Guillaume Dubois
Encyclopedia
Guillaume Dubois was a French cardinal
and statesman.
, in Limousin
. He was, according to his enemies, the son of an apothecary, his father being in fact a doctor of medicine of respectable family, who kept a small drug store as part of the necessary outfit of a country practitioner. He was educated at the school of the Brothers of the Christian Doctrine at Brive, where he received the tonsure
at the age of thirteen. In 1672, having finished his philosophy course, he was given a scholarship at the college of St. Michel in Paris by the lieutenant-general of the Limousin. The head of the college, the abbé Antoine Faure, who was from the same part of the country as himself, befriended the lad, and continued to do so for many years after he had finished his course, finding him pupils and ultimately obtaining for him the post of tutor to the young duke of Chartres, afterwards the regent Duke of Orléans
.
by bringing about the marriage of his pupil with Françoise-Marie de Bourbon
, Mlle de Blois, a natural but legitimized daughter of the king and Mme de Montespan
; and for this service he was rewarded with the gift of the abbey of St. Just in Picardy. He was present with his pupil at the Battle of Steenkerque
, and "faced fire," says Marshal Luxembourg
, "like a grenadier." Sent to join the French embassy in London, he made himself so active that he was recalled by the request of the ambassador, who feared his intrigues. This, however, tended to raise his credit with the king. When the Duc D'Orléans became regent
(1715) Dubois, who had for some years acted as his secretary, was made councillor of state, and the chief power passed gradually into his hands.
Dubois' policy was steadily directed towards maintaining the peace of Utrecht, and this made him the main opponent of the schemes of Cardinal Alberoni
for the aggrandizement of Spain. To counteract Alberoni's intrigues, he suggested an alliance with England, and in the face of great difficulties succeeded in negotiating the Triple Alliance (1717)
. In 1719 he sent an army into Spain, and forced Philip V
to dismiss Alberoni. Otherwise his policy remained that of peace. Dubois' success strengthened him against the bitter opposition of a large section of the court. Dubois was instrumental during the Cellamare Conspiracy
of 1718.
He prayed the regent to give him the archbishopric of Cambrai, the richest in France. This demand was supported by George I
and the regent yielded. Dubois aimed for the Cardinal's hat because such an ecclesiastical title would give him the utmost prominence and precedence in the Conseil d'en haut, giving him the ability to remove his political adversaries with impunity. The regent was initially reluctant: though not himself a religious man, he could hardly regard Dubois as a suitable archbishop, at a time when the ambitious Claudine Guérin de Tencin
was universally believed to be his mistress.
In one day all the usual orders were conferred upon him, and even the great preacher Massillon
consented to take part in the ceremonies. His next aim was the cardinalate, and, after long and most profitable negotiations on the part of Pope Clement XI
, the red hat was given to him by Innocent XIII
(1721), whose election was largely due to the bribes of Dubois. It is estimated that this cardinalate cost France about eight million francs. In the following year he was named first minister of France (August). He was soon after received at the Académie française
; and he was named President of the Assembly of Clergy.
When Louis XV
attained his majority in 1723 Dubois remained chief minister. He had accumulated an immense private fortune (though nothing compared to the avaricious acquisition of wealth of Concini, Richelieu, Mazarin, Fouquet, and Colbert) possessing in addition to his see the revenues of seven abbeys. He was, however, a prey to the most terrible pains of body and agony of mind. His health was ruined by his debaucheries, and a surgical operation became necessary. This was almost immediately followed by his death, at Versailles, on August 10, 1723.
Dubois' portrait was thus drawn by his long-time rival, the Duc de St Simon
(who kept a painting of him in his lavatory),
This famous picture is certainly biassed. Dubois was unscrupulous, but so were his contemporaries, and whatever vices he had, he forged a European peace that, with the exception of small, restrained military expeditions against the Austrian Habsburgs, would last for a quarter of a century.
In 1789 appeared Vie privée du Cardinal Dubois, attributed to one of his secretaries, Mongez; and in 1815 his , edited by L de Sevelinges. See also A Chéruel
, Saint-Simon et l'abbé Dubois; L Wiesener, Le Régent, l'abbé Dubois et les Anglais (1891); and memoirs of the time.
He is played by Jean Rochefort
in the movie by Bertrand Tavernier
, Que la fête commence....
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
and statesman.
