Pierre Séguier
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Pierre Séguier (; 28 May 1588 – 28 January 1672) was a French statesman, chancellor of France from 1635.


Biography


Early years

Séguier was born in
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 ...
to a prominent legal family originating in
Quercy Quercy (; oc, Carcin , locally ) is a former province of France located in the country's southwest, bounded on the north by Limousin, on the west by Périgord and Agenais, on the south by Gascony and Languedoc, and on the east by Rouergue and Au ...
. His grandfather, Pierre Séguier (1504–1580), was ''
président à mortier The ''président à mortier'' () was one of the most important legal posts of the French ''Ancien Régime''. The ''présidents'' were principal magistrates of the highest juridical institutions, the ''parlements'', which were the appeal courts. ...
'' in the parliament of Paris from 1554 to 1576, and the chancellor's father, Jean Séguier, a ''seigneur d'Autry'', was civil lieutenant of Paris at the time of his death in 1596. Pierre was brought up by his uncle, Antoine Séguier, president and mortier in the parlement, and became master of requests in 1620. From 1621 to 1624 he was intendant of Guyenne, where he became closely allied with the duc d'Épernon. In 1624 he succeeded to his uncle's charge in the parlement, which he filled for nine years.


Career

In this capacity he showed great independence with regard to the royal authority; but when in 1633 he became
keeper of the seals 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 offi ...
under Richelieu, he proceeded to bully and humiliate the ''
parlement A ''parlement'' (), under the French Ancien Régime, was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 parlements, the oldest and most important of which was the Parlement of Paris. While both the modern Fre ...
'' in his turn. He became allied with the cardinal's family by the marriage of his daughter Marie with Richelieu's nephew, Pierre César du Cambout, marquis de Coislin, and in December 1635 he became chancellor of France. In 1637 Séguier was sent to examine the papers of the queen,
Anne of Austria 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 ...
, at
Val-de-Grâce The (' or ') was a military hospital located at in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was closed as a hospital in 2016. History The church of the was built by order of Queen Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII. After the birth of h ...
. According to
Anquetil Anquetil is a Norman surname, former first name, from Old Norse ''Ásketill'', combination of ''as'' "god" (see ōs) and ''ketill'' "cauldron" (see kettle). Anquetil may refer to: *Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron (1731–1805), French orienta ...
, the chancellor saved her by warning her of the projected inquisition. In 1639 Seguier was sent to punish the
Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...
for the insurrection of the Nu-Pieds, the military chief of the expedition, Gassion, being placed under his orders. He put down pillage with a strong hand, and was sufficiently disinterested to refuse a gift of confiscated Norman lands. He was the submissive tool of Richelieu in the prosecutions of Cinq-Mars and
François Auguste de Thou François-Auguste de Thou (c. 1607 - 12 September 1642) was a French magistrate. He was born in Paris, the eldest son of Jacques-Auguste de Thou. In 1617, with the death of his father, he inherited the office of Master of the Bookstore. Nicolas R ...
in 1642. His authority survived the changes following on the successive deaths of Richelieu and
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 he was the faithful servant of Anne of Austria and of Mazarin. His resolute attitude towards the parlement of Paris made the chancellor one of the chief objects of the hatred of the Frondeurs. On 25 August 1648, Séguier was sent to the parlement to regulate its proceedings. On the way he was assailed by rioters on the
Pont-Neuf The Pont Neuf (, "New Bridge") is the oldest standing List of crossings of the River Seine, bridge across the river Seine in Paris, France. It stands by the western (downstream) point of the Île de la Cité, the island in the middle of the ri ...
, and sought refuge in the house of Louis Charles d'Albert, duc de Luynes. In the course of the concessions made to 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 ...
in 1650, Séguier was dismissed from his office of keeper of the seals. He spent part of his retirement at Rosny, with his second daughter Charlotte and her husband, the duke of Sully. He was recalled in April 1651, but six months later, on the king's attaining his majority, Séguier was again disgraced, and the seals were given to President
Mathieu Molé Mathieu Molé (1584 – 3 January 1656) was a French statesman. Biography The son of Edouard Molé (d. 1614), who was for a time ''procureur-général'', he was educated at the University of Orléans. Admitted conseiller in 1606, he was ''pré ...
, who held them with a short interval till his death in 1656, when they were returned to Séguier. Séguier lived for some time in extreme retirement in Paris, devoting himself to the affairs of the academy. When Paris was occupied by the princes in 1652, he was for a short time a member of their council, but he joined the king at
Pontoise Pontoise () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the " new town" of Cergy-Pontoise. Administration Pontoise is the official ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-d'Oise ''dépa ...
in August, and became president of the royal council. After Mazarin's death in 1661 Séguier retained but a shadow of his former authority. He showed a great violence in his conduct of the case against
Fouquet Fouquet (Foucquet) is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernard Foucquet, sculptor active in Sweden * Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet, duc de Belle-Isle (1684–1761), French general and statesman * Christophe Fouquet ...
, voting for the death of the prisoner. In 1666 Séguier was placed at the head of a commission called to simplify the police organization, especially that of Paris; and the consequent ordinances of 1667 and 1670 for the better administration of justice were drawn up by him. Séguier died at
Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Germanois'' or ''Saint-Ge ...
in 1672.


Culture

Séguier was a man of great learning, and throughout his life a patron of literature. In December 1642 he succeeded Richelieu as official "protector" of the
Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
, which from that time until his death held its sessions in his house. His library was one of the most valuable of his time, only second, perhaps, to the royal collection. It contained no less than 4000 manuscripts in various languages, the most important section of them being the Greek manuscripts. A catalogue was drawn up in Latin and in French (1685–1686) by the duc de Coislin. The chancellor's great-grandson,
Henri Charles du Cambout de Coislin Henri-Charles du Camboust (15 September 1665, Paris – 28 November 1732) was a French prelate. He was bishop of Metz from 1697 to 1732, and duc de Coislin from 1710. Biography Great-grandson of chancellor Séguier, brother of Pierre de Camboust ...
,
bishop of Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand Es ...
, commissioned
Bernard de Montfaucon Dom Bernard de Montfaucon, O.S.B. (; 13 January 1655 – 21 December 1741) was a French Benedictine monk of the Congregation of Saint Maur. He was an astute scholar who founded the discipline of palaeography, as well as being an editor of works ...
, a
Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...
of the Congregation of St Maur, to prepare a catalogue of the Greek manuscripts. with commentaries. This work was published in folio 1715, as ''Bibliotheca Coisliniana, olim Segueriana...''. The greater part of the printed books were destroyed by fire, in the abbey of St Germain-des-Prés, in 1794. Séguier is a minor character in ''
The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...
''.


References

* F Duchesne, ''Hist. des chanceliers de France'' (fol. 1680); for the affair of Val-de-Grâce, ''Catalogue de documents historiques ... relatifs au règne de Louis XIII'' (Paris, 1847); also R Kerviler, ''Le Chancelier P. Séguier'' (Paris, 1874). Great part of his correspondence is preserved in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. {{DEFAULTSORT:Seguier, Pierre 1588 births 1672 deaths Politicians from Paris Ancien Régime office-holders Members of the Académie Française Cambout family Chancellors of France