Henri du Plessis-Guénégaud, Lord of the Plessis-Belleville, Marquis de La Garnache (1610 – 16 March 1676) was a French scholar and a Secretary of State during the reigns of

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

and

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 ...

Career

Henri de Guénégaud became Trésorier de l'Épargne (Treasurer of Savings) in 1638, succeeding his father, who died that year.Braham 1973, p. 186. In 1643, he became Secretary of State of several regions of France, including Paris, the

Maison du Roi The Maison du Roi (, "King's Household") was the royal household of the King of France. It comprised the military, domestic, and religious entourage of the French royal family during the Ancien Régime and Bourbon Restoration. Organisation ...

, and ecclesiastical affairs. He also became Secretary of State of the Navy that same year. Dubuisson Aubenay, who later wrote a history of the Fronde, became his secretary in 1645. He supported

Anne d'Autriche Anne of Austria (french: Anne d'Autriche, italic=no, es, Ana María Mauricia, italic=no; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was an infanta of Spain who became Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XIII from their marriage in 1615 unti ...

during the

Fronde The Fronde () was a series of civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. King Louis XIV confronted the combined opposition of the princes, the nobility, the law cour ...

and was made

Garde des Sceaux The title keeper of the seals or equivalent is used in several contexts, denoting the person entitled to keep and authorize use of the great seal of a given country. The title may or may not be linked to a particular cabinet or ministerial offic ...

in 1656, but was disgraced in 1669, when he was succeeded as Secretary of State by

Jean-Baptiste Colbert Jean-Baptiste Colbert (; 29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His lasting impact on the organization of the countr ...

Family

He was the elder son of Gabriel Guénégaud, Lord of the Plessis-Belleville (died 1638), and Marie La Croix, Dame du Plessis-Belleville (died 1655). In 1642 he married Elizabeth (Isabel), daughter of the Maréchal Charles de Choiseul, Marquis de Praslin. Their children included: * Gabriel 1643 * Caesar Phoebus + * Roger 1645 * Claire Bénédicte 1646–1675 * Henry 1647–1722 * Emmanuel * Elisabeth Angelique He was the brother of Claude's treasurer, brother-in-law of César d'Albret who married his sister Madeleine.

Residences

Guénégaud was a patron of the architect

François Mansart François Mansart (; 23 January 1598 – 23 September 1666) was a French architect credited with introducing classicism into Baroque architecture of France. The '' Encyclopædia Britannica'' cites him as the most accomplished of 17th-century Fr ...

and possibly a friend. In 1642 he gave Mansart the site for Mansart's house in the Rue Payenne, and in 1650 he gave the architect 50,000 ''

livres The (; ; abbreviation: ₶.) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in Early Modern France. The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80.88 gr ...

''. In 1646 Guénégaud purchased the Hôtel de Nevers on the Quai de Nevers (just east of the

Tour de Nesle The Tour de Nesle () was one of the four large guard towers on the old city wall of Paris, constructed at the beginning of the 13th century by Philip II of France and demolished in 1665. The tower was situated on the left (south) bank of the S ...

) and commissioned Mansart to transform it into the Hôtel de Guénégaud (1648–1652). He also had Mansart make alterations to the

Château de Fresnes A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

. He and his wife, who were known for their

Jansenist Jansenism was an early modern theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. It was declared a heresy by th ...

sympathies, held a famous ''

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

'' at their ''hôtel'' on the Quai de Nevers. Among their friends were Mademoiselle de Scudéry,

Madame de Sévigné 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'' ( ...

, and Simon Arnauld. It was at their ''salon'' that

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditio ...

first became known in Paris. In 1670, after his disgrace, Guénégaud exchanged the Hôtel de Guénégaud on the Quai de Nevers for a country house in Bouchet and the Hôtel de Conti on the Quai Malaquais in Paris, both belonging to Cardinal Mazarin's niece Anne-Marie Martinozzi, Princesse de Conti. Thereafter the house on the Quai Malaquais became known as the Hôtel du Plessis-Guénégaud, and the house on the Quai de Nevers, as the Hôtel de Conti.Braham 1973, p. 239.

Offices

* Secretary of State for the Royal Household in 1643 to 1669 under Louis XIV * State Secretary of the Navy 23 March 1643 to 1662 under Louis XIII and Louis XIV * Keeper of the Seals of the Order of the

Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...

* Advisor to the King and treasurer of his savings

Notes

Bibliography

* Braham, Allan; Smith, Peter (1973). ''François Mansart''. London: A. Zwemmer. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Guenegaud, Henri De 1610 births 1676 deaths Ministers of Marine and the Colonies Prisoners of the Bastille