Early years
Dubois, the third of the four great Cardinal-Ministers (Richelieu, Mazarin, Dubois, and Fleury), was born in Brive-la-GaillardeBrive-la-Gaillarde
Brive-la-Gaillarde is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture of the Corrèze department. The population of the urban area was 89,260 as of 1999. Although it is by far the biggest commune in Corrèze, the capital is Tulle.-History:...
, in Limousin
Limousin (province)
Limousin is one of the traditional provinces of France around the city of Limoges. Limousin lies in the foothills of the western edge of the Massif Central, with cold weather in the winter...
. He was, according to his enemies, the son of an apothecary, his father being in fact a doctor of medicine of respectable family, who kept a small drug store as part of the necessary outfit of a country practitioner. He was educated at the school of the Brothers of the Christian Doctrine at Brive, where he received the tonsure
Tonsure
Tonsure is the traditional practice of Christian churches of cutting or shaving the hair from the scalp of clerics, monastics, and, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, all baptized members...
at the age of thirteen. In 1672, having finished his philosophy course, he was given a scholarship at the college of St. Michel in Paris by the lieutenant-general of the Limousin. The head of the college, the abbé Antoine Faure, who was from the same part of the country as himself, befriended the lad, and continued to do so for many years after he had finished his course, finding him pupils and ultimately obtaining for him the post of tutor to the young duke of Chartres, afterwards the regent Duke of Orléans
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe d'Orléans was a member of the royal family of France and served as Regent of the Kingdom from 1715 to 1723. Born at his father's palace at Saint-Cloud, he was known from birth under the title of Duke of Chartres...
.
Career
Dubois gained the favour of Louis XIVLouis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
by bringing about the marriage of his pupil with Françoise-Marie de Bourbon
Françoise-Marie de Bourbon
Françoise Marie de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the youngest legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan. Originally known as the second Mademoiselle de Blois, that style eventually gave way to the name Françoise Marie de...
, Mlle de Blois, a natural but legitimized daughter of the king and Mme de Montespan
Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan
Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, marquise of Montespan , better known as Madame de Montespan, was the most celebrated maîtresse en titre of King Louis XIV of France, by whom she had seven children....
; and for this service he was rewarded with the gift of the abbey of St. Just in Picardy. He was present with his pupil at the Battle of Steenkerque
Battle of Steenkerque
The Battle of Steenkerque was fought on August 3, 1692, as a part of the Nine Years' War. It resulted in the victory of the French under Marshal François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg against a joint English-Scottish-Dutch-German army under Prince William of Orange...
, and "faced fire," says Marshal Luxembourg
François Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de Luxembourg
François Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de Piney, called de Luxembourg was a French general, marshal of France, famous as the comrade and successor of the great Condé.-Early years:...
, "like a grenadier." Sent to join the French embassy in London, he made himself so active that he was recalled by the request of the ambassador, who feared his intrigues. This, however, tended to raise his credit with the king. When the Duc D'Orléans became regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
(1715) Dubois, who had for some years acted as his secretary, was made councillor of state, and the chief power passed gradually into his hands.
Dubois' policy was steadily directed towards maintaining the peace of Utrecht, and this made him the main opponent of the schemes of Cardinal Alberoni
Giulio Alberoni
Giulio Alberoni was an Italian cardinal andstatesman in the service of Philip V of Spain.-Early years:He was born near Piacenza, probably at the village of Fiorenzuola d'Arda in the Duchy of Parma....
for the aggrandizement of Spain. To counteract Alberoni's intrigues, he suggested an alliance with England, and in the face of great difficulties succeeded in negotiating the Triple Alliance (1717)
Triple Alliance (1717)
The Triple Alliance was a treaty between the Dutch Republic, France and Great Britain, against Spain, attempting to maintain the agreement of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. The three states were concerned about Spain becoming a superpower in Europe. As a result of this militarisation took place,...
. In 1719 he sent an army into Spain, and forced Philip V
Philip V of Spain
Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...
to dismiss Alberoni. Otherwise his policy remained that of peace. Dubois' success strengthened him against the bitter opposition of a large section of the court. Dubois was instrumental during the Cellamare Conspiracy
Cellamare Conspiracy
The Cellamare Conspiracy of 1718 was a conspiracy against the then Regent of France, Philippe d'Orléans . "Created" in Spain, it was the brainchild of Antonio del Giudice, Prince of Cellamare.-Background and Plot:...
of 1718.
