Jean-Baptiste Sylvère Gay, 1st Viscount of Martignac (20 June 1778 3 April 1832) was a moderate royalist French statesman during the

Bourbon Restoration Bourbon Restoration may refer to: France under the House of Bourbon: * Bourbon Restoration in France (1814, after the French revolution and Napoleonic era, until 1830; interrupted by the Hundred Days in 1815) Spain under the Spanish Bourbons: * ...

1814–30 under King Charles X.

Biography

Martignac was born in Bordeaux, France. In 1798 he became secretary to Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès; after serving for a while in the army, he turned to literature, producing several light plays. Under the Empire he practised with success as an advocate at Bordeaux, where in 1818 he became advocate-general of the ''cour royale''. In 1819 he was appointed ''procureur-général'' at

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

, and in 1821 was returned for Marmande to the Chamber of Deputies, where he supported the

ultraroyalist The Ultra-royalists (french: ultraroyalistes, collectively Ultras) were a French political faction from 1815 to 1830 under the Bourbon Restoration. An Ultra was usually a member of the nobility of high society who strongly supported Roman Catho ...

policies of Villèle. In 1822 he was appointed councillor of state, in 1823 he accompanied the duc d'Angouléme to Spain as civil commissary; in 1824 he was created a viscount and appointed director-general of registration. This cites E. Daudet, ''Le Ministère de M. de Martignac'' (Paris, 1875). In contact with practical politics his ultra-royalist views were gradually modified in the direction of the Doctrinaires, and on the fall of Villèle he was selected by Charles X to carry out the new policy of compromise. On 4 January 1828 he was appointed minister of the interior, and, though not bearing the title of president, became the virtual head of the cabinet. He succeeded in passing the act abolishing the press censorship, and in persuading the king to sign the ordinances of 16 June 1828 on the Jesuits and the little seminaries. He was exposed to attack from both the extreme

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

and the extreme right, and when in April 1829 a coalition of these groups defeated him in the chamber, Charles X, who had never believed in the policy he represented, replaced him by the

prince de Polignac Jules Auguste Armand Marie de Polignac, Count of Polignac (; 14 May 178030 March 1847), then Prince of Polignac, and briefly 3rd Duke of Polignac in 1847, was a French statesman and ultra-royalist politician after the Revolution. He served as pr ...

. In March 1830 Martignac voted with the majority for the address protesting against the famous ordinances; but during the revolution that followed he remained true to his legitimist principles. His last public appearance was in defence of Polignac in the Chamber of Peers in December 1830.

Works

* ''Bordeaux au mois de Mars 1815'' (1830) * ''Essai historique sur les révolutions d'Espagne et l'intervention française de 1823'' (1832).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gay, Jean Baptiste, vicomte de Martignac Martignac, Jean-Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Martignac, Jean-Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Martignac, Jean-Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Jean-Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Legitimists Martignac, Jean-Baptiste Gay, vicomte de French interior ministers State ministers of France Members of the 2nd Chamber of Deputies of the Bourbon Restoration Members of the 3rd Chamber of Deputies of the Bourbon Restoration Members of the 4th Chamber of Deputies of the Bourbon Restoration Members of the 1st Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Members of the 2nd Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Members of Parliament for Lot-et-Garonne Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery