Term for public official in non-English-speaking countries
This article is about public officials especially in non-English-speaking countries called "intendants" in English. For administrators of theaters, see
theater manager
. For administrators of opera houses, see
opera manager
. For other uses, see
intendant (disambiguation)
.
Look up
intendant
in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
An
intendant
(
French:
[??t??d??]
ⓘ
;
Portuguese
:
intendente
[?t??d?t?]
;
Spanish
:
intendente
[inten?dente]
) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in
France
,
Spain
,
Portugal
, and
Latin America
.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
The
intendancy system
was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In the
War of the Spanish Succession
of 1701 to 1714 the French royal
House of Bourbon
secured its hold on the throne of Spain; it extended a French-style intendancy system to Spain and Portugal - and subsequently worldwide through the
Spanish Empire
and
Portuguese Empire
. Regions were divided into districts, each administered by an intendant.
[5]
The title continues in use in Spain and in parts of Spanish America for particular government officials.
Development of the system in France
[
edit
]
Intendants were
royal
civil servants in France under the
Old Regime
. A product of the centralization policies of the French crown, intendants were appointed "commissions," and not purchasable hereditary "offices," which thus prevented the abuse of sales of royal offices and made them more tractable and subservient emissaries of the king. Intendants were sent to supervise and enforce the king's will in the provinces and had jurisdiction over three areas: finances, policing and justice.
Their missions were always temporary, which helped reduce favorable bias toward a province, and were focused on royal inspection. Article 54 of the
Code Michau
described their functions as "to learn about all crimes, misdemeanors and financial misdealings committed by our officials and of other things concerning our service and the tranquility of our people" ("
informer de tous crimes, abus et malversations commises par nos officiers et autres choses concernant notre service et le soulagement de notre peuple
").
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the intendants were chosen from the
noblesse de robe
("administrative nobility") or the upper-bourgeoisie. Generally, they were
masters of requests
in the
Conseil des parties
. They were chosen by the
Controller-General of Finances
who asked the advice of the
Secretary of State for War
for those who were to be sent in border provinces. They were often young:
Charles Alexandre de Calonne
became an intendant at the age of 32,
Turgot
and
Louis Benigne Francois Berthier de Sauvigny
at the age of 34, and
Louis-Urbain-Aubert de Tourny
at the age of 40.
A symbol of royal centralization and absolutism, the intendant had numerous adversaries. Those nostalgic for an administration based on noble lineage (such as
Saint-Simon
) saw intendants as parvenus and usurpers of noble power. Partisans of a less absolute monarchy (such as
Fenelon
) called for them to be abolished.
Jacques Necker
, the only Minister of Finances since 1720 who had not himself been an intendant, accused them of incompetence because of their youth and social aspirations. The
cahiers de doleances
of 1789 depicted them as over zealous agents of fiscal policies which weighed heavily on the people.
The term
intendant
was also used for certain positions close to the
Controller-General
(see this term for more information):
- intendants of finance
- intendants of commerce
- intendants of the sovereign council
In the same way, the term
intendant general
was used for certain commissioned positions close to the
State Secretaries
of War and of the Navy.
History
[
edit
]
As early as the 15th century, the French kings sent commissioners to the
provinces
to report on royal and administrative issues and to undertake any necessary action. These agents of the king were recruited from among the masters of requests, the
Councillors of State
and members of the
Parlements
or the
Court of Accounts
. Their mission was always for a specific mandate and lasted for a limited period. Along with these, there were also commissioners sent to the army, in charge of provisioning the army, policing and finances; they would supervise accountants, providers, merchants, and generals, and attend war councils and tribunals for military crimes. Such commissioners are found in
Corsica
as early as 1553, in
Bourges
in 1592, in
Troyes
in 1594, and in
Limoges
in 1596.
When
Henry IV
ascended the throne in 1589, one of his prime focuses was to reduce the privileges of the provincial governors who, in theory, represented "the presence of the king in his province" but had, during the civil wars of the early modern period, proven themselves to be highly intractable; these positions had long been held by only the highest ranked
noble
families in the realm. The Intendants to the provinces ?- the term "Intendant" appears around 1620 during the reign of
Louis XIII
? became an effective tool of regional control.
Under Louis XIII's minister
Cardinal Richelieu
, with France's entry into the
Thirty Years' War
in 1635, the Intendants became a permanent institution in France. No longer mere inspectors, their role became one of government administrators. During the
Fronde
in 1648, the members of Parlement of the
Chambre Saint-Louis
demanded that the Intendants be suppressed;
Mazarin
and
Anne of Austria
gave in to these demands except in the case of border provinces threatened by Spanish or Imperial attack. At the end of the Fronde, the Intendants were reinstated.