He prayed the regent to give him the archbishopric of Cambrai, the richest in France. This demand was supported by George I
George I of Great Britain
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
and the regent yielded. Dubois aimed for the Cardinal's hat because such an ecclesiastical title would give him the utmost prominence and precedence in the Conseil d'en haut, giving him the ability to remove his political adversaries with impunity. The regent was initially reluctant: though not himself a religious man, he could hardly regard Dubois as a suitable archbishop, at a time when the ambitious Claudine Guérin de Tencin
Claudine Guérin de Tencin
Claudine Alexandrine Guérin de Tencin was a French salonist and author. She was the mother of Jean le Rond d'Alembert, philosophe and contributor to the Encyclopédie.- Early life :...
was universally believed to be his mistress.
In one day all the usual orders were conferred upon him, and even the great preacher Massillon
Jean Baptiste Massillon
Jean Baptiste Massillon was a French Catholic bishop and famous preacher, Bishop of Clermont from 1717 until his death.-Early years:Massillon was born at Hyères in Provence where his father was a royal notary...
consented to take part in the ceremonies. His next aim was the cardinalate, and, after long and most profitable negotiations on the part of Pope Clement XI
Pope Clement XI
Pope Clement XI , born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was Pope from 1700 until his death in 1721.-Early life:...
, the red hat was given to him by Innocent XIII
Pope Innocent XIII
Pope Innocent XIII was pope from 1721 until his death.He was born Michelangelo Conti in Poli, near Rome. Like Pope Innocent III , Pope Gregory IX and Pope Alexander IV , he was a member of the family of the Conti, counts and dukes of Segni...
(1721), whose election was largely due to the bribes of Dubois. It is estimated that this cardinalate cost France about eight million francs. In the following year he was named first minister of France (August). He was soon after received at the Académie française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
; and he was named President of the Assembly of Clergy.
When Louis XV
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
attained his majority in 1723 Dubois remained chief minister. He had accumulated an immense private fortune (though nothing compared to the avaricious acquisition of wealth of Concini, Richelieu, Mazarin, Fouquet, and Colbert) possessing in addition to his see the revenues of seven abbeys. He was, however, a prey to the most terrible pains of body and agony of mind. His health was ruined by his debaucheries, and a surgical operation became necessary. This was almost immediately followed by his death, at Versailles, on August 10, 1723.
Dubois' portrait was thus drawn by his long-time rival, the Duc de St Simon
Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon
Louis de Rouvroy commonly known as Saint-Simon was a French soldier, diplomatist and writer of memoirs, was born in Paris...
(who kept a painting of him in his lavatory),
He was a little, pitiful, wizened, herringgutted man, in a flaxen wig, with a weasel's face, brightened by some intellect. All the vices - perfidy, avarice, debauchery, ambition, flattery - fought within him for the mastery. He was so consummate a liar that, when taken in the fact, he could brazenly deny it. Even his wit and knowledge of the world were spoiled, and his affected gaiety was touched with sadness, by the odour of falsehood which escaped through every pore of his body.
This famous picture is certainly biassed. Dubois was unscrupulous, but so were his contemporaries, and whatever vices he had, he forged a European peace that, with the exception of small, restrained military expeditions against the Austrian Habsburgs, would last for a quarter of a century.
In 1789 appeared Vie privée du Cardinal Dubois, attributed to one of his secretaries, Mongez; and in 1815 his , edited by L de Sevelinges. See also A Chéruel
Pierre Adolphe Chéruel
Pierre Adolphe Chéruel was a French historian.He was born at Rouen and educated at the École Normale Supérieure, becoming a fellow in 1830. His early studies were concerned with local history...
, Saint-Simon et l'abbé Dubois; L Wiesener, Le Régent, l'abbé Dubois et les Anglais (1891); and memoirs of the time.
He is played by Jean Rochefort
Jean Rochefort
Jean Rochefort is a French actor, with a career that has spanned over five decades.Rochefort was born in Paris, France. He was educated at the Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen He was 19 years old when he entered the Centre d'Art Dramatique de la rue Blanche. Later he joined the Conservatoire National...
in the movie by Bertrand Tavernier
Bertrand Tavernier
Bertrand Tavernier is a French director, screenwriter, actor, and producer.-Life and career:Tavernier was born in Lyon, the son of Geneviève and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, several years president of the French PEN club. Tavernier wanted to become a filmmaker since the age of thirteen...
, Que la fête commence....