Portrait de René de Voyer-de-Paulmy d'Argenson

René de Voyer, seigneur d’Argenson (1596–1651) was a French diplomat.

Biography

René de Voyer was the grandson of René de Voyer, seigneur de Paulmy et de la Roche de Gennes, and of Jeanne Gueffault, dame d'Argenson. His father, Pierre, was the head of the comtes d'Argenson branch of the family. He was born on 21 November 1596. René de Voyer was a lawyer by profession, and became successively ''avocat'', councillor at the

parlement de Paris The Parliament of Paris (french: Parlement de Paris) was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. It was fixed in Paris by Philip IV of France in 1302. The Parliament of Paris would hold sessions inside the ...

, ''maître des requêtes'', and councillor of state. Cardinal Richelieu entrusted him with several missions as inspector and intendant of the forces. In 1623 he was appointed intendant of justice, police and finance in

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label= Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Au ...

, and in 1632 held similar office in

Limousin Limousin (; oc, Lemosin ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. On 1 January 2016, it became part of the new administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienn ...

, where he remained until 1637. After the death of Louis XIII in 1643, René de Voyer retained his administrative posts, was intendant of the forces at

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

(1646), commissary of the king at the estates of

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

(1647), and intendant of

Guienne Guyenne or Guienne (, ; oc, Guiana ) was an old French province which corresponded roughly to the Roman province of '' Aquitania Secunda'' and the archdiocese of Bordeaux. The name "Guyenne" comes from ''Aguyenne'', a popular transformation o ...

(1648), and showed great capacity in defending the authority of the crown against the rebels of 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 ...

. After his wife’s death he took orders (February 1651), but did not cease to take part in affairs of state. In 1651 he was appointed by Mazarin ambassador at

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, where he died on 14 July 1651. He was buried in the church of San Giobbe in the city, with a tomb by Thomas Blanchet.

Family

René de Voyer had seven children. His eldest son Marc-René de Voyer de Paulmy d'Argenson (1623-1700) followed him as French ambassador to Venice. Among his other children was

Pierre de Voyer d'Argenson, vicomte de Mouzay Pierre de Voyer d'Argenson, Vicomte de Mouzay (1625 – probably in 1709) was the French governor of New France from 1658 to 1661. Biography He was a son of the diplomat René de Voyer de Paulmy d'Argenson. He came of a noble family of Tourai ...

, governor general of

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...

Works

*''De la Sagesse chrétienne'' (''On Christian Wisdom'', 1640), translated into many languages.

Notes

References

* Endnotes: **Fr. Rabbe (November 1899), "Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement", in the ''Revue historique'' **Beaucher-Filleau (1900), ''Les Annales de la compagnie du Saint-Sacrement'', Paris **R. Allier (1902), ''La Cabale des dévots'', Paris {{DEFAULTSORT:Voyer De Paulmy D'Argenson, Rene De 1596 births 1651 deaths 17th-century French diplomats 17th-century French politicians Ambassadors of France to the Republic of Venice