1293

     The oldest known lawyer is Ramon of Léon, and the Coutuma de la vila de Bordeu records that he pleaded in the year of the Lord 1293.

1375

     Every year, from 1375 to 1393, on the occasion of the election of the new Jurates, lawyers swore not to take on any disreputable case, or say anything either contrary to their customs, to their beliefs or their conscience, but to plead fairly, without prevaricating,or doing anything to harm the jurisdiction of the Mayor and Jurates. (" Livre des Bouillons " of the City of Bordeaux).

1462

     In 1451, at the time of the return of Aquitaine to the Crown of France, King Charles VII conceded the creation of the Parliament of Bordeaux. This made the Parliament of Bordeaux the third oldest in France, after Paris and Toulouse. However, a year after the capitulation, Bordeaux revolted and called back the English, the treaty was forgotten, and there is no evidence that the King of France ever had time to set up sovereign justice. So, the question never arose after the second subjugation of Bordeaux in 1453 and from that time sovereign justice over Guyenne was attributed to the Parliament of Paris. Louis XI dedicated the creation of the Bar of Bordeaux indirectly on June 12th I462, by his decree (" lettres patentes "), signed in Chinon, for the establishment of the Parliament of Bordeaux and it was only from that date that it could trace a continuous history.

     The Parliament came into office the same year, the day after Saint-Martin’s Day. The solemn opening audience took place in the former Palace de l’Ombrière, "Castrum Umbrariae", which got its name from the shade created on the front room, by the trees in the avenue and under which the provost once pronounced sentence, on November 12th 1462. This date marks the birth of the Bar and figures at the bottom of the obverse side of the Medal. Indeed, from this date, the Bar was organised on a basis that lasted until the beginning of the XXth century.

     The Confraternity will one century later become the Company, then the Order of Lawyers. The oldest registered person is the dean and, every year, two syndics are nominated by the Parliament, selected from a list of six candidates, composed of three former lawyers - chosen from the first half of the list of registered persons, and three others from the second half. On May 19th every year, on Saint Yves’ Day, the patron saint of the Confraternity and District Attornies, was the festival for the whole Court.

     The Parliament of Bordeaux was the supreme court of appeal for a jurisdiction of over 2 million souls. Throughout most of the three centuries of its existence the Parliament heard final appeals from 30 seneschaley courts, and hundreds of royal and seignorial courts of first instance, covering Guyenne, Gascony, the Landes, the Agen region, Labourd, Limousin, Périgord, the Bazas region, and Saintonge. The law by which this vast jurisdiction, the fourth largest in France, regulated its affairs, was Roman law for the most part, its authority being modified in certain districts by a series of local customs, such as that of Bordeaux itself.

1548

     In the space of a few days in the of summer 1548, the anger of the inhabitants of the countryside spread to the city and the revolt which was later know as the "Commune of Guyenne" led to part of the city being set on fire, to the murder by the crowd of the king's General Lieutenant, Tristan de Moneins, then to a savage repression ordered by the King and carried out by the Connétable de Montmorency. No one was spared there, not even the Jurates, suspected of being sympathisers. Bordeaux lost its exemptions and municipal administration, and its Parliament was outlawed. Neither entreaties, nor offers of tribute could abate the King's anger.

1550

     While there seemed to be no other choice than that of submitting to servitude, as a last resort, the town turned to, Guillaume Le Blanc, " Avocat à la Cour du Parlement ", considered as the "best" at that time, entrusting him with the responsibility of pleading and obtaining royal forgiveness for the shattered town. The King, though far from being impartial in this case, one year later granted forgiveness, freeing the town of the rigorous punishment that had been inflicted on it. Never had a lawyer been more cherished in the heart of his fellow citizens than Guillaume Le Blanc whose fine deed sealed a bond between the Bar and the State, while exemplifying Bordeaux’s tempestuous love affair with the Monarchy.

     Bernard de Laburthe, a peer and friend of Guillaume Le Blanc, was on his side, as well as Jean de Lange one of the most brilliant and erudite lawyers of his day.

     Jean de Lange spurned compromise, excess and the disgrace of a regime that seemed to be bent on becoming more despicable every day. He attacked the insolent nobility, the rapacious clergy, those who held official posts, those who were influential in court, members of the judiciary itself, and, fearlessly spoke out for the " tiers état ". His harangue of the people and the " tiers état " of all France to the very devout Charles IX, who had his " Etats Généraux " in the town of Orleans, on the first day of January 1560, had a resounding effect on the whole of France.

     It is also necessary to mention another lawyer, Pierre de Lancre , who was some years later to become the object of controversial celebrity by the terrifying repression that he led on sorcery in the Labour when, having become an advisor in the Court of the Parliament of Bordeaux, he became a delegate for the Basque Country. It was said that : " His justice was as expeditious as it was bloody, and the sectarian judge did not flinch where torture or burning were concerned ".

     As well as orators, the Bar also produced writers, and some of them are still well known today. For example, Pierre de Brach (1547 - 1605), went on to lecture in case law at the University of Toulouse, which had become famous because of the lectures given there by Cujas. As a young poet, in around 1567, he won the Églantine prize, at the same time as Ronsard was receiving a solid silver Minerva from the Floral academy " considering the Eglantine too small a prize for so great a poet". Back in Bordeaux, he became a lawyer.

    In 1560, the Bar counted more than a hundred and fifty registered lawyers, organised around their Syndic, a post which remained until the Revolution, and it had more than two hundred members in 1611. The most famous lawiers in Bordeaux during the 17 century, were Jean de Malvin, François de Roquette, Jacques de Fonteneil, François de Bonalgues.

1647

    Estienne Cleirac, lawyer in Bordeaux (1583-1657), published Les Us, et Coutumes de la Mer, Divisés en Trois Parties. I. De la Navigation. II. Du Commerce Naval & Contrats Maritimes. III. De la Jurisdiction de la Marine. Avec un Traitte der Termes de Marine, Reglements de la Navigation des Fleuves & Rivieres; Et les Nouveaux Edits, Reglements, Arrests, & Iugements Rendus sur la Fait du Commerce de la Mer. including index and incorporates treatise originally published in 1634 with special title page: Explication des Termes de Marine Employez par les Edits, Ordonnances et Reglemens de l’Admirauté. chez by printer Guillaume Millanges, in 1647 à Bordeaux, avec un « Traicté de termes de Marine, & règlemens de la Navigation des Fleuves & Rivières ». This collection of maritime law was soon translated into English and Dutch and edited several times, even in Rouen, Chez Jean Bethelin, in 1671. It remained influential until the end of the eighteenth century. Thomas Jefferson, who owned an edition from 1661, was one of many who respected its authority.“Cleirac’s book is not merely a compilation; it is enriched with copious and learned notes, which entitle him to be placed in the very first rank of maritime jurists. His writings are the source from which Lord Mansfield obtained some of the best principles of common law now prevailing in England.” Marvin 200. Kress R1286 Sowerby II: 2121.