Council of Ancients
The
Council of Ancients or
Council of Elders (
French:
Conseil des Anciens) was the
upper house of the
Directory (French:
Directoire), the legislature of
France from
August 22,
1795 until
November 9,
1799, roughly the second half of the period generally referred to as the
French Revolution. The
Lower house was the
Council of Five Hundred (
Conseil des Cinq-Cents).
Besides functioning as a legislative body, the Council of Ancients selected the five Directors, who jointly held executive power, from a list provided by the Five Hundred.
