prévôt

Prévôt is a historical title used in the French-speaking world to designate a public official who administered a jurisdiction on behalf of a lord, the crown, or a municipal authority. The word derives from the Latin praepositus, meaning someone placed before others, and is cognate with the English provost. In broad terms, a prévôt acted as the chief administrator, judge, and police authority within a defined territory such as a seigneurie, a city, or a district of a kingdom.

In feudal France, there were royal prévôts and prévôts of seigneurs. A royal prévôt represented the crown in a given area and was responsible for taxation, revenue collection, justice, and the supervision of roads and markets. A seigneurial prévôt carried out similar duties on behalf of a noble lord within a fief. In towns, the prévôt might preside over courts, enforce edicts, and appoint subordinate officers such as bailiffs or sergeants. In some places there was also a prévôt des marchands, or provost of the merchants, who managed urban administration and municipal finances; this role is notably associated with certain French towns before later municipal reforms.

As centralized administration expanded in the early modern era, many prévôt offices were reorganized or replaced by institutions such as intendants, subdelegates, or prefects, and by modern municipal administrations. The term today survives mainly in historical contexts and in some regional or ceremonial uses, reflecting the traditional structure of feudal and early modern governance rather than contemporary public office.