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Count Bernard de Vésins (13 March 1869 – 6 July 1951) was a French soldier, essayist, practicing Catholic and right-wing
Action Française ''Action Française'' (, AF; ) is a French far-right monarchist and nationalist political movement. The name was also given to a journal associated with the movement, '' L'Action Française'', sold by its own youth organization, the Camelot ...
militant. He was hostile to Freemasons, Jews and socialists, whom he considered to be working together in conspiracy to undermine the traditional Catholic values of France. In the 1920s he was President of the Ligue d'Action Française during a period when the Catholic Church was disassociating itself from the movement.


Life


Family

Marie Joseph Pierre Bernard de Lévezou de Vésins was born in
Bourges Bourges ( ; ; ''Borges'' in Berrichon) is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre (Cher), Yèvre. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Cher (department), Cher, and also was the capital city of the former provin ...
, Cher, on 13 March 1869. His father was Count Victor de Lévezou de Vesins, and his mother was the daughter of Adrien de Forcade, sieur de La Grézère. On 15 April 1893 in Versailles he married Marie Augustine Camille de Gastebois (born 9 February 1874). They had two children, Marie Thérèse (1895–1988) and Gabrielle (1897–1928).


Pre-World War I

The political organization of
Henri Vaugeois Henri Vaugeois (25 April 1864 – 11 April 1916) was a French teacher and journalist who was one of the founders of right-wing nationalist Action Française movement. Biography Vaugeois was born in L'Aigle, Orne, on 25 April 1864. He settled in ...
's Action Française movement, the Ligue d'Action Française, was launched in the spring of 1905, as was the Action Française Federation of Students, directed by
Lucien Moreau Lucien Moreau (January 16, 1875 – April 6, 1932) was a French journalist, monarchist and member of the Action Française. Family Lucien Moreau was born in 1875, son of Émile Moreau (1841–1919). He was the grand-nephew of Augustin Boyer, bro ...
. Members pledged to fight the republican regime and to support restoration of the monarchy under Prince Philippe, Duke of Orléans (1869–1926). Bernard de Vésins was among the many early members of the Action Française who were practicing Catholics, and included the art historian Louis Dimier and the essayist
Léon de Montesquiou Léon de Montesquiou (; 14 July 1873 – 25 September 1915) was an artistocratic French essayist, militant royalist and nationalist. He played a leading role in the right-wing Action Française movement before World War I (1914–18). He enrolled ...
. They helped
Charles Maurras Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras (; ; 20 April 1868 – 16 November 1952) was a French author, politician, poet and critic. He was an organiser and principal philosopher of ''Action Française'', a political movement that was monarchist, corporatis ...
(1868–1952) develop the royalist league's pro-Catholic policies. The league led resistance to the '' inventaires'' in the winter of 1905–06. In Versailles, Bernard de Vésins was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison.


World War I (1914–18)

During
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
(1914–18) Vésins served in the 8th Field Artillery Regiment (8e RAC) and the 228th Artillery Regiment (228e RA). He was a colonel in the army. Vésins was made an Officer of the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
on 29 April 1919, and was awarded the Croix de guerre 1914–1918 with palm and star.


