The Droits Régaliens were a specific area of French feudal jurisprudence, attached to territorial sovereignty. They included the right to engage in diplomacy, to raise taxes, and to mint coin. The king, the peers, some independent towns, and some important ecclesiatical lords exercised these rights. Originally, they were considered (theoretically, at least) a continuation of the authority of the Holy Roman Empire. The various holders of these rights considered themselves equal partners in this authority, which explains the use of the word peers to describe them. By the time of the Revolution, however, the monarchy was the only institution still endowed with Droits Régaliens.

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