarchy against the system of oligarchical committees, instituted by berthold, archbishop of mainz. but it was difficult to work such a body both for the empire and for the hereditary principalities; and under ferdinand i. it became an organ for the empire alone (_circ._ 1558), the hereditary principalities being removed from its cognizance. as such an imperial organ, its composition and powers were fixed by the treaty of westphalia of 1648. (1) it consisted of about 20 members--a president, a vice-president, the vice-chancellor of the empire, and some 18 other members. these came partly from the empire at large, partly (and in greater numbers) from the hereditary lands of the emperor. there were two benches, one of the nobles, one of doctors of civil law; six of the members must be protestants. the council followed the person of the emperor, and was therefore stationed at vienna; it was paid by the emperor, and he nominated its members, whose office terminated with his life--an arrangement which made the council more dependent than it should have been on the emperor's will. (2) its powers were nominally both executive and judicial. (a) its executive powers were small: it gradually lost everything except the formal business of investiture with imperial fiefs and the confirmation of charters, its other powers being taken over by the _geheimrate._ these _geheimrate_, a narrow body of secret counsellors, had already become a determinate _concilium_ by 1527; and though at first only concerned with foreign affairs, they acquired, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, the power of dealing with imperial affairs in lieu of the aulic council. (b) in its judicial aspect, the aulic council, exercising the emperor's judicial powers on his behalf, and thus succeeding, as it were, to the old _kammergericht_, had exclusive cognizance of matters relating to imperial fiefs, criminal charges against immediate vassals of the empire, imperial charters, italian affairs, and cases "reserved" for the emperor. in all other matters, the aulic council was a competitor for judicial work with the imperial chamber[1] (_reichskammergericht_, a tribunal dating from the great diet of worms of 1495: see under imperial chamber). it was determined in 1648 that the one of these two judicial authorities which first dealt with a case should alone have competence to pursue it. an appeal lay from the decision of the council to the emperor, and judgment on appeal was given by those members of the council who had not joined in the original decision, though in important cases they might be afforced by members of the diet. neither the council nor the chamber could deal with cases of outlawry, except to prepare such cases for the decision of the diet. to-day the archives of the aulic council are in vienna, though parts of its records have been given to the german states which they concern. authorities.--r. schroder, _lehrbuch der deutschen rechtsgeschichte_ (leipzig, 1904), gives the main facts; s. adler, _die organisation der centralverwaltung unter maximilian i._ (leipzig, 1886), deals with maximilian's reorganization of the council; and j. st. putter, _historische entwickelung der heutigen staatsverfassung des teutschen reichs_ (gottingen, 1798-1799), may be consulted for its development and later form. (e. br.) footnote: [1] the aulic council is the private court of the emperor, with its members nominated by him; the imperial chamber is the public court of the empire, with its members nominated by the estates of the empire.