When
Louis XIV
(1643?1715) was in power, the
Marquis of Louvois
,
War Secretary
between 1677 and 1691, further expanded the power of the provincial intendants. They monitored Louis's refinements of the French military, including the institution of a merit promotion system and a policy of enlistment limited to single men for periods of four years. After 1680, Intendants in France had a permanent position in a fixed region (or "
generalite
"); their official titles being
intendant de justice, police et finances
,
commissaires departis dans les generalites du royaume pour l'execution des ordres du roi
(or
de Sa Majeste
).
[6]
The position of Intendant remained in existence until the
French Revolution
. The title was maintained thereafter for military officers with responsibility for financial auditing at regimental level and above.
A 2021 study, which used a dataset of 430 intendants from 1640 to 1789, found that less than half of these officials went through the legally-specified training path.
[7]
The study raised questions about the impersonal nature of these bureaucrats, with evidence indicating that familial and marital ties were factors in appointments, and that appointment duration had wide variability.
[7]
Functions
[
edit
]
Appointed and revoked by the king and reporting to the
Controller-General of Finances
, the Intendant in his "generalite" had at his service a small team of secretaries. In the 18th century, the "generalite" was subdivided into "subdelegations" at the head of which was placed a "subdelegate" (having also a team of secretaries) chosen by the Intendant. In this way, the Intendant was relatively understaffed given his large jurisdiction.
Notable intendants
[
edit
]
New France
[
edit
]
The French North American colony of
New France
, which later became the Canadian province of
Quebec
, also had a senior official called an
intendant
, who was responsible to the French King. New France's first intendant was
Jean Talon
, comte d'Orsainville in 1665, and the last one, at the time of the
British conquest of Quebec
was
Francois Bigot
.
Spain and Spanish Empire
[
edit
]
Intendants were introduced into Spain and the
Spanish Empire
during the eighteenth-century
Bourbon Reforms
. The reforms were designed by the new dynasty to make political administration more efficient and to promote economic, commercial, and fiscal development of their new realms.
[8]
An
intendente
was in charge of a Spanish administrative unit, called an
intendencia
, which could include one or more provinces. The
intendente
was appointed directly by the Crown and had responsibility to oversee the treasury, the collection of taxes, and corruption practices and to promote agriculture and economic growth in general. With fiscal powers that gave them a say in almost all administrative, ecclesiastical and military matters,
intendentes
were conceived by the Bourbon kings to be a check on other local officials (who in the past couple of centuries had come to gain their position through the sale of offices or inheritance), just as the
intendants
had been in France a century earlier. Throughout the 18th century the Bourbons experimented with the powers and duties of the intendants, both in Spain and overseas, so what follows is only a general description of the Spanish intendancy. In any given area at any given time, the duties of the intendant would have been specified by the laws that established that particular intendancy.
The first
intendencias
were established in Spain after 1711, during the
War of the Spanish Succession
on the advice of
Jean Orry
, who had been sent by
Louis XIV of France
to help his young grandson
Philip V
set up his new government. The first intendants (
superintendentes generales del ejercito
) oversaw the finances of the army and of the territories conquered by the Bourbons, and after the war, they were made permanent (
intendentes de ejercito y provincia
). (After 1724, most intendancies lost their military character except in areas with a
captaincy general
and in
Navarre
.) In 1749 an intendancy was established in every province, with the intendant also holding the office of
corregidor
of the capital city. (The offices were separated again in 1766). District
alcaldes mayores
or
coregidores
were subordinated to the provincial
intendente-corregidor
and assisted him in managing the province and implementing reforms.
[9]
As a result of the
Seven Years' War
an intendancy was set up in
Cuba
in 1764.
[10]
The Cuban intendant had oversight of the army's and the royal treasury's finances. (Two new intendancies with oversight only over the treasury were established in 1786 in
Camaguey
and
Santiago de Cuba
.) After a two years of experimentation with the new office, an intendancy was introduced in
Louisiana
(1764).
That same year
Visitador General
Jose de Galvez
created a plan to set up intendancies in
New Spain
(Mexico). The first one was set up in central Mexico in 1786, followed in 1787 by
Veracruz
,
Puebla
,
Valladolid
in Michoacan,
Guadalajara
,
Oaxaca
,
Guanajuato
,
Zacatecas
,
San Luis Potosi
,
Durango
,
Sonora
, and in 1789
Merida
, the main city in Yucatan. These administrative changes codified existing regional divisions of Center (Mexico, Veracruz, Puebla, Michoacan), South (Oaxaca, Merida), and North (Zacatecas, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi, Durango, and Sonora).
