Antoine de Guiscard (1658 – 17 March 1711), also known as the Marquis de Guiscard or the Abbé de la Bourlie, was a French refugee, spy and double agent who attempted to assassinate
Robert Harley, a leading British statesman, on 8 March 1711 by stabbing him with a penknife during a
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
meeting at
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...
. His motive is not entirely clear, although he was undoubtedly a double agent who acted as a spy for both French and British governments, and was on the point of being charged with
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
by the British authorities. Personal malice against Harley, who was responsible for having Guiscard's English pension cut in half, may also have been a motive.
Career
He was born into a distinguished family, being a younger brother of the Count de Guiscard who was appointed the first French Governor of
Namur
Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration.
Namu ...
, although his right to call himself a
Marquis
A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...
has been disputed. He became a
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
, but his notorious debauchery made it impossible for him to continue in that calling. He then embarked on a career as a soldier, joining his brother in a number of military campaigns, but was expelled from the French Court for a serious though unspecified offence. In revenge he joined the
Camisard
Camisards were Huguenots (French Protestants) of the rugged and isolated Cévennes region and the neighbouring Vaunage in southern France. In the early 1700s, they raised a resistance against the persecutions which followed Louis XIV's Revocation ...
rebellion against the French Crown, and when it failed he began wandering around Europe, offering his services to any foreign Court hostile to France.
He arrived in England in 1705, where he attempted to interest the authorities, such as diplomat
Richard Hill, in a series of largely impractical schemes to defeat the French. Hill reported that Guiscard would be able to incite revolt among the Catholics in
Dauphiné
The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois.
In the 12th centu ...
and
Languedoc
The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France.
Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...
as well as provide access to a host of French agents working under
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Vers ...
. He further substantiated these claims to Hill by claiming to carry a vial of poison with him in case pursuing agents of the French King found him.
By 1706, he had convinced
Queen Anne's government to pay him a pension of 600 guineas as well as entertain the thought of leading an invasion of
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
in support of the previously mentioned uprising. To this end, he was given command of a regiment to land at Normandy and incite the revolt but the landing ultimately never took place. This, in combination with no meaningful intelligence or impact eventually led to a steady decline of Guiscard's credibility among the British court as well as a decrease in income.
The attempt on Harley's life
In 1711, enraged by his lack of reward, he began a counterplot with the French Crown, which was quickly detected, leading to his arrest and his appearance before the Council, where he attempted to kill Harley. Why he was allowed into the Council meeting carrying a knife is unknown: the most likely explanation is that he had not been searched thoroughly enough, as the British Government at the time was surprisingly lax about security.
Harley, though stabbed and bruised, recovered: his survival was generally attributed to the fact that he was wearing an ornate gold brocade
waistcoat
A waistcoat ( UK and Commonwealth, or ; colloquially called a weskit), or vest ( US and Canada), is a sleeveless upper-body garment. It is usually worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wear. I ...
, which acted as a shield against the penknife. In the ensuing fracas Guiscard was attacked by several members of the Council and fatally wounded, most likely by
James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde
James FitzJames Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, (1665–1745) was an Irish statesman and soldier. He was the third of the Kilcash branch of the family to inherit the earldom of Ormond. Like his grandfather, the 1st Duke, he was raised as a Protes ...
. Guiscard implored Ormonde to finish the deed, but Ormonde refused, saying that it was not for him to cheat the hangman. Belatedly the Council realised that Guiscard should be kept alive for questioning, and some effort was made to preserve his life, but he died just over a week later in
Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, t ...
.
The unsuccessful attempt to murder Harley had major political consequences. Harley's popularity, which had been on the decline, recovered at once, as a wave of rejoicing at his survival swept the country, and even his enemies praised his courage in the face of danger.
References
*Andrew, Christopher ''The Secret World: A History of Intelligence'' Yale University Press London 2018, pp. 266–267
*Foot, Michael ''The Pen and the Sword- Jonathan Swift and the Power of the Press'' HarperCollins London 1984
*Gregg, Edward Queen Anne Yale University Press 1980
*Hamilton, Elizabeth ''The Backstairs Dragon- a life of Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford'' London Hamish Hamilton 1969
*Jones, Peter (1982)
Antoine de Guiscard, 'Abbé de la Bourlie', 'Marquis de Guiscard' ''British Library Journal'', 1982 articles, pp. 94–113
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guiscard, Antoine de
1658 births
1711 deaths
French spies
Failed assassins
Fellows of the Royal Society