The
Peerage of France was recreated by the
Charter of 1814 at the same time as the
Bourbon Restoration, albeit on a different basis from that of the
ancien regime before 1789. A new Chamber of Peers was created which was similar to the British
House of Lords, and it met at the
Palais du Luxembourg. This new Chamber of Peers acted as the
upper house of the French parliament.
Like the House of Lords, the Chamber of Peers also had a judicial function, being authorized to judge peers and other prominent people. As such, it sentenced
Marshal Ney to death. To begin with, the Chamber had 154 members, including the holders of all surviving pre-Revolutionary ecclesiastical (Reims, Langres, and Châlons) and lay peerages, except for the
Duchy of Aubigny, which was held by a foreigner, the British
Duke of Richmond. Thirteen peers were also
prelates. New members were appointed by the
French king, without limit on their numbers. Such a peerage was either granted for life or was heritable, at the king's will. All men of the royal family and all descendants in the male line of previous kings (
princes du sang) were members of the chamber by birth (
pairs-nés), but nevertheless needed explicit permission from the king to sit at each session of the chamber. At the outset comprising only hereditary peers and certain prelates of the church, the Chamber became a body to which men were appointed for life following the
July Revolution of 1830. In the
Revolution of 1848, the Chamber of Peers was disbanded and the peerage of France was abolished. ==Famous members==