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 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 ...

politician after

the Revolution A revolution is a drastic political change that usually occurs relatively quickly. For revolutions which affect society, culture, and technology more than political systems, see social revolution. Revolution may also refer to: Aviation *Warner ...

. He served as prime minister under Charles X, just before 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 ...

in 1830 that overthrew the senior line of the

House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanis ...

. It is admitted he is the one responsible for the colonisation of Algeria by France as he led the July 1830 expedition to conquer Algeria.

Early life

Born in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

, Jules was the younger son of

Jules, 1st Duke of Polignac Jules de Polignac, 1st Duke of Polignac (Armand Jules François; 7 June 1746 – 21 September 1817) was a French nobleman and the husband of Yolande de Polastron, a confidante of Queen Marie Antoinette. He became the first Duke of Polignac in 1780. ...

, and

Gabrielle de Polastron Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchess of Polignac (8 September 17499 December 1793) was the favourite of Marie Antoinette, whom she first met when she was presented at the Palace of Versailles in 1775, the year after Marie Antoinette be ...

, a confidante and favourite of Queen

Marie-Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child and ...

. Due to his mother's privileged position, the young Jules was raised in the environment of the court of Versailles, where his family occupied a luxurious suite of thirteen rooms. His sister, Aglaé, was married to the duc de Guîche at a young age, helping to cement the Polignac family's position as one of the leaders of high society at Versailles. With the outbreak 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 ...

in 1789, Jules's mother and her circle were forced to flee abroad due to threats against their lives. She had been one of the most consistent supporters of absolutism, and she bequeathed these political sympathies to her son following her death in 1793.

Marriages and issue

Jules married twice. He was married firstly, in 1816, at London to Barbara Campbell (Ardneaves House, Islay 22 Aug. 1788 – Saint-Mandé 23 May 1819), a young Scotswoman, who later returned with him to France, with whom he had two children: *Prince Armand (1817–1890), later 4th duc de Polignac; he has male-line descendants to date who bear the principal title. *Princess Seyna-Camille (1818–1833) After his first wife's death in 1819, he married in London, on 3 June 1824, Charlotte, comtesse de Choiseul, widow of comte Cesar de Choiseul (d. 1821), ''née'' the Honourable (Maria) Charlotte Parkyns (St. Marylebone, 6 Jan. 1792 – 1/2 Sep. 1864). She was the youngest child (of six children) of

Thomas Parkyns, 1st Baron Rancliffe Thomas Boothby Parkyns, 1st Baron Rancliffe (24 July 1755 – 17 November 1800) was an English soldier, Member of Parliament and Irish peer. Life He was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Parkyns, 3rd Baronet (1728–1806) of Bunny Hall, Nottinghamshir ...

(created 1795) and his wife Elizabeth Anne James, and sister of George Augustus Anne Parkyns, Lord Rancliffe and Henrietta, Lady Rumbold (1789–1833), wife of Sir William Rumbold, 3rd Bt. He had met her while she was renewing her passport at the London embassy, where he was the Ambassador (1823–1829). They had five children, two of whom were born while their father was in prison: * Prince Alphonse (1826–1863), born during his father's ambassadorship in London. He entered Polytechnique in 1849 and formulated

Polignac's conjecture In number theory, Polignac's conjecture was made by Alphonse de Polignac in 1849 and states: :For any positive even number ''n'', there are infinitely many prime gaps of size ''n''. In other words: There are infinitely many cases of two consecutive ...

the same year. He married Jeanne Emilie Mirès (called Amelie by Kahan) and had one daughter. He died some time after a very public trial exonerated his father-in-law

Jules Mirès Jules is the French form of the Latin "Julius" (e.g. Jules César, the French name for Julius Caesar). It is the given name of: People with the name *Jules Aarons (1921–2008), American space physicist and photographer *Jules Abadie (1876–195 ...

of embezzlement. * Prince Ludovic or "Louis" (1827–1904), born during his father's ambassadorship in London. He entered Polytechnique in 1851 and pursued a military career. He married in 1874 Gabriele, Princess von Croy, with no issue. *Princess Yolande (1830–1855), named after her mother Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchess of Polignac. She was born shortly before her father's incarceration as an Ultra. In 1848, she married Sosthène II de La Rochefoucauld, duc de Doudeauville. * Prince Camille (1832–1913), a major-general in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. He married twice: by his first marriage, he had one daughter; by his second marriage, he had two daughters and one son, Prince Victor de Polignac (1899–1998). He has issue and descendants through his eldest daughter. * Prince Edmond (1834–1901), later a noted musician and composer, who married

Winnaretta Singer Winnaretta Singer, Princesse Edmond de Polignac (8 January 186526 November 1943) was an American-born heiress to the Singer sewing machine fortune. She used this to fund a wide range of causes, notably a musical salon where her protégés includ ...

in a famous

mariage blanc Mariage blanc (from the French, literally "white marriage") is a marriage that is without consummation. The persons may have married for a variety of reasons, for example, a marriage of convenience is usually entered into in order to aid or resc ...

