Nicolas Jean Hugou de Bassville or Basseville (7 February 174313 January 1793),
French journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
and
diplomat
A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...
, was born at
Abbéville.
Biography
Early life and career
Bassville was trained for the priesthood, taught
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
in a provincial seminary and then went to
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 ...
. Here in 1784 he published ''Éléments de mythologie'' and some poems, which brought him into notice. On the recommendation of the
prince of Condé
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
he became tutor to two young Americans travelling in Europe. With them he visited Berlin, made the acquaintance there of
Mirabeau
Mirabeau may refer to:
People and characters
* Mirabeau B. Lamar (1798–1859), second President of the Republic of Texas
French nobility
* Victor de Riqueti, marquis de Mirabeau (1715–1789), French physiocrat
* Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, com ...
, and became a member of the
Berlin Royal Academy.
[ Endnotes:
* F Masson, ''Les Diplomates de la Révolution'' (Paris, 1882)
* David Silvagni]
''La Corte e la Società romana nei secoli XVIII. e XIX.''
(Florence, 1881)
At the outbreak of the
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
Bassville turned to
journalism
Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...
, becoming editor of the ''Mercure international''. Then, through the Girondist minister
Lebrun-Tondu, he entered the diplomatic service, went in May 1792 as secretary of legation to
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
and was shortly afterwards sent, without official status, to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
.
Assignment to Papal States
In Rome Bassville acted as the outspoken revolutionary he was, rather than a conventional diplomat. He ordered the
fleur-de-lys
The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol.
The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...
on the escutcheon of the French embassy to be replaced by a picture of
Liberty
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
painted by a French art student, proclaimed himself protector of the radical
Jacobins
, logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg
, logo_size = 180px
, logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794)
, motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir)
, successor = Pa ...
in Rome, and demanded the expulsion of the French ''émigrés'' who had taken refuge there, including the "demoiselles Capet"
(i.e. members of the French Royal Family).
Bassville talked at large of the "purple geese of the Capitol"
- i.e., the
Sacred geese of Juno who were told in Roman Mythology to have saved the ancient City of Rome, a story taken up and given a Republican interpretation by French Revolutionaries. He met the remonstrances of
Cardinal Zelada, the
Papal Secretary of State
The Secretary of State of His Holiness (Latin: Secretarius Status Sanctitatis Suae,
it, Segretario di Stato di Sua Santità), commonly known as the Cardinal Secretary of State, presides over the Holy See's Secretariat of State, which is the ...
, with insults.
At Basseville's initiative symbols of the new French republican regime replaced those of the former monarchy displayed on the French embassy. The Papal authorities had refused pernission for this action and a Roman crowd tore down the new insignia.
Murder in Rome
His conduct enraged the more conservative elements of the Roman populace, who considered him to have "insulted the Pope". On 13 January 1793 Bassville, together with his wife, young son and a French naval officer Charles de la Flotte, drove by coach to the
Via del Corso
The Via del Corso is a main street in the historical centre of Rome. It is straight in an area otherwise characterized by narrow meandering alleys and small piazzas. Considered a wide street in ancient times, the Corso is approximately 10 metres w ...
. Provocatively the open carriage was decorated with republican insignia and a tricolour flag. A hostile Roman crowd pursued the coach when the occupants refused to discard the tricolour cockades in their hats. The alarmed coachman turned his vehicle into a courtyard fronting on the Palazzo Palombasra. Brassville was stoned and stabbed before being carried into a nearby police station. The Bassville family and la Flotte escaped without harm but he himself died of his injuries.
Rioting spread beyond the Via del Corse and attacks were made on the
French Academy in Rome
The French Academy in Rome (french: Académie de France à Rome) is an Academy located in the Villa Medici, within the Villa Borghese, on the Pincio (Pincian Hill) in Rome, Italy.
History
The Academy was founded at the Palazzo Capranica in 1 ...
, the French Post Office and the homes of believed republican sympathisers.
Aftermath
Although
Pius VI
Pope Pius VI ( it, Pio VI; born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to his death in August 1799.
Pius VI condemned the French Revoluti ...
had sent his personal physician to attend to the dying Brassville, the affair was magnified in the
Convention, being considered "a deliberate murder of the representative of the Republic" by
the pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
's orders.
In 1797 an article of the
treaty of Tolentino
{{unreferenced, date=June 2018
The Treaty of Tolentino was a peace treaty between Revolutionary France and the Papal States, signed on 19 February 1797 and imposing terms of surrender on the Papal side. The signatories for France were the French Di ...
compelled the Papal government to pay compensation to Bassville's family.
Writings
Among his writings is included ''Mémoires historiques, critiques et politiques sur la Révolution de France'' (Paris 1790; English trans. London, 1790).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bassville, Nicolas Jean Hugou de
People from Abbeville
1743 births
1793 deaths
18th-century French journalists
People of the French Revolution
Lynching deaths
18th-century French diplomats
French male non-fiction writers
18th-century French male writers
French people murdered abroad
French expatriates in Italy
French expatriates in Prussia