Post World War I

In the French legislative elections of 16 November 1919 Bernard de Vésins, president of the League, was defeated in the first district of Paris. Major Catholic conferences were organized under the auspices of
Cardinal Mercier Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...
, starting in the winter of 1921–22. Charles Maurras and Bernard de Vesins attended in 1922. In late 1922
Georges Valois Georges Valois (; born Alfred-Georges Gressent; 7 October 1878 – February 1945) was a French journalist and national syndicalist politician. He was a member of the French Resistance and died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Lif ...
started working towards creating an Estates General of French Production, a movement that would bring together industrialists and leaders of labour unions to work on solutions to social and economic issues. The textile manufacturer Eugène Mathon headed the national committee, which included Valois,
Jacques Arthuys Jacques Arthuys (15 February 1894 – 9 September 1943) was a French industrialist, a right-wing intellectual and an early leader of the French Fascist movement. He was initially a Paneuropean Union, pan-European but became opposed to the Nazi mo ...
, Bernard de Vésins and several others. On 5 September 1926
Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...
wrote to Cardinal Andrieu confirming that the faithful were not free to blindly follow the leaders of the Action Française in matters that regard faith or morals. He wrote that their publications included "manifestations of a new religious, moral and social system, for example concerning God, the Incarnation, the Church and, generally, Catholic dogmas and morals, mainly in their necessary relations with politics, which is logically subordinate to morality. In essence, there is evidence in these manifestations of a revival of paganism to which naturalism is attached ... " The Ligue d'Action Française at first reacted mildly, and sent a respectful address to Cardinal Andrieu on 8 September signed by its leaders. On 16 September Bernard de Vésins, president of the League, sent a letter to the Pope that spoke of submission. However, the League did not recognise any wrong other than in detail. French Church leaders tried to downplay any dispute between Rome and the League. On 22 November 1926 Bernard de Vésins announced to the League's annual congress that the Institut d'Action Française was being reopened, and had asked the Archbishop of Paris for theologians who would guard league members against the dangers the Pope had pointed out. However, a few days afterwards Admiral Schwerer, honorary president of the League, said that as a Catholic he was subject to the Church in religious matters, but as a Frenchman he was subject to the leaders of the League in political matters. He spoke out against people who were propagating abominable calumnies about the league to the Holy Father (the
Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
). On 30 November Cardinal Dubois, Archbishop of Paris, refused the request by Vésins, referring to recent lack of discipline and respect to religious authorities by the League. At the start of December a circular from the
nunciature An apostolic nunciature is a top-level diplomatic mission of the Holy See that is equivalent to an embassy. However, it neither issues visas nor has consulates. The head of the apostolic nunciature is called a ''nuncio'', an ecclesiastical dip ...
said bishops should not grant chaplains to Action Française groups because of the risk of confusion between religion and politics. Vesins resisted condemnation of the entire executive of the League by the Church. He visited Father
Yves de La Brière Yves de La Brière (30 January 1877 – 25 February 1941) was an influential French Jesuit theologian and author. He was a monarchist and supported the League of Nations. He was opposed to war, but wrote on the Christian tradition of just war. He ...
on 8 January 1927, then informed the royalist pretender
Prince Jean, Duke of Guise Jean d'Orléans (Jean Pierre Clément Marie; 4 September 1874 – 25 August 1940) was Orléanist pretender to the defunct French throne as Jean III. He used the courtesy title of Duke of Guise. He was the third son and youngest child of Pr ...
, that La Brière was under orders from the Vatican to form a rival organization in the hope of rallying Catholics from the Action Française, and was hoping for the duke's approval. Bernard de Vésins resigned from the Action Française in 1930 after an internal conflict leading to the expulsion of Paul Guérin and Henri Martin and the departure of several of his friends, including François de la Motte. He was replaced as president of the League by Admiral Schwerer. He supported the Vichy Government during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
(1939–45), but was not prosecuted for this after the war. Bernard de Vésins died on 6 July 1951 at the age of 82.


