Charles-François Lebrun, 1st duc de Plaisance (, 19 March 1739 – 16 June 1824) was a French statesman who served as Third Consul of the French Republic and was later created Arch-Treasurer by

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

Biography

''Ancien Régime''

Born in Saint-Sauveur-Lendelin (

Manche Manche (, ; Norman language, Norman: ) is a coastal Departments of France, French ''département'' in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy on the English Channel, which is known as , literally "the sleeve", in French. Manche is bordered by ...

), after studies of

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the ''

Collège de Navarre The College of Navarre (, ) was one of the colleges of the historic University of Paris. It rivaled the University of Paris, Sorbonne and was renowned for its library. History The college was founded by Queen Joan I of Navarre in 1305, who provi ...

'', he started his career during the ''

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

'', making his first appearance as a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1762. He filled the posts of '' censeur du Roi'' (1766) and then Inspector General of the Domains of the Crown (1768). During the early 1760s, Lebrun became a disciple of

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principal so ...

and an admirer of the

British Constitution The constitution of the United Kingdom comprises the written and unwritten arrangements that establish the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a political body. Unlike in most countries, no official attempt has been made to c ...

, travelling through

Southern Netherlands The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the ...

, the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

, and finally to the

Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain, also known as the Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in Western Europe from 1707 to the end of 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the Kingd ...

(where he witnessed the debates in the London Parliament). He became one of

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

René Nicolas de Maupéou's chief advisers, taking part in his struggle against the ''

parlement Under the French Ancien Régime, a ''parlement'' () was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 ''parlements'', the original and most important of which was the ''Parlement'' of Paris. Though both th ...

s'' and sharing his downfall in 1774. Lebrun then devoted himself to literature, translating

Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' (Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...

's '' Jerusalem Delivered'' (1774) and the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'' (1776). He retreated from public life to his property in Grillon, attempting to live a life as envisaged by the '' philosophe''

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...

. During the cabinet of

Jacques Necker Jacques Necker (; 30 September 1732 – 9 April 1804) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan banker and statesman who served as List of Finance Ministers of France, finance minister for Louis XVI of France, Louis XVI. He was a reformer, but his innov ...

, he was consulted on several occasions, but never appointed to high office.

Constituent Assembly and provincial politics

At the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, he foresaw its importance in his volume ''La voix du Citoyen'', published the same year, and predicted the course which events would take. In the Estates-General and (after he took the ''

Tennis Court Oath The Tennis Court Oath (, ) was taken on 20 June 1789 by the members of the French Estates General (France), Third Estate in a real tennis court on the initiative of Jean Joseph Mounier. Their vow "not to separate and to reassemble wherever nece ...

'') in the National Constituent Assembly, where he sat as deputy for the Third Estate in the

bailiwick A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. In English, the original French combi ...

Dourdan Dourdan () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France. It is the capital of the historical region of Hurepoix. It is located in the metropolitan area of Paris. Geography Dourdan is located on the river Orge in the western Es ...

, he professed

Liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

and proposed various financial laws, without affiliating to any particular faction. A partisan of

constitutional monarchy Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...

even after

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

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- ...

flight to Varennes The Flight to Varennes (French: fuite de Varennes) during the night of 20–21 June 1791 was a significant event in the French Revolution in which the French royal family—comprising Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, the Dauphin Louis Charles, ...

(June 1791), he became the target for the suspicions of the

Jacobin Club The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (), renamed the Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality () after 1792 and commonly known as the Jacobin Club () or simply the Jacobins (; ), was the most influential List of polit ...

. After the voting of the 1791 Constitution, he was ineligible for the Legislative Assembly (like all former members of the Constituent Assembly), and became instead president of the directory of

Seine-et-Oise Seine-et-Oise () is a former department of France, which encompassed the western, northern and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris. Its prefecture was Versailles and its administrative number was 78. Seine-et-Oise was disbanded in ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

''. Lebrun retired from this position on 7 August 1792, and again retired to Dourdan. Three days later, the storming of the Tuileries Palace signalled the move towards the establishment of the

French Republic France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

by the creation of the

National Convention The National Convention () was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the ...

. Lebrun further aroused the indignation of republicans when he accepted to represent Dourdan in the

electoral college An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

of Seine-et-Oise which nominated deputies to the Convention.

