Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, Duke of Aiguillon (''Armand Désiré''; 31 October 1761 – 4 May 1800) was a French military officer and politician.

Life and career

He was the only son of Emmanuel-Armand de Vignerot du Plessis-Richelieu and his wife Louise-Félicité de Bréhan. In 1788, he succeeded his father as Duke of Aiguillon. In 1789, as a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

, he became one of the first nobles to ally himself with the Third Estate and to renounce the privileges of the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

. He became a general in the Republican Army but had to flee during the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...

of 1793–1794. According to Michael Kelly in his ''Reminiscences'', in 1796 the Duke of Aiguillon was in London with the revolutionaries Charles Lameth and the orator Dupont. He states that the duke had been "one of the twelve peers of France, who, in former days, had an immense fortune, was a great patron of the arts, and so theatrical that he had a box in every theatre in Paris. He was particularly fond of music, and had been a pupil of Viotti (then leader of the Opera House orchestra, at which Kelly was stage manager)." Kelly introduced them to Richard Brinsley Sheridan and other friends, though the Duke of Queensberry refused to meet the Duke of Aiguillon. On learning that the Duke of Aiguillon's fortune was entirely lost or sequestered, Kelly arranged for him to make a little money by copying sheet-music, which he did secretly during the day, continuing to attend the theatre in the evening. Eventually, an order came from the Alien Office of the British Government that he and his friends must leave England in two days. The duke went to

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where he died. The duke left his favourite Danish dog in Kelly's care, shedding many tears on parting from it: the animal outlived its master, but pined and died soon afterwards.M. Kelly, ed. H. van Thal, ''Solo Recital - The Reminiscences of Michael Kelly'' (Folio Society, London 1972), 208-210.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aiguillon, Armand II, duc d' 1761 births 1800 deaths Military personnel from Paris Dukes of Aiguillon Members of the National Constituent Assembly (France) French generals Politicians from Paris