His family (on both his mother's and his father's side) had been very rich for several generations and had supplied lawyers and judges to the Parlement in Paris as well as to that in Lyon (then the second most important city in France).
Sa kanyang pamilya (sa parehong kanyang ina at ng kanyang ama's side) had been very rich para sa ilang henerasyon at may mga ibinigay na mga abogado at mga hukom sa Parlement sa Paris pati na rin sa na sa Lyon (pagkatapos ay ang ikalawang pinakamahalagang lungsod sa France).