In 1776 Galvez, now Minister of the Indies, established an intendancy (
superintendencia
) for all of
Venezuela
in 1776, and several in the
Rio de la Plata
in 1783. Most of the overseas intendants were assisted by officials (
subdelegados
) who replaced the old
corregidores
or
alcaldes mayores
. Initially intendancies were held by a separate person from the
viceroy
or the governor, but eventually in many places the offices were granted to one person due to conflicts that emerged between these two.
More intendancies were established in
Quito
,
Peru
,
Philippines
,
Puerto Rico
(1784),
Guatemala
, more areas of
New Spain
,
Chile
(1786) and
Cuenca
(1786). The
Revolt of the Comuneros
prevented their installation in
New Granada
.
Portugal and Portuguese Empire
[
edit
]
In Portugal, historically, the title "intendant" (
intendente
in Portuguese) has been mainly associated with police roles.
From 1760 to 1832, the head of the Police of the Kingdom of Portugal had the title of "Intendant General of the Police of the Court and of the Kingdom". A similar title - that of "Intendant General of the Public Security" - was used from 1928 to 1932 to designate the head of the Portuguese Civil Police.
Current use in Hispanic and Lusophone countries
[
edit
]
Portugal
[
edit
]
Presently, intendant is a rank of officer in the
Public Security Police
, roughly equivalent to the military rank of
lieutenant-colonel
. Analogously, the police rank of sub-intendant corresponds to the rank of
major
, while the police rank of superintendent corresponds to the rank of
colonel
.
The rank insignia of an intendant consists of a dark blue
epaulet
with two crossed
horsewhips
inside a
laurel wreath
and two PSP stars. Each PSP star consists in a six points silver star with the "SP"
monogram
in the center. The rank insignia of a sub-intendant is similar but with only a single PSP star.
Spain
[
edit
]
Nowadays in the Spanish armed forces, the title Intendant refers to a Colonel in the Supply Branch either in the Navy, Army or Air Force. It is also used in some branches of the administration such as the Catalan Police, (
Mossos d'Esquadra
in Catalan) or in some Autonomous Communities (
Comunidades Autonomas
in Spanish).
Argentina
[
edit
]
In
Argentina
,
intendente
(m) or
intendenta
(f) refers to
city mayors
? heads of government of
municipalities
(or
partidos
in
Buenos Aires Province
).
[11]
This meaning is not at all connected to the usage in other countries.
Spanish-language
media in countries other than Argentina tend to refer to Argentine city mayors as
alcaldes
, which is the most common Spanish word for mayor.
In the
Argentine Army
, "Intendencia" is the Spanish name of the Quartermaster Corps, and its members are informally called "intendentes".
In some organizations, such as clubs, gated communities, large companies, etc., "intendente" is the name given to the person in charge of general maintenance of common spaces.
Chile
[
edit
]
Chile
is
administratively divided
in 16
regions
. Between 1976 (1974 in some regions) and 2021, each region was headed by an intendant, appointed by the
president
.
Cuba
[
edit
]
In
Cuba
, the intendant was introduced by the Constitution of the Republic (2019) to head the Administrative Councils - subordinate to the Municipal Assemblies of People's Power (town halls) - and with strictly executive-administrative functions. As the highest local authority is the President of the Municipal Assembly (mayor), it is up to him to designate and remove the intendant, after agreement with the majority of the Delegates of People's Power (councilors).
Paraguay
[
edit
]
The
Republic of Paraguay
is administratively divided into 17
departamentos
(departments), each of which is headed by an
gobernador departamental
(departmental governor). These
departamentos
are divided into 261
[12]
distritos
(districts) (plus the
capital district
), districts are headed by an
intendente municipal
(municipal intendant), these intendants are popularly elected, and serve a term of five years.
Uruguay
[
edit
]
Uruguay
is divided administratively into 19
departamentos
(departments). The executive power of each department is the
intendencia
(intendancy), headed by an
intendente departamental
(departmental intendant). The intendants are popularly elected, and serve a term of five years.
Japan
[
edit
]
A daikan was an intendant or magistrate in historical Japan. The office he held was called the
Daikansho
. The daikan was responsible for overseeing a range of governmental functions, including infrastructure, tax collection, and judicial matters.
Russia and Soviet Union
[
edit
]
The position of intendant was part of the tsarist Russian army from 1812 to 1868; intendants were responsible for supplies, finances, etc. in the field. After the 1935 rank reform that established 'personal ranks' in the Soviet military, it was reintroduced as the rank title for administrative and supply officers. The specific ranks, their collar insignia, and their line equivalents were:
- technician-intendant second class
, two rectangles, lieutenant
- technician-intendant first class
, three rectangles, senior lieutenant
- intendant third class
, one rectangle, captain
- intendant second class
, two rectangles, major
- intendant first class
, three rectangles, colonel.
- brigindendant
(i.e., brigade intendant), one diamond, kombrig (brigade commander)
- divintendant
(i.e., division intendant), two diamonds, komdiv (division commander)
- korindendant
(i.e., corps intendant), three diamonds, komkor (corps commander)
- armintendant
(i.e., army intendant), four diamonds, komandarm (army commander) second class.
On 7 May 1940, the rank title system for all Soviet Army senior officers was changed to bring it closer in line with standard European practice, and the ranks of major general of the intendant service, lieutenant general of the intendant service, and colonel general of the intendant service were introduced. Senior officers from brigintendant to armintendant rank underwent a re-attestation process and were given a general rank.
On 30 March 1942, the 'intendant' ranks equivalent to those between lieutenant and colonel were abolished, and officers holding those ranks also underwent a re-attestation process and received ranks ranging from lieutenant of the intendant service to colonel of the administrative service.
Scotland
[
edit
]
In
Scotland
intendant is an archaic title meaning "supervisor" or "curator". The senior officer of the
City of Glasgow Police
was called an Intendant in the document establishing the force in 1800.
United States
[
edit
]
For much of its history, the chief magistrate of the city of
Charleston, South Carolina
was the Intendant of the City, roughly corresponding to a mayor. The title Intendant was also used in other Lowcountry towns, where the office was assisted by "wardens," a system which may have derived from earlier ecclesiastical administration under colonial rule.
Other uses
[
edit
]
It is also commonly found today in many theaters and
opera houses
in Europe, where it is the equivalent to the title of
general director
, given to an individual in a managerial position, generally having control over all aspects of the company.
In
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
, Intendant was a title in the
mirror universe
. The mirror universe version of
Kira Nerys
held the position of
Intendant of
Bajor
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
American Heritage Dictionary
definition of "intendant"
- ^
"Definition of INTENDANT"
.
- ^
"Oxford Languages | the Home of Language Data"
. Archived from
the original
on September 25, 2016.
- ^
"Intendant: Meaning and Definition of | Infoplease"
.
- ^
Jacquelyn Briggs Kent, "Intendancy System" in
Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture
, vol. 3, pp. 286-87. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996.
- ^
Esmein, Adhemar
(1911).
"Intendant"
. In
Chisholm, Hugh
(ed.).
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 14 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 683.
- ^
a
b
Sasaki, Yu (2021).
"The Royal Consultants: The Intendants of France and the Bureaucratic Transition in Pre-modern Europe"
.
Journal of Historical Political Economy
.
1
(2): 259?289.
doi
:
10.1561/115.00000008
.
hdl
:
2065/00073286
.
ISSN
2693-9290
.
S2CID
238784308
.
- ^
James Lockhart and Stuart Schwartz,
Early Latin America
, New York: Cambridge University Press 1983, pp. 352.
- ^
Artola, Miguel.
Enciclopedia de Historia de Espana
, Tomo V. Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 1991. Pgs. 678?679.
ISBN
84-206-5294-6
- ^
Excerpts of the Cuban intendancy regulations can be found at "Establishment of the Intendancy in Cuba" in Charles Gibson, ed.
The Spanish Tradition in America
(Columbia, University of South Carolina Press, 1968), 223?228.
- ^
Mensa, Andrea (2007).
"El Estado municipal en Argentina"
[Municipal State in Argentina]
(PDF)
.
Provincia
(in Spanish).
17
.
Universidad de Los Andes
: 43.
ISSN
1317-9535
.
- ^
Siete nuevos municipios elegiran por primera vez a sus autoridades
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Barbier, Jacques.
Reform and Politics in Bourbon Chile, 1755-1796
. Ottawa, University of Ottawa Press, 1980.
ISBN
978-2-7603-5010-6
(1980)
- Fisher, John R.
Government and Society in Colonial Peru: The Intendant System, 1784-1814
. (1970)
- Fisher, Lillian Estelle
.
The Intendant System in Spanish America
. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1929.
- Haring, Clarence H.
,
The Spanish Empire in America
. New York: Oxford University Press, 1947.
- Lynch, John
.
Spanish Colonial Administration, 1782?1818: the Intendant System in the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata
(1958)