Views

Jean de Fabrègues Jean d'Azémar de Fabrègues (; 8 January 1906 – 23 November 1983) was a French Catholic intellectual and journalist. He was a "traditional" Catholic, rejecting the materialism of both liberal democracy and the totalitarian regimes of the right ...
described Bernard de Vésins as a "descendant of an old
Rouergue Rouergue (; ) is a former province of France, corresponding roughly with the modern department of Aveyron. Its historical capital is Rodez. It is bounded on the north by Auvergne, on the south and southwest by Languedoc, on the east by Géva ...
family ..., prototype of a provincial gentleman full of honor and bravery, knowing only the duty to serve France, a passionate reader of Bonald, Blanc de Saint-Bonnet and La Tour du Pin, a fervent Catholic ..who came to the Action Française with enthusiasm because he found in its doctrine the harmonious synthesis of his fidelity to the King, his taste for social justice and his beliefs." Bernard de Vésins became a theoretician of
corporatism Corporatism is an ideology and political system of interest representation and policymaking whereby Corporate group (sociology), corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, come toget ...
within the context of
Social Catholicism Catholic social teaching (CST) is an area of Catholic doctrine which is concerned with human dignity and the common good in society. It addresses oppression, the role of the state, subsidiarity, social organization, social justice, and wealth ...
and the work of René de La Tour du Pin. In his article ''La Noblesse et les Privileges'' (Revue de l'Action Française, 15 September 1909) Bernard de Vésins defended the aristocracy, whose privileges were no more than a reasonable compensation for the benefits they provided in protecting the people and serving the state. Bernard de Vésins was quoted in February 1927 as saying ""Integral nationalism means that the monarchical solution satisfies all the needs of the country in the same way as an
integral In mathematics, an integral is the continuous analog of a Summation, sum, which is used to calculate area, areas, volume, volumes, and their generalizations. Integration, the process of computing an integral, is one of the two fundamental oper ...
in mathematics represents the sum of all the values of an algebraic function." In ''L'action Française'' of 19 July 1910 Bernard de Vesins described France and Italy as "Catholic by a great majority ... impregnated with the Catholic and Roman culture ... indebted to the Church ... for what they are." In the same article he stated that the Freemasons had a conspiratorial alliance with Jews and socialist revolutionaries. In 1921 Viscount d'Avenel published two articles in the '' Revue des deux Mondes'' in which he argued that the separation of Church and State had breathed new life into Catholicism in France. Bernard de Vesins attacked this "pretentious and empty historian" 'Aveneland his fanciful figures and deductions in ''L'Action Catholique'' of Quebec. He quoted the Bishop of La Rochelle in saying that during the war 83 priests had died and none had been ordained, the remaining priests were aging and the seminaries had few pupils. The bishop called the situation a "terrible crisis". Vesins concluded that there had been some renewal of religious practice, which rejoices the hearts of all faithful, who have seen good come out of evil, but that evil remains evil and must be abolished.


Publications

* "Présentation", dans
Joseph de Maistre Joseph Marie, comte de Maistre (1 April 1753 – 26 February 1821) was a Savoyard philosopher, writer, lawyer, diplomat, and magistrate. One of the forefathers of conservatism, Maistre advocated social hierarchy and monarchy in the period immedi ...
, '' Considérations sur la France. Essai sur le principe générateur des Constitutions politiques'', Paris, Nouvelle Librairie nationale, coll. « Nos maîtres », 1907. * ''La Maison de France'', Conférence prononcée le 15 février 1908 à Paris, Paris, Édition du Comité Tradition-Progrès, 1908. * ''La Persécution religieuse. Politique d'abord !'', Paris, Éditions de la ''Revue catholique et royaliste'', 908 * (et al.), ''Comité royaliste de Montbrison'', Réunion du 3 mars 1912 à Montbrison, Discours de M. le Cte de Villechaize, Mme la Mise de Mac-Mahon, M. le Cte Bernard de Vésins, M. Flachaire de Roustan. Suivi de ″Philippe VIII″, par
Jules Lemaître François Élie Jules Lemaître (27 April 1853 – 4 August 1914) was a French critic and dramatist. Biography Lemaître was born in Vennecy, Loiret. He became a professor at the University of Grenoble in 1883, but was already well known for h ...
, avec un portrait du duc d'Orléans, Montbrison, Imprimerie de J. Méchin (Comité royaliste de Montbrison. Réunion du 3 mars 1912 à Montbrison), 912 * * *


Notes


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vesins, Bernard de 1869 births 1951 deaths French collaborators with Nazi Germany French military personnel of World War I People affiliated with Action Française People from Bourges