Events from the year 1717 in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

–

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

*Regent: Philip II of Orleans

Events

*4 January (24 December 1716 OS) – Triple Alliance treaty between France, the Dutch Republic and Great Britain against Spain

Arts and culture

*27 March – Actress

Adrienne Lecouvreur Adrienne Lecouvreur (5 April 1692 – 20 March 1730), born Adrienne Couvreur, was a French actress, considered by many as the greatest of her time. Born in Damery, she first appeared professionally on the stage in Lille. After her Paris debut ...

is invited to join the

Comédie-Française The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...

in Paris, performing first in the title rôle of

Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon (13 January 1674 – 17 June 1762) was a French poet and tragedy, tragedian. Biography Crébillon was born in Dijon, where his father, Melchior Jolyot, was Civil law notary, notary-royal. Having been educated at the ...

's ''Electre'' *16 May –

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...

is sentenced to eleven months in the

Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was sto ...

and banished from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

for criticizing the Duc D'Orléans; while in prison he writes his first play, ''Oedipe'' ("

Oedipus Oedipus (, ; grc-gre, Οἰδίπους "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus accidentally fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby ...

") *The last two volumes of

Antoine Galland Antoine Galland (; 4 April 1646 – 17 February 1715) was a French orientalist and archaeologist, most famous as the first European translator of '' One Thousand and One Nights'', which he called ''Les mille et une nuits''. His version of the t ...

's ''

Les mille et une nuits ''Les mille et une nuits, contes arabes traduits en français'' ("The Thousand and One Nights, Arab stories translated into French"), published in 12 volumes between 1704 and 1717, was the first European version of ''The Thousand and One Nights' ...

'' are published posthumously in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

of the first translation of ''

One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...

'' into a European language, including the first translation of the story of

Ali Baba "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who hear ...

Births

*18 January – Jean-François-Marie de Surville, trader and navigator (died 1770) *8 May – Charles Guillaume Le Normant d'Étiolles, official, husband of Madame de Pompadour (died 1799) *20 June –

Jacques Saly Jacques François Joseph Saly, also known as Jacques Saly (20 June 1717 – 4 May 1776), French-born sculptor who worked in France, Italy and Malta. He is commonly associated with his time in Denmark he served as Director of the Royal Danis ...

, sculptor (died 1776) *27 June – Louis Guillaume Lemonnier, botanist (died 1799) *13 August –

Louis François, Prince of Conti Louis François de Bourbon, or Louis François I, Prince of Conti (13 August 1717 – 2 August 1776), was a French nobleman who became the Prince of Conti from 1727 to his death, succeeding his father, Louis Armand II, Prince of Conti, Louis Arman ...

, nobleman, military leader (died 1776) *15 August –

Louis Carrogis Carmontelle Louis Carrogis Carmontelle (b. Paris, 15 August 1717 – d. Paris, 26 December 1806) was a French dramatist, painter, architect, set designer, author, and designer of one of the earliest examples of the French landscape garden, Parc Moncea ...

, dramatist (died 1806) *5 October –

Marie-Anne de Mailly-Nesle duchess de Châteauroux Marie Anne de Mailly-Nesle, duchesse de Châteauroux (; 5 October 1717 – 8 December 1744) was the youngest of the five famous ''de Nesle'' sisters, four of whom would become the mistress of King Louis XV of France. She was his mistress from ...

, mistress of King

Louis XV of France Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

(died 1744) *16 November –

Jean le Rond d'Alembert Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert (; ; 16 November 1717 – 29 October 1783) was a French mathematician, mechanician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. Until 1759 he was, together with Denis Diderot, a co-editor of the ''Encyclopédie ...

, mathematician and encyclopædist (died 1783) *29 December – Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, statesman and diplomat (died 1785) *''full date unknown'' –

Claude Humbert Piarron de Chamousset Claude Humbert Piarron de Chamousset (1717 – April 1773) was a French master at the Court of Auditors (France), Court of Auditors, physician and philanthropist. He did struggle against the overcrowded hospitals (several patients in a single bed ...

, philanthropist (died 1773)

Deaths

*3 March –

Pierre Allix Pierre Allix (1641 – 3 March 1717) was a French Protestant pastor and author. In 1690 Allix was created Doctor of Divinity by Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and was given the treasurership and a canonry in Salisbury Cathedral by Bishop Gilbert ...

, Protestant clergyman (born 1641) *5 March –

François de Callières François de Callières, sieur de Rochelay et de Gigny (14 May 1645, Thorigny-sur-Vire, Lower Normandy – 5 March 1717, Paris) was a member of the Académie française, a diplomat and writer, a special envoy of Louis XIV who was one of three French ...

, diplomat, member of the Académie française (born 1645) *3 April –

Jacques Ozanam Jacques Ozanam (16 June 1640, in Sainte-Olive, Ain – 3 April 1718, in Paris) was a French mathematician. Biography Jacques Ozanam was born in Sainte-Olive, Ain, France. In 1670, he published trigonometric and logarithmic tables more accura ...

, mathematician (born 1640) *5 April –

Jean Jouvenet Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet (1 May 1644 – 5 April 1717) was a French painter, especially of religious subjects. Biography He was born into an artistic family in Rouen. His first training in art was from his father, Laurent Jouvenet; a generation ea ...

, painter (born 1644) *8 April – Antoine Benoist, painter and sculptor (born 1632) *17 May – Bon Boullogne, painter (born 1649) *9 June –

Jeanne Guyon Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de la Motte-Guyon (Commonly known as Madame Guyon, ; 13 April 1648 – 9 June 1717) was a French mystic accused of advocating Quietism, which was considered heretical by the Roman Catholic Church. Madame Guyon was imprisone ...

, mystic (born 1648) *11 June –

Louis de Carrières Louis de Carrières (1 September 1662 in Angers, France – 11 June 1717 in Paris) was a French priest and Bible commentator. Carrières was born in the chateau de la Plesse in Avrille, Angers. He entered the French Oratory at a time when such ...

, priest and Bible commentator (born 1662) *29 June –

Augustin le Gardeur de Courtemanche Augustin le Gardeur de Courtemanche (December 16, 1663 – June 29, 1717) was a Canadian soldier and ambassador from Labrador. Biography Born in Quebec City on December 16, 1663, Augustin le Gardeur de Courtemanche joined the military in 1690, serv ...

, soldier and ambassador (born 1663) *13 August –

Nicolas Perrot Nicolas Perrot (–1717), a French explorer, fur trader, and diplomat, was one of the first European men to travel in the Upper Mississippi Valley, in what is now Wisconsin and Minnesota. Biography Nicolas Perrot was born in France between 1641 ...

, explorer, fur trader and diplomat (born c.1644) *September –

Casimir Oudin Remi-Casimir Oudin (14 February 1638 – September 1717) was a French Premonstratensian monk and bibliographer, who later in life was a Protestant convert, and a librarian in Leyden. He engaged in controversy with Anselmo Banduri. His major work ...

, monk and librarian (born 1638) *October –

Philippe Pastour de Costebelle Philippe Pastour de Costebelle (ca. 1661 – October 1717) was a French naval officer and Governor of Colony of Newfoundland, Newfoundland and then Louisbourg. He was born in Languedoc, France and died in Louisbourg, New France. Costebelle serv ...

, naval officer and Governor of Newfoundland (born 1661) *21 November –

Jean-Baptiste Santerre Jean-Baptiste Santerre (23 March 1651 – 21 November 1717) was a French painter and draughtsman of the Style Louis XIV, known for his history paintings, portraits, and portrait-like Genre painting, genre subjects. Considerably influenced by Ital ...

, painter (born 1658)

References