Terror, Thermidor, and Directory

A suspect 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 ...

, he was twice arrested: the first time in September 1793, liberated after the intervention of Joseph Augustin Crassous ( representative on mission to Seine-et-Oise); the second time in June 1794 (paradoxically, on orders from the same Crassous) – threatened with the

guillotine A guillotine ( ) is an apparatus designed for effectively carrying out executions by Decapitation, beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secur ...

, he was saved by a relative of his who stole his record of prosecution, thus causing a delay long enough for Lebrun to be saved by the

Thermidorian Reaction In the historiography of the French Revolution, the Thermidorian Reaction ( or ''Convention thermidorienne'', "Thermidorian Convention") is the common term for the period between the ousting of Maximilien Robespierre on 9 Thermidor II, or 27 J ...

. In 1795, Lebrun was elected as a deputy to the

French Directory The Directory (also called Directorate; ) was the system of government established by the Constitution of the Year III, French Constitution of 1795. It takes its name from the committee of 5 men vested with executive power. The Directory gov ...

Council of Ancients The Council of Ancients or Council of Elders () was a house of the French bicameral legislature under the Constitution of the Year III, during the period commonly known as the Directory (French: ''Directoire''), from 22 August 1795 until 9 Nov ...

and, although a supporter of the

House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...

, he voted against prosecutions of Jacobins, and showed himself in favour of national reconciliation.

Consulate, Empire, and Restoration

Lebrun was made Third Consul following

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

18 Brumaire coup The Coup of 18 Brumaire () brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power as First Consul of the French First Republic. In the view of most historians, it ended the French Revolution and would soon lead to the coronation of Napoleon as Emperor of the Fre ...

in the Year VIII (9–10 November 1799; ''see

French Consulate The Consulate () was the top-level government of the First French Republic from the fall of the French Directory, Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 9 November 1799 until the start of the First French Empire, French Empire on 18 May 1804. ...

''). In this capacity, he took an active part in Napoleon's reorganization of the national finances and in the administration of France's ''départements''. He was made a member of the in 1803, and in 1804, he was appointed Arch-Treasurer of the French Empire. From 1805 to 1806, he was

governor-general Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

, during which time he completed its annexation by France. He opposed Napoleon's restoration of the '' noblesse'' and, in 1808, only reluctantly accepted the title of '' duc de Plaisance'' (Duke of

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

), a rare, nominal, but hereditary '' duché grand-fief'', extinguished in 1926. From 1811 to 1813, he served as governor-general of a part of the

annexed Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, reorganizing its ''départements'' – Zuyderzée and Bouches-de-la-Meuse. He was assisted by Antoine de Celles and Goswin de Stassart. Although to a certain extent opposed to the

autocracy Autocracy is a form of government in which absolute power is held by the head of state and Head of government, government, known as an autocrat. It includes some forms of monarchy and all forms of dictatorship, while it is contrasted with demo ...

of the Emperor, he was not in favor of his deposition, although he accepted the ''

fait accompli Many words in the English vocabulary are of French language, French origin, most coming from the Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman conquest of England, Norman ...

'' of the Bourbon Restoration in April 1814.

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. Before his reign, he spent 23 y ...

made him a

Peer of France The Peerage of France () was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 during the Middle Ages. The prestigious title and position of Peer of France () was held by the greatest, highest-ranking members of the Fr ...

, but during the subsequent

Hundred Days The Hundred Days ( ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition (), marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII o ...

, he accepted from Napoleon the post of '' grand maître de l'Université''. As a consequence, he was suspended from the House of Peers when the Bourbons returned again in 1815, but was recalled in 1819. He died five years later in Sainte-Mesme (then in Seine-et-Oise, now in

Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Auguste-Armand de la Force, ''L'Architrésorier Lebrun'' (Paris, 1907) **M. Marie du Mesnil, ''Memoire sur le prince Le Brun, due de Plaisance'' (Paris, 1828) **ed. Anne-Charles Lebrun (Lebrun's son), ''Opinions, rapports et choix d'écrits politiques de C. F. Lebrun'' (1829)

External links

Heraldica.org (Napoleonic heraldry)
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