Arnail François,

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 ...

de Jaucourt, ''

comte ''Comte'' is the French, Catalan and Occitan form of the word 'count' (Latin: ''comes''); ''comté'' is the Gallo-Romance form of the word 'county' (Latin: ''comitatus''). Comte or Comté may refer to: * A count in French, from Latin ''comes'' * A ...

de l'Empire'' (14 November 17575 February 1852) was a French

aristocrat The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Ro ...

and politician.

Biography

Military career and Revolution

Jaucourt was born in Tournon (

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne (river), Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square ...

) of a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

family, protected by Louis Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé, whose

Dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat w ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

he entered at the age of fifteen. He became

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

of his regiment, and made himself known for his welcoming of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

and his affiliation with the

Feuillants Feuillant and its plural Feuillants, a French word derived ultimately from the Latin for "leaf", can refer to the following: *Les Feuillants Abbey, also known as Feuillant Abbey ( la, Fulium), a Cistercian monastery in Labastide-Clermont, France *C ...

. A deputy to the Legislative Assembly in 1791, elected by the ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'' of Seine-et-Marne, he generally voted with the minority. As his views came to be considered too moderate by his colleagues, he resigned in 1792, and was soon after arrested on suspicion of being a

reactionary In political science, a reactionary or a reactionist is a person who holds political views that favor a return to the ''status quo ante'', the previous political state of society, which that person believes possessed positive characteristics abse ...

Madame de Staël Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ...

obtained his release from

Louis Pierre Manuel Louis Pierre Manuel (July 1751 – 14 November 1793) was a republican French writer, municipal administrator of the police, and public prosecutor during the French Revolution who was arrested, trialled and guillotined. Life Revolutionary ...

just before the

September Massacres The September Massacres were a series of killings of prisoners in Paris that occurred in 1792, from Sunday, 2 September until Thursday, 6 September, during the French Revolution. Between 1,176 and 1,614 people were killed by ''fédérés'', gua ...

. He made his way to England, and joined the group who during 1792-93 took refuge at Juniper Hall in Surrey, supported by Madame de Stael, who later joined them.Linda Kelly, Juniper Hall, Weidenfeld and Nicolson 1991 He returned to France after the execution of

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

Consulate and First Empire

Jaucourt took refuge in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

to escape the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, ...

, and returned only after

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

Bonaparte's 18 Brumaire coup and the establishment of the

French Consulate The Consulate (french: Le Consulat) was the top-level Government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 10 November 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire on 18 May 1804. By extension, the term ''The Con ...

, entering the

tribunate Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...

, of which he was the president for a short period. In 1803, Jaucourt entered the

French Senate The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 34 ...

, and next year, upon the establishment of the

First Empire First Empire may refer to: * First British Empire, sometimes used to describe the British Empire between 1583 and 1783 * First Bulgarian Empire (680–1018) *First French Empire (1804–1814/1815) * First German Empire or "First Reich", sometimes u ...

, he became attached to the household of

Joseph Bonaparte it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte , house = Bonaparte , father = Carlo Buonaparte , mother = Letizia Ramolino , birth_date = 7 January 1768 , birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic of ...

. He accompanied Joseph to the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

, and was created a

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

of the Empire by Napoleon.

Restoration, July Monarchy, and later years

During the following years, Jaucourt distanced himself from the imperial cause, and, with the Bourbon Restoration he became

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

and a

Peer of France The Peerage of France (french: Pairie de France) was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 in the Middle Ages. The prestigious title and position of Peer of France (french: Pair de France, links=no) was ...

. After the outcome of the

Hundred Days The Hundred Days (french: les Cent-Jours ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration ...

(during which he stood by

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

), he was Naval Minister in July–September 1815, but held no further office. He devoted himself to the support of the Protestant interest in France, and tried to reduce the effects of the

White Terror White Terror is the name of several episodes of mass violence in history, carried out against anarchists, communists, socialists, liberals, revolutionaries, or other opponents by conservative or nationalist groups. It is sometimes contrasted wit ...

. A member of the upper house after the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (french: révolution de Juillet), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after the first in 1789. It led to the overthrow of King ...

and throughout the reign of

Louis Philippe Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary War ...

(the ''

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (french: Monarchie de Juillet), officially the Kingdom of France (french: Royaume de France), was a liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 26 July 1830, with the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 23 F ...

''), he was driven into private life by the establishment of the Second Republic, but lived to see the 1851 coup and to rally to the government of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, dying in

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 ...

the next year.

References

External links

Bio and portrait at the ''Musée Virtuel du Protestantisme Français''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaucourt, Arnail Francois, Marquis De 1757 births 1852 deaths People from Seine-et-Marne Marquesses of Jaucourt Counts of the First French Empire French Protestants Politicians from Île-de-France Ministers of Marine and the Colonies State ministers of France Members of the Legislative Assembly (France) Members of the Sénat conservateur Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Bourbon Restoration Members of the Chamber of Peers of the July Monarchy French diplomats Coppet group People of the French Revolution Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery