Charles Olivier de Saint-Georges, 4th
Marquis of Vérac (Chateau of
Couhé-Vérac, 10 October 1743 – 28 October 1828) was a French military officer and diplomat of the French
Ancien Régime
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word for "ancient, old"
** Société des anciens textes français
* the French for "former, senior"
** Virelai ancien
** Ancien Régime
** Ancien Régime in France
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word for ...
.
Personal life
Vérac (as he is commonly known in the historical literature) was the son of François Olivier de Saint-Georges de Vérac and Elisabeth Marie de Riencourt. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were
''lieutenants général de Province'' of
Poitou
Poitou (, , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe.
Geography
The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical c ...
. He himself received that rank at age 10.
[Under the Ancien Régime it was not unusual to give public offices as sinecures to underage people, so that they could enjoy the emoluments, while the work was done by someone else.]
He married Marie Charlotte Joséphine Sabine de Croÿ d'Havré, the daughter of the
Duke of Havré on 14 April 1760. They had the following children:
*Charles François Marie Joseph 1761-1763
*Anne Louis Joseph César Olivier 1763-1838
*Alphonse Christian Théodoric Joseph Olivier 1765
*Anne Justine Elisabeth Joséphine 1767
*Olivier Armand Maximilien François 1768-1858
*Gabriel Louis Christian Joseph +1839
Career
Vérac entered the
Musketeers of the Guard
The Musketeers of the Guard (french: Mousquetaires de la garde) or King's Musketeers () had the full name - Musketeers of the military household of the King of France. () They were an elite fighting company of the military branch of the Maison du ...
in 1757. In 1761 he became
Aide-de-camp of his father-in-law during the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...
. He was wounded in the arm at the
Battle of Villinghausen
The Battle of Villinghausen (or Vellinghausen, also known as the Battle of Kirchdenkern) was a battle in the Seven Years' War fought on the 15th and 16 July 1761 in the western area of present-day Germany, between a large French army and an An ...
by the same cannon ball that killed his father-in-law.
In 1767 he was appointed Colonel of the
''Régiment de Grenadiers de France''. In 1770 he was promoted to
Mestre de camp
Mestre de camp or Maître de camp (; "camp-master") was a military rank in the Ancien Régime of France, equivalent to colonel. A mestre de camp commanded a regiment and was under the authority of a Colonel General, who commanded all the regimen ...
. Soon after, he was made a
''Chevalier de St. Louis''.
After this accomplished military career he entered the diplomatic service in 1772, when he was sent as an
envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary
An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...
to the court of
Hesse-Kassel
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created in 1567 when the Lan ...
. His next posting was the court of
Denmark–Norway in 1774. In 1779 he was accredited at the court of
Catherine the Great, where he stayed till he was promoted and sent as
ambassador to the
States General of the Netherlands in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
in 1784.
The
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...
at the time was in the middle of the political upheavals of the
Patriottentijd
The (; ) was a period of political instability in the Dutch Republic between approximately 1780 and 1787. Its name derives from the Patriots () faction who opposed the rule of the stadtholder, William V, Prince of Orange, and his supporters who ...
. The
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
had just ended in 1783, but the
Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
The Fourth Anglo-Dutch War ( nl, Vierde Engels-Nederlandse Oorlog; 1780–1784) was a conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The war, contemporary with the War of American Independence (1775-1783), broke out ove ...
, of which it was a part, only ended in 1784. There had therefore not been a British envoy for some time, but at the end of 1784 the new British envoy
Sir James Harris also came to The Hague. They would be each others opponents in the coming years. Both were deeply involved in the internal politics of the country, Vérac on the side of the Patriots, the opponents of the
Orangist party of the
stadtholder William V, Prince of Orange
William V (Willem Batavus; 8 March 1748 – 9 April 1806) was a prince of Orange and the last stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. He went into exile to London in 1795. He was furthermore ruler of the Principality of Orange-Nassau until his death i ...
.
[Whom the French government no longer recognized as ]Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title originally associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by sovereigns in the Netherlands.
The title ...
, since the principality had been ceded to France in 1713; Vérac therefore always referred to the Prince as "Prince de Nassau." Harris became the ''de facto'' leader of the Orangists. Both engaged in espionage and covert political operations against their political opponents. Vérac actively supported the aspirations of the "democratic" wing of the Patriots, latterly also against the Patriot ''
regenten
In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the regenten (the Dutch plural for ''regent'') were the rulers of the Dutch Republic, the leaders of the Dutch cities or the heads of organisations (e.g. "regent of an orphanage"). Though not formally a hered ...
'', when the two factions became each others enemies. During the Patriot Revolt of 1785-1787 Vérac financially supported the
Free Corps {{short description, None
This is a list of "Free Corps" (german: Freikorps), various military and/or paramilitary units raised from the civilian population.
