Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

CHOISEUL, ETIENNE FRANCOIS

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V06, Page 262 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

CHOISEUL, See also:ETIENNE See also:FRANCOIS , Duc DE (1719–1785), See also:French statesman, was the eldest son of Francois See also:Joseph de Choiseul, See also:marquis de Stainville (1700–1770), and See also:bore in See also:early See also:life the See also:title of See also:comte de Stainville. See also:Born on the 28th of See also:June 1719, he entered the See also:army, and during the See also:War of the See also:Austrian See also:Succession served in Bohemia in 1741 and in See also:Italy, where he distinguished himself at the See also:battle of Coni, in 1744. From 1745 until 1748 he was with the army in the See also:Low Countries, being See also:present at the sieges of See also:Mons, See also:Charleroi and Maestricht. He attained the See also:rank of,See also:lieutenant-See also:general, and in 1750 married See also:Louise Honorine, daughter of See also:Louis Francois See also:Crozat, marquis du Chatel (d. 1750), who brought her See also:husband a large See also:fortune and proved a most devoted wife. Choiseul gained the favour of Madame de See also:Pompadour by procuring for her some letters which Louis XV. had written to his See also:cousin Madame de Choiseul, with whom the See also:king had formerly had an intrigue; and after a See also:short See also:time as bailli of the See also:Vosges he was given the See also:appointment of See also:ambassador to See also:Rome in 1753, where he was entrusted with the negotiations concerning the disturbances called forth by the See also:bull Unigenitus. He acquitted himself skilfully in this task, and in 1757 his patroness obtained his See also:transfer to See also:Vienna, where he was instructed to See also:cement the new See also:alliance between See also:France and See also:Austria. His success at Vienna opened the way to a larger career, when in 1758 he supplanted See also:Antoine Louis Rouille (1689–1761) as See also:minister for See also:foreign affairs and so had the direction of French foreign policy during the Seven Years' War. At this time he was made a peer of France and created duc de Choiseul. Al-though from 1761 until 1766 his cousin Cesar, duc de Choiseul-Praslin (1712-1785), was minister for foreign affairs, yet Choiseul continued to See also:control the policy of France until 1970, and during this See also:period held most of the other important offices of See also:state. As the author of the " See also:Family Compact " he sought to retrieve by an alliance with the See also:Bourbon See also:house of See also:Spain the disastrous results of the alliance with Austria; but his See also:action came too See also:late. His vigorous policy in other departments of state was not, however, fruitless.

Coming to See also:

power in the midst of the demoralization consequent upon the defeats of See also:Rossbach and See also:Crefeld, by boldness and See also:energy he reformed and strengthened both army and See also:navy, and although too late to prevent the loss of See also:Canada and See also:India, he See also:developed French colonies in the See also:Antilles and See also:San Domingo, and added See also:Corsica and See also:Lorraine to the See also:crown of France. His management of See also:home affairs in general satisfied the philosophes. He allowed the Encyclopedie to be published, and brought about the banishment of the See also:Jesuits and the temporary abolition of the See also:order by See also:Pope See also:Clement IV. Choiseul's fall was caused by his action towards the Jesuits, and by his support of their opponent La Chalotais, and of the provincial parlements. After the See also:death of Madame de Pompadour in 1764, his enemies, led by Madame Du See also:Barry and the See also:chancellor See also:Maupeou, were too strong for him, and in 1770 he was ordered to retire to his See also:estate at Chanteloupe. The intrigues against him had, however, increased his popularity, which was already See also:great, and during his retirement, which lasted until 1774, he lived in the greatest affluence and was visited by many eminent personages. Greatly to his disappointment Louis XVI. did not restore him to his former position, although the king recalled him to See also:Paris in 1774, when he died on the 8th of May 1785, leaving behind him a huge See also:accumulation of See also:debt which was scrupulously discharged by his widow. Choiseul possessed both ability and See also:diligence, and though lacking in tenacity he showed foresight and liberality in his direction of affairs. In See also:appearance he was a short, See also:ill-featured See also:man, with a ruddy countenance and a sturdy See also:frame. His Memoires were written during his See also:exile from Paris, and are merely detached notes upon different questions. See also:Horace See also:Walpole, in his See also:Memoirs, gives a very vivid description of the 1688-1695); and Histoire de l'Eglise (re vols., 1703—1723) He is remembered, however, by his gossiping Memoires (1737), which contain striking and accurate pictures of his time and remarkably exact portraits of his contemporaries, although he has otherwise small pretensions to See also:historical accuracy. The Memoires passed through many See also:editions, and were edited in 1888 by M. de See also:Lescure.

