Controller-General of Finances

The Controller-General or Comptroller-General of Finances (French: Contrôleur général des finances) was the name of the minister in charge of finances in France from 1661 to 1791. The position replaced the former position of Superintendent of Finances (Surintendant des finances), which was abolished with the downfall of Nicolas Fouquet.

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 the charge of the controllers came from their account book, or contre-rôle (literally "counter-roll", i.e. 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 the creation of "Intendents 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 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. Louis XIV suppressed the two already existing positions holding the title of Controller-general as he wanted to replace these with 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 King could revoke the respective commission at his pleasure at any time.

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