Léon Bouthillier, comte de Chavigny (March 28, 1608 – October 11, 1652) was a Foreign Minister of France to

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 ...

Life

He was associated with his father, Claude Bouthillier, who took him to all major courts of Europe, tutoring in diplomacy, from 1629 to 1632. To differentiate Bouthillier father and son, Leo was called "The Younger". Léon's brother Victor became

archbishop of Tours The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tours (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Turonensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Tours'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The archdiocese has roots that go back to the 3rd centu ...

. On March 18, 1632, he was appointed Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. In 1635, he signed a treaty of alliance with Holland and Sweden. He acts as messenger between Gaston d'Orleans and the government. He is also a friend of Mazarin, but their friendship does not survive the period of the regency. After the death of

, he relinquished his office June 23, 1643 but he was sent as plenipotentiary in the negotiations of Munster. Returning to France, he intrigued against Mazarin and approaches the Prince of Conde. He was arrested twice during 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 October 1652, just before his death he made a large donation to Anthony Singlin, Jansen, Director of Port Royal, who is even suspected of extortion on this occasion. His son, Armand Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé, was the founder of the

Trappist order The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...

. Another son, François-Denis, was bishop of Troyes and

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sens The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sens and Auxerre (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Senonensis et Antissiodorensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Sens et Auxerre'') is a Latin Rite Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The Archdiocese comp ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chavigny, Leon Bouthillier, Comte De 1608 births 1652 deaths French Foreign Ministers