Some admirable letters of See also:

Choisy are included in the See also:correspondence of See also:Bussy-Rabutin. Choisy is said to have burnt some of his indiscreet revelations, but See also:left a considerable quantity of unpublished MS. See also:Part of this material, giving an See also:account of his adventures as a woman, was surreptitiously used in an See also:anonymous Histoire de madame la comtesse de Barres (See also:Antwerp, 1735), and again with much editing in the See also:Vie de M. l'See also:abbe de Choisy (See also:Lausanne and See also:Geneva, 1742), ascribed by See also:Paul See also:Lacroix to Lenglet Dufresnoy; the See also:text was finally edited (187o) by Lacroix as Avenlures de l'abbe de Choisy. See also Sainte-Beuve, Causeries du lundi, See also:duke's See also:character, accuses him of exciting the war between See also:Russia and See also:Turkey in 1768 in order to be revenged upon the tsarina See also:Catherine II., and says of his foreign policy, " he would project and determine the ruin of a See also:country, but could not meditate a little See also:mischief or a narrow benefit." " He dissipated the nation's See also:wealth and his own; but did not repair the latter by See also:plunder of the former," says the same writer, who in reference to Choiseul's private life asserts that " gallantry without delicacy was his See also:constant pursuit." Choiseul's widow, a woman " in whom industrious malice could not find an imperfection," lived in retirement until her death on the 3rd of See also:December 18o8. See Memoires du due de Choiseul, edited by F. Calmettes (Paris, 1904) ; P. Boutaric, L'Ambassade de Choiseul d See also:Vienne en 1757-1758 (Paris, 1872) ; Duc de Cars, Memoires (Paris, 1890) ; F. J. de P., See also:Cardinal de Bernie, Memoires et lettres (Paris, 1878); Madame de Pompadour, Correspondence (Paris, 1878); Revue historique, tomes 82 and 87 (Paris, 1903-1905) ; Horace Walpole, Memoirs of the Reign of See also:George III., edited by G. F. R. See also:Barker (See also:London, 1894) ; G. Mangros, Le duc et la duchesse de Choiseul (Paris, 1903) ; and La Disgrace du duc et de la duchesse de Choiseul (Paris, 1903) ; E.

Calmettes, Choiseul et See also:

Voltaire (Paris, 1902) ; A. Bourguet, Etudes sur la politicise etrangere du duc de Choiseul (Paris, 1907); and Le Duc de Choiseul et l'alliance espagnole (Paris, 1906). See also the See also:Edinburgh See also:Review for See also:July 1908. CHOISEUL-STAINVILLE, See also:CLAUDE ANTOINE See also:GABRIEL, Duc DE (1760-1838), French soldier, was brought up at Chanteloup, under the care of his relative, Etienne Francois, duc de Choiseul, who was childless. The outbreak of the Revolution found him a See also:colonel of dragoons, and throughout those troublous times he was distinguished for his devotion to the royal house. He took part in the See also:attempt of Louis XVI. to See also:escape from Paris on the loth of June 1791; was arrested with the king, and imprisoned. Liberated in May 1792, he emigrated in See also:October, and fought in the " army of See also:Conde " against the See also:republic. Captured in 1795, he was confined at See also:Dunkirk; escaped, set See also:sail for India, was wrecked on the French See also:coast, and condemned to death by the See also:decree of the See also:Directory. Nevertheless, he was fortunate enough to escape once more. See also:Napoleon allowed him to return to France in 1801, but he remained in private life until the fall of the See also:Empire. At the Restoration he was called to the House of Peers by Louis XVIII. At the revolution of 1830 he was nominated a member of the provisional See also:government; and he afterwards received from Louis Philippe the See also:post of aide-de-See also:camp to the king and See also:governor of the Louvre.

He died in Paris on the 1st of December 1838.

End of Article: CHOISEUL, ETIENNE FRANCOIS

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
CHOISEUL, CESAR 		[next]
CHOISY, FRANCOIS TIMOLEON, APIA DE (1644-1724)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries