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57-473: The term "contrôleur général" in reference to a position of royal accounting and financial oversight had existed in various forms prior to 1547, but the direct predecessor to the 17th century "Controller-General" was created in 1547, with two position-holders whose job was to verify the accounts of the Royal Treasurer ( Trésorier de l'Échiquier ), then the head of the royal financial system. The name of

114-579: A dark blue epaulet with two crossed horsewhips inside a laurel wreath and two PSP stars. Each PSP star consists in a six points silver star with the "SP" monogram in the center. The rank insignia of a sub-intendant is similar but with only a single PSP star. Nowadays in the Spanish armed forces, the title Intendant refers to a Colonel in the Supply Branch either in the Navy, Army or Air Force. It

171-611: A position ranked below the previous two. The position was renamed Minister of Finances in 1791 which, along with all other ministerial positions, was abolished in 1794, but restored with the advent of the French Directory in 1795. Nowadays the position is called (with exceptions) Ministre de l'Économie et des Finances (Minister of the Economy and Finance). The responsibilities of the Controller-General were

228-740: A public official, especially in France , Spain , Portugal , and Latin America . The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In the War of the Spanish Succession of 1701 to 1714 the French royal House of Bourbon secured its hold on the throne of Spain; it extended a French-style intendancy system to Spain and Portugal - and subsequently worldwide through

285-480: A re-attestation process and received ranks ranging from lieutenant of the intendant service to colonel of the administrative service. In Scotland intendant is an archaic title meaning "supervisor" or "curator". The senior officer of the City of Glasgow Police was called an Intendant in the document establishing the force in 1800. For much of its history, the chief magistrate of the city of Charleston, South Carolina

342-533: A say in almost all administrative, ecclesiastical and military matters, intendentes were conceived by the Bourbon kings to be a check on other local officials (who in the past couple of centuries had come to gain their position through the sale of offices or inheritance), just as the intendants had been in France a century earlier. Throughout the 18th century the Bourbons experimented with the powers and duties of

399-487: A sole homonym office with cabinet rank in charge of all the finances and taxes of France. Furthermore, this new position was no longer transmissible as the head of state could revoke the respective commission at his pleasure at any time. In addition, the new position was far better connected with the Royal Finance Counsel ( Conseil royal des finances ) than the previous charge of Superintendent. In these ways,

456-457: A term of five years. Uruguay is divided administratively into 19 departamentos (departments). The executive power of each department is the intendencia (intendancy), headed by an intendente departamental (departmental intendant). The intendants are popularly elected, and serve a term of five years. The position of intendant was part of the tsarist Russian army from 1812 to 1868; intendants were responsible for supplies, finances, etc. in

513-791: Is also used in some branches of the administration such as the Catalan Police, ( Mossos d'Esquadra in Catalan) or in some Autonomous Communities ( Comunidades Autónomas in Spanish). In Argentina , intendente (m) or intendenta (f) refers to city mayors – heads of government of municipalities (or partidos in Buenos Aires Province ). This meaning is not at all connected to the usage in other countries. Spanish-language media in countries other than Argentina tend to refer to Argentine city mayors as alcaldes , which

570-607: Is the most common Spanish word for mayor. In the Argentine Army , "Intendencia" is the Spanish name of the Quartermaster Corps, and its members are informally called "intendentes". In some organizations, such as clubs, gated communities, large companies, etc., "intendente" is the name given to the person in charge of general maintenance of common spaces. Chile is administratively divided in 16 regions . Between 1976 (1974 in some regions) and 2021, each region

627-642: The Chambre Saint-Louis demanded that the Intendants be suppressed; Mazarin and Anne of Austria gave in to these demands except in the case of border provinces threatened by Spanish or Imperial attack. At the end of the Fronde, the Intendants were reinstated. When Louis XIV (1643–1715) was in power, the Marquis of Louvois , War Secretary between 1677 and 1691, further expanded the power of

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684-468: The Code Michau described their functions as "to learn about all crimes, misdemeanors and financial misdealings committed by our officials and of other things concerning our service and the tranquility of our people" (" informer de tous crimes, abus et malversations commises par nos officiers et autres choses concernant notre service et le soulagement de notre peuple "). In the 17th and 18th centuries,

741-516: The Contrôleur général des Finances became a true senior governmental post. The function of Controller-General would continue until 1791, with an interruption at the era of the Polysynody (1715–1718) under the regency of Philippe d'Orléans during the childhood of King Louis XV , when all ministerial offices were replaced by councils composed of members of the high aristocracy. Occasionally,

798-636: The French Revolution . The title was maintained thereafter for military officers with responsibility for financial auditing at regimental level and above. A 2021 study, which used a dataset of 430 intendants from 1640 to 1789, found that less than half of these officials went through the legally-specified training path. The study raised questions about the impersonal nature of these bureaucrats, with evidence indicating that familial and marital ties were factors in appointments, and that appointment duration had wide variability. Appointed and revoked by

855-861: The Parlements or the Court of Accounts . Their mission was always for a specific mandate and lasted for a limited period. Along with these, there were also commissioners sent to the army, in charge of provisioning the army, policing and finances; they would supervise accountants, providers, merchants, and generals, and attend war councils and tribunals for military crimes. Such commissioners are found in Corsica as early as 1553, in Bourges in 1592, in Troyes in 1594, and in Limoges in 1596. When Henry IV ascended

912-638: The Spanish Empire and Portuguese Empire . Regions were divided into districts, each administered by an intendant. The title continues in use in Spain and in parts of Spanish America for particular government officials. Intendants were royal civil servants in France under the Old Regime . A product of the centralization policies of the French crown, intendants were appointed "commissions," and not purchasable hereditary "offices," which thus prevented

969-580: The de facto Minister of Finance served instead as President of the Royal Council of Finance, who had a superior rank to a mere Controller-General of Finances, or, in the case of Jacques Necker , who, being a Protestant , could not serve as Controller-General, as Director-General of Finances and of the Treasury ( Directeur général du Trésor royal and Directeur général des Finances from 1776 to 1781 and again from 1788 until 1790), in ceremonial terms

1026-653: The Ancien Régime (six at the end of the 18th century shortly before the Revolution). In the same way, the Controller-General was assisted by four and, later five, Intendants (généraux) du Commerce . The Contrôle Général had a rather large personnel staff compared to other government departments. The central services were either in Paris (notably at the Palais Mazarin, Rue Neuve-des-Petits-Champs), close to

1083-601: The Canadian province of Quebec , also had a senior official called an intendant , who was responsible to the French King. New France's first intendant was Jean Talon , comte d'Orsainville in 1665, and the last one, at the time of the British conquest of Quebec was François Bigot . Intendants were introduced into Spain and the Spanish Empire during the eighteenth-century Bourbon Reforms . The reforms were designed by

1140-813: The Comuneros prevented their installation in New Granada . In Portugal, historically, the title "intendant" ( intendente in Portuguese) has been mainly associated with police roles. From 1760 to 1832, the head of the Police of the Kingdom of Portugal had the title of "Intendant General of the Police of the Court and of the Kingdom". A similar title - that of "Intendant General of the Public Security" -

1197-484: The Controller-General was the least stable, especially during the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI , to such a point that the Controller-General's official seat was called the "Residence of Removals" ("hôtel des déménagements"). Unlike other government departments of the French monarchy, the Contrôle Général des Finances was organised in a highly systematic manner. It was divided into several services under

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1254-595: The Controllers-General with subsequent power, was also head of two other senior government posts equivalent to present-day ministers (from a total of six): Secretary of State of the Navy and Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi (Royal Household), both from 1669 till his death in 1683. In addition to those cabinet posts, he had also several important posts as administration chief, such as Surintendant des Manufactures et Bâtiments du Roi (Superintendent of

1311-617: The French language exists only one word for the English words "Council" and "Counsel": Conseil . Therefore one can find in the literature both English words as translations of the French Conseil names. The Controller-General was generally chosen from among the regionally based Intendants of Finances or from the Maîtres des requêtes (literally "Master of Requests", an earlier form of public prosecutor). Of all ministerial positions,

1368-710: The Governors were chosen by the King from the ranks of the highest aristocracy. Nevertheless, as they had occasionally challenged the royal authority in their respective regions, the Kings responded by retaining them as often as possible at the Royal Palace, so that the function of Governor finally became only a ceremonial title. As a consequence, the real power in the regions shifted towards the Intendant, who since 1666 had

1425-407: The King's Manufacturers and Buildings; 1664–1683). The Controller-General's responsibilities were manifold: The position was very well paid: in addition to 200 000 livres tournois (French pounds) by year (the average income of a worker was about 250 to 300 livres per year), the Controller-General could also gain 20 000 livres as Minister of State , not to forget the bribes he would receive during

1482-402: The abuse of sales of royal offices and made them more tractable and subservient emissaries of the king. Intendants were sent to supervise and enforce the king's will in the provinces and had jurisdiction over three areas: finances, policing and justice. Their missions were always temporary, which helped reduce favorable bias toward a province, and were focused on royal inspection. Article 54 of

1539-489: The age of 32, Turgot and Louis Bénigne François Berthier de Sauvigny at the age of 34, and Louis-Urbain-Aubert de Tourny at the age of 40. A symbol of royal centralization and absolutism, the intendant had numerous adversaries. Those nostalgic for an administration based on noble lineage (such as Saint-Simon ) saw intendants as parvenus and usurpers of noble power. Partisans of a less absolute monarchy (such as Fénelon ) called for them to be abolished. Jacques Necker ,

1596-524: The bankers and financiers that the ministry dealt with, or at the Royal Palace in Versailles. However, the important collaborators of the Controller-General were the Intendants established in the different regions of France. Initially the King had been represented in the provinces by the Governors ( Gouverneurs ) and since 1620 by the Intendants who at first were only in charge of the collection of direct taxes and of regional public finances. Traditionally,

1653-560: The capital city. (The offices were separated again in 1766). District alcaldes mayores or coregidores were subordinated to the provincial intendente-corregidor and assisted him in managing the province and implementing reforms. As a result of the Seven Years' War an intendancy was set up in Cuba in 1764. The Cuban intendant had oversight of the army's and the royal treasury's finances. (Two new intendancies with oversight only over

1710-452: The charge of the controllers came from their account book, or contre-rôle (literally "counter-roll", meaning scroll copy), in which they kept their accounts in order to compare them with those of the Royal Treasurer. The office was thus, in the beginning, not a senior rank governmental position, but merely an accounting audit charge. In the period following 1547, the financial administration in France continued to evolve, resulting in 1552 in

1767-461: The creation of Intendants of Finances ( Intendants des Finances ), of which one was to become in 1561 the leading Superintendent of Finances ( Surintendant des Finances ) with cabinet rank. In 1661, the last Superintendent of Finances, Nicolas Fouquet , was arrested by order of King Louis XIV and charged with embezzlement, so that subsequently Jean-Baptiste Colbert became head of the royal financial and tax collection administration, at first with

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1824-453: The field. After the 1935 rank reform that established 'personal ranks' in the Soviet military, it was reintroduced as the rank title for administrative and supply officers. The specific ranks, their collar insignia, and their line equivalents were: On 7 May 1940, the rank title system for all Soviet Army senior officers was changed to bring it closer in line with standard European practice, and

1881-455: The finances of the army and of the territories conquered by the Bourbons, and after the war, they were made permanent ( intendentes de ejército y provincia ). (After 1724, most intendancies lost their military character except in areas with a captaincy general and in Navarre .) In 1749 an intendancy was established in every province, with the intendant also holding the office of corregidor of

1938-538: The immediate authority of the Controller-General. However, he named for each service a senior managing assistant who was initially called Intendant des Finances , a title which was later replaced by Intendant général des Finances or Directeur général des Finances in order to avoid any confusion with the Intendants des Finances established in the different regions of France. There were between three and twelve of these senior aids in financial and fiscal matters during

1995-559: The intendant, after agreement with the majority of the Delegates of People's Power (councilors). The Republic of Paraguay is administratively divided into 17 departamentos (departments), each of which is headed by an gobernador departamental (departmental governor). These departamentos are divided into 261 distritos (districts) (plus the capital district ), districts are headed by an intendente municipal (municipal intendant), these intendants are popularly elected, and serve

2052-606: The intendants were chosen from the noblesse de robe ("administrative nobility") or the upper-bourgeoisie. Generally, they were masters of requests in the Conseil des parties . They were chosen by the Controller-General of Finances who asked the advice of the Secretary of State for War for those who were to be sent in border provinces. They were often young: Charles Alexandre de Calonne became an intendant at

2109-583: The intendants, both in Spain and overseas, so what follows is only a general description of the Spanish intendancy. In any given area at any given time, the duties of the intendant would have been specified by the laws that established that particular intendancy. The first intendencias were established in Spain after 1711, during the War of the Spanish Succession on the advice of Jean Orry , who had been sent by Louis XIV of France to help his young grandson Philip V set up his new government. The first intendants ( superintendentes generales del ejército ) oversaw

2166-487: The king and reporting to the Controller-General of Finances , the Intendant in his "généralité" had at his service a small team of secretaries. In the 18th century, the "généralité" was subdivided into "subdelegations" at the head of which was placed a "subdelegate" (having also a team of secretaries) chosen by the Intendant. In this way, the Intendant was relatively understaffed given his large jurisdiction. The French North American colony of New France , which later became

2223-573: The main city in Yucatán. These administrative changes codified existing regional divisions of Center (Mexico, Veracruz, Puebla, Michoacan), South (Oaxaca, Mérida), and North (Zacatecas, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, Durango, and Sonora). In 1776 Gálvez, now Minister of the Indies, established an intendancy ( superintendencia ) for all of Venezuela in 1776, and several in the Río de la Plata in 1783. Most of

2280-465: The most extensive of all the administrative positions of the Ancien Régime . According to the official description of 1665, the Controller-General had the power "to report in our Counsel of all affairs which are of concern to our service and of any others" ("faire rapport en notre Conseil de toutes les affaires qui concerneront notre service et de toutes autres indifféremment"). Colbert, first of

2337-575: The new dynasty to make political administration more efficient and to promote economic, commercial, and fiscal development of their new realms. An intendente was in charge of a Spanish administrative unit, called an intendencia , which could include one or more provinces. The intendente was appointed directly by the Crown and had responsibility to oversee the treasury, the collection of taxes, and corruption practices and to promote agriculture and economic growth in general. With fiscal powers that gave them

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2394-423: The news from the provinces), the "Royal Finance Counsel" ( Conseil royal des finances ) and the "Royal Commerce Counsel" ( Conseil royal de commerce ). He was nearly always a Minister of State (the highest ceremonial rank for a cabinet member), which allowed him to attend the "High Counsel" also known as the "State Counsel" ( Conseil d'en haut or Conseil d'État , the paramount institution of the royal government). In

2451-583: The official title of "Intendent of Police, Justice and Finances and Commissioner sent in the Généralités of the Realm for the Execution of the King's Orders" ( Intendant de police, justice et finances, Commissaire départi dans les généralités du royaume pour l'exécution des ordres du Roi ), or in short Intendant (de généralité) . There were 33 of them, each one at the head of a Généralité , which at first

2508-421: The only Minister of Finances since 1720 who had not himself been an intendant, accused them of incompetence because of their youth and social aspirations. The cahiers de doléances of 1789 depicted them as over zealous agents of fiscal policies which weighed heavily on the people. The term intendant was also used for certain positions close to the Controller-General (see this term for more information): In

2565-572: The overseas intendants were assisted by officials ( subdelegados ) who replaced the old corregidores or alcaldes mayores . Initially intendancies were held by a separate person from the viceroy or the governor, but eventually in many places the offices were granted to one person due to conflicts that emerged between these two. More intendancies were established in Quito , Peru , Philippines , Puerto Rico (1784), Guatemala , more areas of New Spain , Chile (1786) and Cuenca (1786). The Revolt of

2622-559: The provincial intendants. They monitored Louis's refinements of the French military, including the institution of a merit promotion system and a policy of enlistment limited to single men for periods of four years. After 1680, Intendants in France had a permanent position in a fixed region (or " généralité "); their official titles being intendant de justice, police et finances , commissaires départis dans les généralités du royaume pour l'exécution des ordres du roi (or de Sa Majesté ). The position of Intendant remained in existence until

