François-Antoine de Boissy d'Anglas, Count of the Empire (1756–1826) was a French writer, lawyer and politician during the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

and the

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

Biography

Early career

Born to a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

family in Saint-Jean-Chambre, Ardèche, he studied Law and, after literary attempts, became a lawyer to 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 ...

'' of Paris. In 1789 he was elected by the Third Estate of the '' sénéchaussee'' of

Annonay Annonay (; ) is a Communes of France, commune and largest city in the north of the Ardèche department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It is the most populous commune in the Ardèche department although it is not the ...

as deputy to the Estates-General. He was one of those who induced the Estates-General to proclaim itself a

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 ...

on 17 June 1789, and approved, in several speeches, of 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 ...

and of the taking of the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

to Paris (October 1789). Boissy d'Anglas demanded that strict measures be taken against the Royalists who were conspiring in

Southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

, and published some

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a Hardcover, hard cover or Bookbinding, binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' ...

s on financial issues. During the Legislative Assembly, he was '' procureur-syndic'' for the directory of the ''

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 ...

'' of

Ardèche Ardèche (; , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche (river), Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.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 ...

, he sat in the centre, ''le Marais'', voting in the trial of

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- ...

for his detention until

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...

should be judged expedient for the state. He was then representative on mission to

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, charged with investigating frauds in connection with the supplies of the Army of the Alps. Although he had been close to several Girondists, Boissy d'Anglas escaped arrest after François Hanriot's

insurrection Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

of 2 June 1793, and he was one of several centrist deputies who supported

Maximilien Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; ; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre ferv ...

during the early stages of 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 ...

. However, he was gained over by the members of

The Mountain The Mountain () was a political group during the French Revolution. Its members, called the Montagnards (), sat on the highest benches in the National Convention. The term, first used during a session of the Legislative Assembly, came into ge ...

hostile to Robespierre, and his support, along with that of some other leaders of the ''Marais'', made possible 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 ...

. Boissy d'Anglas was then elected a member of the

Committee of Public Safety The Committee of Public Safety () was a committee of the National Convention which formed the provisional government and war cabinet during the Reign of Terror, a violent phase of the French Revolution. Supplementing the Committee of General D ...

, and charged with the superintendence of the provisioning of Paris. He presented the report supporting the decree of 3 Ventôse of the year III (February 1795), which established

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

. In the critical days of Germinal and of Prairial of the year III, he was noted for his courage. On 12 Germinal, the day of insurrection of 12 Germinal year III, he was in the tribune, reading a report on the food supplies, when the hall of the Convention was invaded; when they withdrew he quietly continued where he had been interrupted. During Insurrection of 1 Prairial, he was presiding over the Convention, and remained in his post despite insults and menaces of the insurgents. When the head of the deputy, Jean-Bertrand Féraud, was presented to him on the end of a pike, he saluted it impassively.

Under the Directory

He was protractor of the committee which drew up the

Constitution of the Year III The Constitution of the Year III () was the constitution of the French First Republic that established the Directory. Adopted by the convention on 5 Fructidor Year III (22 August 1795) and approved by plebiscite on 6 September. Its preamble is ...

which established 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 ...

; his report shows apprehension of a return of the Reign of Terror, and presents

reactionary In politics, a reactionary is a person who favors a return to a previous state of society which they believe possessed positive characteristics absent from contemporary.''The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought'' Third Edition, (1999) p. 729. ...

measures as precautions against the re-establishment of "''

tyranny A tyrant (), in the modern English language, English usage of the word, is an autocracy, absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurper, usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defen ...

and

anarchy Anarchy is a form of society without rulers. As a type of stateless society, it is commonly contrasted with states, which are centralized polities that claim a monopoly on violence over a permanent territory. Beyond a lack of government, it can ...

''". This report, the proposal that he made (27 August 1795) to lessen the severity of the revolutionary laws, and the eulogies he received from several Paris sections suspected of Royalism, resulted in his being obliged to justify himself (15 October 1795). As a member of the

Council of Five Hundred The Council of Five Hundred () was the lower house of the legislature of the French First Republic under the Constitution of the Year III. It operated from 31 October 1795 to 9 November 1799 during the French Directory, Directory () period of t ...

, Boissy d'Anglas became more and more suspected of Royalism himself. He presented a measure in favour of full liberty for the press, which at that time was almost unanimously reactionary, protested against the outlawry of returned ''

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Hugueno ...

s'', spoke in favour of the deported priests and attacked the Directory. Accordingly, he was

proscribed Proscription () is, in current usage, a 'decree of condemnation to death or banishment' (''Oxford English Dictionary'') and can be used in a political context to refer to state-approved murder or banishment. The term originated in Ancient Rome ...

immediately after the

coup of 18 Fructidor The Coup of 18 Fructidor, Year V (4 September 1797 in the French Republican Calendar), was a seizure of power in France by members of the French Directory, Directory, then forming the government of the First French Republic, with support from th ...

