of government worked poorly due to the absenteeism and ineptitude of the aristocrats, as well as to conflicts of personalities. As a result, between 1718 and 1723 the regent gradually abolished the councils despite the passionate defense of the abbot de Saint-Pierre (Discours sur la polysynodie, 1718), and he reestablished the offices of minister and secretary of state, reverting to the "ministerial despotism" of Louis XIV. See also Early Modern France Mansfield, Andrew, "The Burgundy Circle's plans to undermine Louis XIV's “absolute” state through polysynody and the high nobility", 'Intellectual History Review', Vol.27, Issue 2 (2017), pp.223-45 - http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17496977.2016.1156346 Government of France Political history of the Ancien Régime