(French: "bed of justice")
In pre-Revolutionary France, a special session of a parlement, convened to enforce by edict an ordinance or law to which the parlement had previously denied consent. Usually convened in the presence of the monarch or (sometimes) his direct representative.
When in attendance, the monarch rested on cushions (the lit), surrounded by nobles and officials. The decree was read aloud, any objections ware voiced, and the proposal was then made law, by fiat.