2679-438: The ranks of major general of the intendant service, lieutenant general of the intendant service, and colonel general of the intendant service were introduced. Senior officers from brigintendant to armintendant rank underwent a re-attestation process and were given a general rank. On 30 March 1942, the 'intendant' ranks equivalent to those between lieutenant and colonel were abolished, and officers holding those ranks also underwent

2736-631: The renewal phase of contracts to the Ferme Générale ("General Lease", meaning the selling to private companies or individuals of the time-limited right to collect all the indirect taxes plus bonus fees in a defined portion of the country, an extremely lucrative business for the leaseholders). The Controller-General participated in a number of the King's Councils . He was always member of the Conseil des dépêches ("Counsel of messages", which dealt with

2793-559: The same way, the term intendant général was used for certain commissioned positions close to the State Secretaries of War and of the Navy. As early as the 15th century, the French kings sent commissioners to the provinces to report on royal and administrative issues and to undertake any necessary action. These agents of the king were recruited from among the masters of requests, the Councillors of State and members of

2850-538: The term "Intendant" appears around 1620 during the reign of Louis XIII – became an effective tool of regional control. Under Louis XIII's minister Cardinal Richelieu , with France's entry into the Thirty Years' War in 1635, the Intendants became a permanent institution in France. No longer mere inspectors, their role became one of government administrators. During the Fronde in 1648, the members of Parlement of

2907-404: The throne in 1589, one of his prime focuses was to reduce the privileges of the provincial governors who, in theory, represented "the presence of the king in his province" but had, during the civil wars of the early modern period, proven themselves to be highly intractable; these positions had long been held by only the highest ranked noble families in the realm. The Intendants to the provinces —-

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2964-415: The title of intendant général , then, from 1665, with the title of Contrôleur général des Finances . The title Superintendent of Finances was abolished. Under Colbert's competent and dynamic administration, the Controller-General's responsibilities were greatly redefined. King Louis XIV suppressed the two already existing positions holding the title of Controller-General as he wanted to replace these with

3021-763: The treasury were established in 1786 in Camagüey and Santiago de Cuba .) After a two years of experimentation with the new office, an intendancy was introduced in Louisiana (1764). That same year Visitador General José de Gálvez created a plan to set up intendancies in New Spain (Mexico). The first one was set up in central Mexico in 1786, followed in 1787 by Veracruz , Puebla , Valladolid in Michoacan, Guadalajara , Oaxaca , Guanajuato , Zacatecas , San Luis Potosí , Durango , Sonora , and in 1789 Mérida ,

3078-821: Was headed by an intendant, appointed by the president . In Cuba , the intendant was introduced by the Constitution of the Republic (2019) to head the Administrative Councils - subordinate to the Municipal Assemblies of People's Power (town halls) - and with strictly executive-administrative functions. As the highest local authority is the President of the Municipal Assembly (mayor), it is up to him to designate and remove

3135-530: Was simply a tax collection district of France, but became more and more a general administration province of the royal government. Subsequently the Intendants saw their powers and competences increased at such a level, that they were nicknamed "the right hand of the King in the province". Intendant (government official) An intendant ( French: [ɛ̃tɑ̃dɑ̃] ; Portuguese : intendente [ĩtẽˈdẽtɨ] ; Spanish : intendente [intenˈdente] ) was, and sometimes still is,

3192-435: Was the Intendant of the City, roughly corresponding to a mayor. The title Intendant was also used in other Lowcountry towns, where the office was assisted by "wardens," a system which may have derived from earlier ecclesiastical administration under colonial rule. It is also commonly found today in many theaters and opera houses in Europe, where it is the equivalent to the title of general director , given to an individual in

3249-430: Was used from 1928 to 1932 to designate the head of the Portuguese Civil Police. Presently, intendant is a rank of officer in the Public Security Police , roughly equivalent to the military rank of lieutenant-colonel . Analogously, the police rank of sub-intendant corresponds to the rank of major , while the police rank of superintendent corresponds to the rank of colonel . The rank insignia of an intendant consists of

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