, and lived in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

until the establishment of the

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. ...

Later life

In 1801 he was made a member of the Tribunate, and in 1805 a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

of the Empire. In 1814 he voted for

Napoleon 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 ...

abdication Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the Order of succession, succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of ...

, which won for him a seat in the Chamber of Peers after the First Bourbon Restoration. However, during the

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 returned to serving Napoleon. After the defeat at Waterloo and the subsequent abdication of Napoleon, 1815 Boissy d'Anglas was one of the five commissioners sent by the

Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...

to try to negotiate peace terms with the

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

and Prince Blücher. For his disloyalty to

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 ...

, on the Second Restoration, he was for a short while excluded. In the Chamber he still sought to obtain liberty for the press —a theme upon which he published a volume of his speeches (Paris, 1817). He was a member of the

Institut de France The ; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the . It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute manages approximately ...

from its foundation, and in 1816, after its reorganization, became a member of the

Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the . The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigraphy) and historical literature (see Belles-lettres). History ...

. He published in 1819–1821 a two-volume ''Essai sur la vie et les opinions de M. de Malesherbes''.

Family and children

He married Marie-Françoise Michel (

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

, 6 January 1759

Bougival Bougival () is a suburban commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is located west from the centre of Paris, on the left bank of the River Seine, on the departmental border with Hauts-de-Seine. In ...

, 21 March 1850) on 11 March 1776 in

Vauvert Vauvert (; ) is a commune in the far south of the Gard department in southern France. It was known as ''Posquières'' in the Middle Ages. The commune comprises the town of Vauvert and the villages of Gallician and Montcalm.

. They had four children: * Marie-Anne (17 February 1777October 1855) * Suzanne (14 October 17796 March 1851) * François-Antoine, Jr. (23 February 178112 November 1850),

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, and also the r ...

* Jean-Gabriel (2 April 17836 May 1864),

Orléanist Orléanist () was a 19th-century French political label originally used by those who supported a constitutional monarchy expressed by the House of Orléans. Due to the radical political changes that occurred during France in the long nineteenth ...

politician

Bibliography

*''Deux mots sur une question jugée ou lettre de M. Boissy d'Anglas à Monsieur le rédacteur de la Feuille du jour en réponse à Monsieur de La Gallissonnière'' (1791) *''Observations sur l'ouvrage de M. de Calonne, intitulé De l'état de la France, présent et à venir, et à son occasion, sur les principaux actes de l'Assemblée nationale'' (1791) *''Quelques idées sur la liberté, la révolution, le gouvernement républicain, et la constitution françoise'' (1792) *''Essai sur les fêtes nationales, suivi de quelques idées sur les arts et sur la nécessité de les encourager'' (1793)
''Projet de constitution pour la République française, et discours préliminaire''
(1795). Vertaald als
''Vertoog bij de aanbieding van het ontwerp van constitutie, voor de Fransche Republiek''
1796 *''Rapport sur les colonies'' (1795)
''Rapport sur la liberté des cultes, fait au nom des comités de salut public, de sureté générale et de législation, réunis ...''
(1795) *''Recueil de discours sur la liberté de la presse'' (1817) *''Essai sur la vie, les écrits et les opinions de M. de Malesherbes'', 3 dln. (1819-1821)
''Les études littéraires et poétiques d'un vieillard, ou Recueil de divers écrits en vers et en prose''. Tome premierTome secondTome troisièmeTome quatrièmeTome cinqièmeTome sixième
(1825)

Notes

References

* Attribution: * In turn, it cites as references: **"Notice sur la vie et les oeuvres de M. Boissy d'Anglas" in the ''Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions'', ix. ** François Victor Alphonse Aulard, ''Les Orateurs de la Revolution'' (2nd ed., 1906) ** Ludovic Sciout, ''Le Directoire'' (4 vols., 1895) {{DEFAULTSORT:Boissy Danglas, Francois Antoine De 1756 births 1828 deaths People from Ardèche Counts of the First French Empire French Calvinist and Reformed Christians Girondins Members of the National Constituent Assembly (France) Presidents of the National Convention Deputies to the French National Convention People on the Committee of Public Safety Members of the Council of Five Hundred Members of Parliament for Ardèche Members of the Sénat conservateur Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Hundred Days Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Bourbon Restoration Peace commissioners of the French Provisional Government of 1815 French biographers French essayists French male essayists French male biographers Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery