Armand Marc, Comte De Montmorin
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Armand Marc, Count of Montmorin de Saint Herem (13 October 17452 September 1792) was a French statesman. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Navy under
Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...
.


Biography

He belonged to a junior branch of a noble family of Auvergne. He was gentleman-in-waiting to
Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...
when dauphin, and was subsequently appointed ambassador to
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
. From Madrid he was suddenly summoned to the governorship of
Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
, and in 1787 was appointed by the king to succeed Vergennes in the ministry of foreign affairs. Montmorin was a devoted admirer of Jacques Necker, whose influence at court he helped maintain. He retired when Necker was dismissed on 12 July 1789, but on Necker's recall after the
storming of the Bastille The Storming of the Bastille ( ), which occurred in Paris, France, on 14 July 1789, was an act of political violence by revolutionary insurgents who attempted to storm and seize control of the medieval armoury, fortress, and political prison k ...
again resumed his office, which he continued to hold till October 1791. Honoré Mirabeau had approached him as early as December 1788, with a plan for the policy to be pursued by the court towards the new states general; but Montmorin, offended by Mirabeau's attacks on Necker and by his ''Histoire secrete de la cour de Berlin'', refused to see him. With the progress of the French Revolution, however, this attitude changed. The comte de la Marck was trying to bring Mirabeau into touch with the court, and for this purpose it was important to secure the assistance of Montmorin. The two men were soon on the closest terms. While Montmorin continued as minister in name, Mirabeau became so in fact. Montmorin did not dare to come to a decision without consulting Mirabeau, but neither Mirabeau nor La Marck were under any illusions as to his character. Mirabeau complained bitterly that Montmorin was "slack" (''flasque'') and a "poltroon" (''gavache''). La Marck thought that Montmorin's feebleness was occasionally useful in restraining Mirabeau's impetuosity. The death of Mirabeau in April 1791 was a severe blow to Montmorin, the difficulty of whose position was enormously increased after the flight of the royal family to Varennes, to which he was not privy. He was forced to resign office, but still continued to advise Louis, and was one of the inner circle of the king's friends, called by the revolutionists "the Austrian Committee." In June 1792 his papers were seized at the foreign office, without anything incriminating being discovered; in July he was denounced, and after 10 August was proscribed. He took refuge in the house of a washerwoman, but was discovered, taken before the Legislative Assembly, and imprisoned in the Prison de l'Abbaye, where he perished in the September massacres. His relative, Louis Victor Henri, marquis de Montmorin de Saint Herem, head of the senior branch of the family, also perished in the massacre.


References


Sources

* Agénor Bardoux, ''Pauline de Montmorin, comtesse de Beaumont: Etudes sur la fin du XVIIIieme siècle'' (Paris, 1884), for a defence of Montmorin's policy; *A. de Bacourt, ', 1789–1791 (3 vols., Paris, 1851), contains many letters of Montmorin; "Correspondence of the Comte de Moustier with the Comte de Montmorin," in the ''Amer. Hist. Rev.'', vol. viii. (1902–1903). {{DEFAULTSORT:Montmorin, Armand Marc, Comte De 1745 births 1792 deaths Counts of Montmorin de Saint Herem Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain Ambassadors of France to Spain People who died in prison custody during the French Revolution 18th-century French diplomats