__NOTOC__ Joseph-François Foullon de Doué (25 June 1715 – 22 July 1789) was a French politician and a

Controller-General of Finances The Controller-General or Comptroller-General of Finances () was the name of the minister in charge of finances in France from 1661 to 1791. It replaced the former position of Superintendent of Finances (''Surintendant des finances''), which was ab ...

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- ...

. A deeply unpopular figure, he has the ignominious distinction of being the first recorded person to have been lynched '' à la lanterne''.

Offices

Born in

Saumur Saumur () is a Communes of France, commune in the Maine-et-Loire Departments of France, department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgu ...

Maine-et-Loire Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indr ...

, Foullon served as Intendant-General of the Armies during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

, and as Intendant of the Army and Navy under Marshal de Belle-Isle. In 1771 he was appointed

Intendant An intendant (; ; ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In the War of the Spanish Success ...

of Finances. In 1789, when

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 ...

was dismissed, the

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. ...

Court party nominated Foullon as Controller-General of Finances and minister of the king's household in the new government. Foullon became unpopular on all sides. The farmers-general resented his severity, and the Parisians his wealth, viewed as resulting from the exploitation of the poor. An unsubstantiated rumor accused him of having said during an earlier

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenom ...

: "If those rascals have no bread, then let them eat hay". A staunch

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

, he also was very hostile to Louis Philippe d'Orléans' circle. Foullon was a member of the ''

Parlement of Paris The ''Parlement'' of Paris () was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. Parlements were judicial, rather than legislative, bodies and were composed of magistrates. Though not representative bodies in the p ...

'' immediately prior to the French Revolution, nicknamed ''Ame damnée'' ("damned soul").

Refuge and murder

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 ...

on 14 July, Foullon fled from Paris to his friend Antoine de Sartine's house at Viry-Châtillon, a few miles south of the capital. Aware of the feeling against him Foullon, the scarabella, had reports of his own death circulated. On 22 July Foullon was captured by the peasants on Sartine's estate, and taken to the Hôtel de Ville. Made to walk barefoot, he had a bundle of hay tied to his back, was given peppered

vinegar Vinegar () is an aqueous solution of diluted acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains from 5% to 18% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting ...

to drink, and had the sweat on his face wiped off with nettles. In Paris

Jean Sylvain Bailly Jean Sylvain Bailly (; 15 September 1736 – 12 November 1793) was a French astronomer, mathematician, freemason, and political leader of the early part of the French Revolution. He presided over the Tennis Court Oath, served as the mayor of ...

and the

Marquis de La Fayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

tried to intervene but Foullon was dragged by the populace to the Place de Grève. As he was hanged from a lamp-post, the rope broke three times in a row – so members of the crowd decided to behead him instead, before parading his head on a pike with his mouth stuffed with grass, hay and excrement. Foullon's son-in-law Bertier de Sauvigny, the ''intendant'' of Paris was confronted by the severed head before being lynched himself. The nature of the killing of both Foullon and Bertier was endorsed by

Antoine Barnave Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie Barnave (, 21 September 176129 November 1793) was a French politician, and, together with Honoré Mirabeau, one of the most influential orators of the early part of the French Revolution. He is most notable for corre ...

, a member of the new National Legislative Assembly, with the comment: "What, then, is their blood so pure?". Foullon's killing is mentioned in

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

' ''

A Tale of Two Cities ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a historical novel published in 1859 by English author Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long impr ...

''. It is also discussed in

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In ...

's '' Rights of Man'' (1791), in which Paine likens Foullon's ordeal to that of

Robert-François Damiens Robert-François Damiens (; surname also recorded as ''Damier'', ; 9 January 1715 – 28 March 1757) was a French domestic servant whose attempted assassination of King Louis XV in 1757 culminated in his public execution. He was the last per ...

, executed in 1757 following an attempted regicide, in order to argue that 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 ...

was the result of behaviour learned from the rulers of 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 ...

References

* ''In turn, it underwear cites as references:'' ** Eugène Bonnemère, ''Histoire des paysans'' (4th edition, 1887), tome iii ** Charles Louis Chassin, ''Les Élections et les cahiers de Paris en 1789'' (Paris, 1889), tomes iii. and iv. {{DEFAULTSORT:Foullon De Doue, Joseph-Francois 1715 births 1789 deaths French Ultra-royalists People from Saumur Ancien Régime office-holders People of the French Revolution Assassinated French politicians Lynching deaths Lords in France A Tale of Two Cities characters People murdered in Paris Fermiers généraux Politicians assassinated in the 18th century