Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquess of Torcy (14 September 1665 – 2 September 1746), generally called Colbert de Torcy, was a French diplomat, who negotiated some of the most important treaties towards the end of

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

's reign, notably the treaty (1700) that occasioned the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

(1701–1714), in which the dying

Charles II of Spain Charles II of Spain (''Spanish: Carlos II,'' 6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700), known as the Bewitched (''Spanish: El Hechizado''), was the last Habsburg ruler of the Spanish Empire. Best remembered for his physical disabilities and the War ...

named Louis XIV's grandson, Philippe, duc d'Anjou, heir to the Spanish throne, eventually founding the line of

Spanish Bourbons 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 ...

Biography

Born in Paris, the son of Charles Colbert, Louis's minister of foreign affairs and the nephew of

Jean-Baptiste Colbert Jean-Baptiste Colbert (; 29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His lasting impact on the organization of the country ...

, Louis' chief advisor, for whom the Torcy title was created, Colbert de Torcy was a brilliant and precocious legal student. As a very young man, he assisted his father in sensitive diplomatic missions. Colbert de Torcy proved himself so able that in 1689, Louis XIV granted him the right to succeed to his father's position as minister of foreign affairs, a position he fulfilled from 28 July 1696 to 23 September 1715. He was the guiding spirit of French diplomacy at the series of international conferences that resulted in the

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne ...

(1713) and the

Treaty of Rastatt The Treaty of Rastatt was a peace treaty between France and Austria that was concluded on 7 March 1714 in the Baden city of Rastatt to end the War of the Spanish Succession between both countries. The treaty followed the Treaty of Utrecht of 11 A ...

(1714) and was concerned with professionalizing the conduct of diplomacy. He instituted an ''académie politique'' to train young professionals in the equivalent of a foreign service bureaucracy: it did not survive his retirement, but his establishment at Versailles of a centralized diplomatic archive (1710) has been a service to historians. Louis XIV was his foreign relation. The aged king, recognizing that Colbert de Torcy had been a ''de facto'' secretary of state, named him such in his will, but when Louis died in 1715, his will was broken; the Regent, Philippe, Duke of Orléans deprived Colbert de Torcy of any political power, and he settled into a long retirement, during which he was a member of the unofficial political

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ( ...

called the ''Entresol'', which formed in the early years of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

's maturity when the abbé Alary, a protégé of Fleury, convened an occasional political discussion group in the entresol of his apartment in

Place Vendôme The Place Vendôme (), earlier known as Place Louis-le-Grand, and also as Place Internationale, is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine. It i ...

. There in sociable surroundings, sharing the gossip and news Colbert de Torcy debated contemporary events in a sympathetic circle and like others, doubtless read aloud and elicited comment upon the political writings. The architect Germain Boffrand had built a series of ''hôtels particuliers'' in the new district, the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, and Colbert de Torcy purchased one as a semi-finished shell, 14 November 1715, which he finished as a suitable Paris residence, the hôtel de Torcy (later the hôtel de Beauharnais, now the German Embassy 78, rue de Lille). There his magnificent installation among his tapestries, furnishings paintings, Chinese porcelains mounted in gilt-bronze, sculptures and other works of art above all in his ''cabinet doré'', giving onto the salon that was lit from both sides, provided him solace and comfort in a long and productive retirement, in which he completed his '' Mémoirs pour servir à l'histoire des négotiations depuis le Traité de Riswick jusqu'à la Paix d'Utrecht'', published in 1756. Colbert de Torcy died at Paris in 1746. His official portrait was painted by

Hyacinthe Rigaud Jacint Rigau-Ros i Serra (; 18 July 1659 – 29 December 1743), known in French as Hyacinthe Rigaud (), was a Catalan-French baroque painter most famous for his portraits of Louis XIV and other members of the French nobility. Biography Rigaud ...

. Colbert de Torcy is commemorated in the rue de Torcy, Paris XVIIIèm

References

* * Childs, Nick (2000) ''A Political Academy in Paris 1724-1731: The Entresol and Its Members'' in series Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century. (Oxford: Voltaire Foundation)
Review by Thomas E. Kaiser

Biography

References

Further reading