. The couple's marriage was annulled by the French Chamber of Peers, but Jules and Charlotte went to England after his release in 1836, and they renewed their vows before the French consul in 1837.

Career

Returning to France, which was then ruled by

Napoleon Bonaparte 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 ...

, Jules continued in his zealous loyalty to the exiled Royal Family. In 1804, a year after his sister's death, Jules was implicated in the conspiracy of

Cadoudal Georges Cadoudal ( br, Jorj Kadoudal; 1 January 1771 – 25 June 1804), sometimes called simply Georges, was a Breton politician, and leader of the ''Chouannerie'' during the French Revolution. He was posthumously named a Marshal of France in 18 ...

and

Pichegru Jean-Charles Pichegru (, 16 February 1761 – 5 April 1804) was a French general of the Revolutionary Wars. Under his command, French troops overran Belgium and the Netherlands before fighting on the Rhine front. His royalist positions led to h ...

to assassinate Bonaparte, and was imprisoned until 1813. After the restoration of the

Bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * A beer produced by Bras ...

s, he was rewarded with various honours and positions. He held various offices, received from the pope his title of "Prince," in 1820, and in 1823, King

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 ...

made him ambassador to Great Britain. A year later, his mother's former friend ascended the throne as King Charles X. Polignac's political sympathies did not alter, and he was one of the most conspicuous

s during the Restoration era. At the time, it was rumoured that Polignac supported ultra-royalist policies because he thought he was receiving inspiration from the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

. There is little historical evidence for this story, however. There is no mention of such motivation in Polignac's personal memoirs or in the memoirs of the Restoration court. On 8 August 1829, Charles X appointed him to the ministry of foreign affairs and in the following November, Polignac became president of the council, effectively the most powerful politician in France. His appointment was considered a step towards overthrowing the constitution and Polignac, with other ministers, was held responsible for the decision to issue the Four Ordinances, which were the immediate cause of the

revolution of July 1830 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 ...

. Upon the outbreak of revolt, he fled, wandering for some time among the wilds 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 ...

before he was arrested at Granville. At his trial before the Chamber of Peers, he was condemned and sentenced to 'perpetual' imprisonment at the château in Ham. But he benefited by the amnesty of 1836, when his sentence was commuted to exile. During his captivity, he wrote ''Considerations politiques'' (1832). Afterwards, he spent several years in exile in England before being permitted to re-enter France, on condition that he never again take up his abode in Paris. According to the ''

Legacies of British Slave-Ownership The Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery, formerly the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership, is a research centre of University College, London (UCL) which focuses on revealing the impact of Britis ...

'' at the

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, de Polignac was awarded a payment as a slave trader in the aftermath of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 with the Slave Compensation Act 1837. The British Government took out a £15 million loan (worth £ in ) with interest from

Nathan Mayer Rothschild Nathan Mayer Rothschild (16 September 1777 – 28 July 1836) was an English-German banker, businessman and financier. Born in Frankfurt am Main in Germany, he was the third of the five sons of Gutle (Schnapper) and Mayer Amschel Rothschild, an ...

and Moses Montefiore which was subsequently paid off by the British taxpayers (ending in 2015). de Polignac was associated with three different claims, he owned 628 slaves in

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea wh ...

and received a £15,765 payment at the time (worth £ in ). Although a French subject, de Polignac had connections in the British Empire due to his Scottish wife, Barbara Campbell (1788–1819), daughter of Duncan Campbell of Ardnave. From his second marriage to Maria-Charlotte Parkyns, daughter of Lord Rancliffe, Jules de Polignac had fathered seven children, including Prince Ludovic de Polignac (1827–1904), a lieutenant-colonel in the French Army who participated in the colonization of

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

; Prince Camille Armand Jules Marie de Polignac (1832–1913), a major-general in the

during the

; and

Prince Edmond de Polignac Prince Edmond Melchior Jean Marie de Polignac (19 April 18348 August 1901) was a French aristocrat and composer. Ancestry Edmond was a member of the Polignac family, one of the more illustrious families of France. His grandmother, the duchesse ...

(1834–1901), a composer, musical theorist and proponent of the octatonic scale. Jules died at St. Germain in 1847 from the effects of his imprisonment. About one month prior, he had assumed the title of duc de Polignac upon the death of his older brother, Armand, who had died without children. Comte Pierre de Polignac, later Prince Pierre, Duke of Valentinois (father of

Rainier III of Monaco Rainier III (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi; 31 May 1923 – 6 April 2005) was Monarchy of Monaco, Prince of Monaco from 1949 to his death in 2005. Rainier ruled the Monaco, Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him ...

and therefore an ancestor of the entire current princely family) is descended from a different and

cadet branch In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, title ...

of the Polignac family, which has the comital rank only. Pierre was the youngest son, descended from the youngest son of the first Duke of Polignac.

Ancestry

Literature

* W. Schlésinger, ''Les femmes du XVIIIe siècle: La duchesse de Polignac et son temps'' (Paris, 1889) * Michael St. John Packe, refers to Polignac as "rascally" in his "Life of John Stuart Mill". The Life of John Stuart Mill, Michael St. John Packe, Capricorn Books Edition 1970, page 100

Notes