From the time that the sovereigns had given up convoking the states-general, the states-provincial had alone preserved the right of bringing to the foot of the throne the plaints and petitions of subjects.
Unhappily few provinces enjoyed this privilege; Languedoc, Brittany, Burgundy, Provence, Dauphiny, and the countship of Pau alone were states-districts, that is to say, allowed to tax themselves independently and govern themselves to a certain extent.

Normandy, though an elections-district, and, as such, subject to the royal agents in respect of finance, had states which continued to meet even in 1666.
The states-provincial were always convoked by the king, who fixed the place and duration of assembly.
The composition of the states-provincial varied a great deal, according to the districts.

In Brittany all noblemen settled in the province had the right of sitting, whilst the third estate were represented by only forty deputies.

In Languedoc, on the contrary, the nobility had but twenty-three representatives, and the class of the third estate numbered sixty-eight deputies.

Hence, no doubt, the divergences of conduct to be remarked in those two provinces between the Parliament and the states-provincial.