François Jaupain (1678? -

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, 10 June 1726) was the Director-general of the postal system in the

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 ...

between 1706 and 1725, which position he used to sell information to the Allied side in the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

and to act as a spymaster in the service of the Governor-General of the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Ras ...

Prince Eugene of Savoy Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy-Carignano (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736), better known as Prince Eugene, was a distinguished Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the Army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty durin ...

Life

Personal life

Jaupain married Jeanne Catherine de Bock. They had the following children: Jeanne Calherine Adrienne, Marie Florence, and François-Joseph. Jaupain bought the lordship of

Machelen Machelen () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the towns of Diegem and Machelen proper. On 1 January 2006, Machelen had a total population of 12,500. The total area ...

around 1717 and the chateau located there, after he had been ennobled by the Austrian Emperor Charles VI in 1712.Wauters, p. 90

Career

Official career

Jaupain appears to have been the

Valet de chambre ''Valet de chambre'' (), or ''varlet de chambre'', was a court appointment introduced in the late Middle Ages, common from the 14th century onwards. Royal households had many persons appointed at any time. While some valets simply waited on ...

of the exiled

Jansenist Jansenism was a 17th- and 18th-century theological movement within Roman Catholicism, primarily active in France, which arose as an attempt to reconcile the theological concepts of free will and divine grace in response to certain development ...

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

Ernest Ruth d’Ans.Sheridan, p. 63 His aunts Anne and Adrienne were also members of the Ruth d'Ans household. This suggests that Jaupain could make use of the network of Jansenist exiles in the Spanish Netherlands around 1700.Van Gelder, par. 23 This may have introduced him to the postmaster of Brussels around 1700, a certain Chaumont, who also circulated in these circles.Hanot Chaumont was an employee of the

Thurn und Taxis The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis (, ) is a family of German nobility that is part of the ''Briefadel''. It was a key player in the mail, postal services in Europe during the 16th century, until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, and ...

family that from 1615 had the monoploy of the

Kaiserliche Reichspost ''Kaiserliche Reichspost'' (, ''Imperial Mail''), originally named ''Niederländische Postkurs'' (Low Countries' postal route), was the name of the international Mail, postal service of the Holy Roman Empire, founded in 1490. Often considered th ...

, the

postal service The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sy ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

, but also of the

Habsburg Netherlands Habsburg Netherlands were the parts of the Low Countries that were ruled by sovereigns of the Holy Roman Empire's House of Habsburg. This rule began in 1482 and ended for the Northern Netherlands in 1581 and for the Southern Netherlands in 1797. ...

. When in 1700

Philip V of Spain Philip V (; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was List of Spanish monarchs, King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724 and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign (45 years and 16 days) is the longest in the ...

became the new sovereign of the

Spanish Netherlands The Spanish Netherlands (; ; ; ) (historically in Spanish: , the name "Flanders" was used as a '' pars pro toto'') was the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556 to 1714. They were a collection of States of t ...

he reformed the postal system on the French model and appointed Leon Pajot as the Director-general of the Postal System in the Southern Netherlands. In this period Jaupain climbed up to the position of his assistant. Meanwhile, the

had broken out and the Southern Netherlands had become one of its main theatres. Jaupain chose the side of the Anglo-Dutch allies that had invaded the country. When the allies conquered most of the country in 1706 after the

Battle of Ramillies The Battle of Ramillies (), fought on 23 May 1706, was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. For the Grand AllianceAustria, England, and the Dutch Republicthe battle had followed an indecisive campaign against the Bourbon armies of K ...

, they appointed Jaupain Director-general of the postal system as successor of Pajot on 20 July 1706.Overvoorde, p. 24 In 1707-8 he joined as a lieutenant-colonel the staff of the regiment of colonel Hartopp in the army of the

duke of Marlborough General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 O.S.) was a British army officer and statesman. From a gentry family, he ...

, probably in charge of intelligence.Bruneel, p. 301 After the

Peace of Rastatt The Treaty of Rastatt was a peace treaty between France and Austria that was concluded on 7 March 1714 in the Baden city of Rastatt to end the War of the Spanish Succession between both countries. The treaty followed the Treaty of Utrecht of 11 A ...

the former Spanish Netherlands became the

with

as Governor-General. He continued Jaupain in his office of Director-General. The Austrian Emperor Charles VI even ennobled Jaupain in 1712. He remained in this post until on 16 June 1725 the Thurn und Taxis firm was restored in its monopoly of the mail in the Austrian Netherlands, and the son of the postmaster that he had replaced in 1706 was appointed as his successor. Prince Eugene then appointed him as a member of the ''Cour de Comptes'' of

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

.Bruneel, p. 301 He died on 10 June 1726 in Brussels.Bruneel, p. 300

Secret career

Jaupain approached the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

fieldmarshal

Henry de Nassau, Lord Overkirk Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainme ...

in 1704 with an offer to procure the correspondence of the secretary of the then Governor-General of the Spanish Netherlands

Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria Maximilian II (11 July 1662 – 26 February 1726), also known as Max Emanuel or Maximilian Emanuel, was a Wittelsbach ruler of Electorate of Bavaria, Bavaria and a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire. He was also the last governor of the Spani ...

. He followed up by approaching Marlborough and the English Secretary of State

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

in 1706. This began a long career as the head of what could be called the Anglo-Dutch

black chamber The Black Chamber, officially the Cable and Telegraph Section and also known as the Cipher Bureau, was the first peacetime cryptanalytic organization in the United States, operating from 1917 to 1929. It was a forerunner of the National Security ...

in Brussels, which intercepted the correspondence of people of interest to these allies, secretly copied it, and forwarded the often encrypted copies to

William Blencowe William Blencowe ( Marston St. Lawrence, 6 January 1683 – Northampton, 25 August 1712) was a British scholar and cryptographer who was the first official ''Royal Encipherer'' appointed by Queen Anne of England. He worked for the English and oth ...

(the British cryptographer) and

Abel Tassin d'Alonne Abel Tassin d'Alonne (The Hague, 1646 – The Hague, 24 October 1723) was a Dutch courtier and diplomat, who was private secretary of Mary II of England, William III of England, and Anthonie Heinsius, and played a secret role as the chief of Heinsi ...

(his Dutch equivalent) for deciphering, often without these clients being aware that he served them both with the same "product".De Leeuw, pp. 142-143, 151 Jaupain went to great lengths to prevent discovery of the fact that he had opened, and copied, letters in his postoffices. In his day letters were usually sealed with a stamped wax

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

to ensure that they had not been opened by unauthorized people; if the seal had been broken that indicated that the correspondence was compromised. Jaupain therefore developed a special technique to prevent discovery. He first removed the seal by heating the wax at the edges (which would discolor the paper, but only people aware of the process would think this suspicious). Then he made an imprint of the seal with a paste of liquid silver which allowed him to forge the seal in future; the forged seal was only slightly more vague than the original. Of course, the senders were aware of the risk of interception. For that reason such confidential correspondence was usually enciphered. Jaupain did not attempt to decipher the letters he opened himself, but copied the

ciphertext In cryptography, ciphertext or cyphertext is the result of encryption performed on plaintext using an algorithm, called a cipher. Ciphertext is also known as encrypted or encoded information because it contains a form of the original plaintext ...

exactly and forwarded the copies to the cryptographers in London and The Hague.De Leeuw, p. 143 But Jaupain not only opened the correspondence that passed his own office in Brussels (or the 31 other post offices that came under his remit). He had made a deal with his old boss Pajot, who was still chief of the postal system in the part of the Southern Netherlands that was still under French control, to supply him with intercepted correspondence from that part of the country. In sum he sat astride the French diplomatic post to the entire northwest of Europe.De Leeuw, pp. 142-143 After the peace Jaupain continued his interceptions of the mail, but now also in the service of the Austrian authorities, even though he also on occasion spied on

Dominik von Königsegg-Rothenfels Lothar Joseph Dominik Graf von Königsegg-Rothenfels (17 May 1673Vienna, 8 December 1751) was an Imperial Field marshal. Family Lothar was the youngest son of Count Leopold Wilhelm von Königsegg-Rothenfels and Maria Polyxena, Countess Scherff ...

, who acted as the governor of the Austrian Netherlands in Prince Eugene's absence.De Leeuw, p. 154 But he also acted as a spymaster for Prince Eugene. In that capacity he tried to recruit de French spy Lenglet, who, however turned out to be a double agent.Sheridan, pp. 63-69 In this period the British were still very interested in the Jacobite court in exile in France and Jaupain continued to be of value to themPohlig, pp. 116-117

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaupain, François 1670s births 1726 deaths Spymasters 18th-century spies Postmasters People from the Spanish Netherlands