charge de secrétaire

20:57 Nov 19, 2018 

Agree! Looking at it again, that's bl***ing obvious.

https://www.proz.com/kudoz/french-to-english/history/6543298...

19:45 Nov 19, 2018 

1 - "acheter une charge"

2 - "Secrétaire ordinaire de la chambre du roi" - the whole title as just "Secrétaire" on its own is meaningless.

19:38 Nov 19, 2018 

Cash for Honours (also Cash for Peerages, Loans for Lordships, Loans for Honours or Loans for Peerages) was a political scandal in the United Kingdom in 2006 and 2007 concerning the connection between political donations and the award of life peerages. A loophole in electoral law in the United Kingdom means that although anyone donating even small sums of money to a political party has to declare this as a matter of public record, those loaning money at commercial rates of interest did not have to make a public declaration.

In March 2006, several men nominated for life peerages by then Prime Minister Tony Blair[1] were rejected by the House of Lords Appointments Commission. It was later revealed they had loaned large amounts of money to the governing Labour Party,[2] at the suggestion of Labour fundraiser Lord Levy. Suspicion was aroused by some that the peerages were a quid pro quo for the loans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cash_for_Honours

also

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/01/from-lloyd-...

12:41 Nov 19, 2018 

Or indeed Oxford or Trinity College Dublin. Well, not so far from that, I suppose! Though you do at least have to get a BA first...

12:23 Nov 19, 2018 

Rather like buying an MA from Cambridge? ;)

11:32 Nov 19, 2018 

From the 17th century up to 1871, when the practice was abolished, you could buy yourself a post as an officer in the British army. There was no requirement of merit or seniority, just ability to pay. And if you wanted a promotion you could buy that too. Not in the Royal Navy, though, which is perhaps one reason why it was such an effective force.

Buying posts in the royal administration was standard practice, and not just in France. You could also buy yourself a title. (Mind you, we still have that today.)

05:55 Nov 19, 2018 

This is exactly why you CAN'T understand the past if you assume that you can look at it through today's ways of thinking.

Yes, there was a place and time (l'Ancien Régime) when you could simply BUY "une charge" I.e. what would be roughly the equivalent today of "taking office" / "assuming a public function".

Same as you wouldn't at that time make any kind of "contract with the Monarch" - a real one, not today's Kings and Queens that are mostly just symbolic figureheads - the King would "de son bon plasir" grant you patent letters / let you do this or that ... (another related question...)

17:07 Nov 18, 2018 

Try this:

https://books.google.com/books?id=tMQg_8O3VK0C&pg=PA300&lpg=...

If that link doesn't work, try to find this book on Google books and look at p. 300: Bourgeoisie et propriété immobilière en Forez aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles
By Josette Garnier

17:06 Nov 18, 2018 

"La réalité , au 18es, est qu'au titre n'est attaché aucune " fonction" mais reste abondamment pourvu de privilèges et donc très recherché. Ils avaient le droit de commitimus ( privilège de juridiction, au criminel ils ne pouvaient être jugé que par le Parlement et la juridiction du chancelier), exemption d'aides de gabelle et de logement des gens de guerre , de guet, de garde et de péages, du droit de marc d'or et d'octroi des villes ainsi que leurs fermiers ainsi que leurs fermiers métayers et jardiniers. Ils avaient séance aux Etats Généraux. Ils avaient surtout la noblesse transmissiblee ( bien avant les membres des compagnies judiciaires). Une plaisanterie qui courait était que si notre père Adam il aurait acheté une charge de secrétaire du roi et alors tous les hommes seraient gentilhommes."
http://www.passion-histoire.net/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=19071

13:41 Nov 18, 2018 

thanks Writeaway, yes I have, but I can't seem to find any proper details about it, I get (figure) that they used to buy their positions of power back then (still the same today I guess only not as plain :)), but I need to know for sure, and if there's a specific way of saying same in English... cheers :)

13:36 Nov 18, 2018 

Have you looked up an explanation/definition/description en français? Imo it's the first place to start if the meaning of the source text is causing problems.