Habsburg monarchy
* Freikorps, pre-1754 German units
* Serbian Free Corps (1787–92)
* P ...
that occasionally fought the
Dutch States Army
The Dutch States Army ( nl, Staatse leger) was the army of the Dutch Republic. It was usually called this, because it was formally the army of the States-General of the Netherlands, the sovereign power of that federal republic. This mercenary arm ...
troops of the stadtholder. After the incident on 28 June 1787 of the arrest of Princess
Wilhelmina, the spouse of the stadtholder, who was the sister of king
Frederick William II of Prussia
Frederick William II (german: Friedrich Wilhelm II.; 25 September 1744 – 16 November 1797) was King of Prussia from 1786 until his death in 1797. He was in personal union the Prince-elector of Brandenburg and (via the Orange-Nassau inherita ...
,
[An anecdote Vérac in later life liked to relate is, that he and the British envoy Harris were playing cards on the evening the incident took place. Evidently Harris, having no news about the Princess whom he was expecting to arrive, got so worried that he was off his usually astute game, and he lost a lot of money; Cf. Cobban, p. 151] a European diplomatic crisis developed. France tried to keep the Prussians and British at bay, while protecting its interests in the Dutch Republic. Unfortunately, the French foreign policy was in disarray after the death of minister
Vergennes earlier in 1787. The new foreign minister
Montmorin had a less sure hand. Also, there was a government crisis at the end of August,
[The French minister of War de Ségur resigned when ]Brienne
The County of Brienne was a medieval county in France centered on Brienne-le-Château.
Counts of Brienne
* Engelbert I
* Engelbert II
* Engelbert III
* Engelbert IV
* Walter I (? – c. 1090)
* Erard I (c. 1090 – c. 1120?)
* Walter II ...
became ''premier ministre''. just when the
Prussian invasion of Holland
The Prussian invasion of Holland was a Prussian military campaign in September–October 1787 to restore the Orange stadtholderate in the Dutch Republic against the rise of the democratic Patriot movement.
Background
The direct cause was the ...
was imminent. The political maneuvering in France between the different factions undermined his position, as the
chevalier de la Luzerne
Chevalier may refer to:
Honours Belgium
* a rank in the Belgian Order of the Crown
* a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold
* a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold II
* a title in the Belgian nobility
France
* a rank in the French Legion d'h ...
was angling for his job.
[Cobban, p. 163] Vérac was recalled on 20 August 1787. Montmorin assured him that there was no personal dissatisfaction with him, and that he would receive a pension while a new position was found for him.
[Cobban, p. 164] Vérac's biographer Michaud speculates that the recall was motivated by the fact that Vérac opposed the return of the stadtholder as military governor of The Hague (a post he had been deprived of by the
States of Holland The States of Holland and West Frisia ( nl, Staten van Holland en West-Friesland) were the representation of the two Estates (''standen'') to the court of the Count of Holland. After the United Provinces were formed — and there no longer was a c ...
in 1786),
but this is unlikely as it was official policy of both the French government and the Dutch government in power at the time, just as he had faithfully executed the French policy towards the Patriots.
After his recall Vérac remained for two years ''sous la remise'' ("on the backburner") before he was again given a diplomatic post, this time as ambassador to the
Old Swiss Confederacy in 1789. But after the
Flight to Varennes of king
Louis XVI of France
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 ...
in June 1791 Vérac immediately handed in his resignation. He departed for
Lindau
Lindau (german: Lindau (Bodensee), ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major town and island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the county (''Landkreis' ...
. Later he resided for short periods at
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
,
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
and
Regensburg. But after he had resigned he had been registered as an ''
Émigré
An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self- exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate".
French Huguenots
Many French Huguenots fled Fr ...
'', which brought penalties of
proscription with it. His worldly goods were confiscated and mostly sold off, or destroyed, his noble titles burned.
Vérac was able to return to France in 1801, and lived as a private citizen until the
Bourbon Restoration of 1814 and 1815. King
Louis XVIII of France
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 ...
gave him the (this time military) rank of Lieutenant-General, and did him the honor of allowing him to participate in the "Grandes Entrées".
[During the so-called ''Petit lever'' after the king had risen from his bed, the king received courtiers he wanted to honor during the so-called ''grandes entrées'' of the court.] Vérac spent his final years in his birthplace among his family. He died on 28 October 1818, just over 85 years old.
Notes and references
Notes
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Verac, Charles Olivier de Saint-Georges de
1743 births
1828 deaths
French marquesses
French Army officers
18th-century French diplomats
19th-century French nobility
People of the Patriottentijd
Political history of the Netherlands
18th-century French nobility
Ambassadors of France to the Russian Empire
Ambassadors of France to the Netherlands