Pontcallec Conspiracy
Encyclopedia
The Pontcallec conspiracy was a rebellion that arose from an anti-tax movement in Brittany
between 1718 and 1720. This was at the beginning of the Régence
(Regency), when France was controlled by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
during the childhood of Louis XV. Led by a small faction of the nobility of Brittany, it maintained links with the ill-defined Cellamare conspiracy
, to overthrow the Regent in favour of Philip V of Spain
, who was the uncle of Louis XV. Poorly organised, it failed, and four of its leaders were beheaded in Nantes
. The aims of the conspirators are disputed. In the 19th and early 20th century it was portrayed as a proto-revolutionary uprising or as a Breton independence movement. More recent commentators consider its aims to have been unclear.
gathered in Saint-Brieuc
and refused to extend new credits to the French state. The Estates sent three emissaries to Paris to explain its position to the Regent. However, the Regent responded by sending Pierre de Montesquiou d'Artagnan
to Brittany as representative of the King. Montesquiou decided to raise taxes by force.
The Regent decided to convene the Estates anew. On 6 June 1718, it assembled in Dinan
. It was dominated by the gentry, the composition of which was very different from the rest of France, since a significant proportion of the population were counted as "dormant nobles". This concept allowed noble status, and consequent political rights and exemptions, even among the poor if they could prove noble ancestry. In some areas the overwhelming majority of "nobles" were living in poverty. The Estates resisted new taxation arrangements that threatened the poorer nobles. Exasperated by the taxes, the lesser nobles dreamed of an aristocratic republic. On 22 July 1718, 73 of the more radical delegates to the Estates were exiled.
Meanwhile links were established with Philip V of Spain
and the Duke and Duchess of Maine
, who were conspiring to overthrow the Regency which had originally been promised in Louis XIV's will to the Dukes of Maine and Orleans jointly. Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse
, who was also Duke of Penthièvre
and thus a Breton aristocrat, liaised with the Duke of Maine.
. Along with a group of radicals Pontcallec hoped to organise a rebellion. Recruitment of support began among the middle-class farmers and local smugglers, traditional clients of the nobility of Brittany. When the War of the Quadruple Alliance
between Spain and France broke out a Breton envoy was sent by Pontcallec's faction to the Spanish minister Giulio Alberoni
.
On 29 December 1718, the Duke and Duchess of Maine were arrested. Pontcallec pursued his plans and continued recruitment, while other aristocrats joined him. Threatened with being arrested for smuggling, he ordered a general meeting in Questembert
which was attended by 200 supporters. However, no attempt to arrest him was made and the group dispersed. Nevertheless, the rally had been noted. In July, the Regent was informed.
Meanwhile the Spanish offered support to overthrow the Regent and install in his place Philip V or the Duke of Maine. None of this was originally planned, but was accepted by Pontcallec. On 15 August, a group of peasants led by Rohan of Pouldu forced a group Royal soldiers sent to enforce tax collection to retreat. In September, Pierre de Montesquiou entered Rennes
at the head of an army of 15000 men. At the same time, one of the conspirators was arrested at Nantes where he confessed everything. Alerted, Pontcallec's supporters took refuge in his castle. However, Pontcallec failed to organize his defenses, and only a dozen people responded to his call for aid. On 3 October, the Regent established a Board of justice to try the conspirators.
Three frigates containing Irish troops were sent by the Spanish to Brittany. When the first ship landed it became apparent that the 2,000 troops sent would not be able to sustain a battle against the 15,000 strong Royal army without local support. The troops were reembarked, and some conspirators fled with them. Completely isolated, Pontcallec was betrayed and arrested on December 28, 1719. Seventy other participants were also detained.
and the financier John Law
identified 23 key conspirators. 16 had escaped and were accused in absentia; 7 more were in custody (Pontcallec, Montlouis, Salarun, Talhouët, Du Couëdic, Coargan and Hire de Keranguen). 20 conspirators were found guilty and four of the seven in court were condemned to death: Pontcallec, Montlouis, Talhouët and Du Couëdic. Sixteen others were also condemned in their absence. The four condemned men were decapitated the same day, in the Place du Bouffay, Nantes.
The verdict shocked contemporaries by its severity, since the rebellion had amounted to so little. The cost of the whole operation was also deemed excessive. However, soon afterwards the economic crisis brought about by the collapse of John Law's financial system overwhelmed such concerns. After the executions, the repression stopped. The government withdrew from its taxation demands, and confiscated monies and property were restored. Exiled conspirators were allowed to return to France after ten years.
(The Ballads of Brittany), in which he included a ballad Marv Pontkalleg (The Death of Pontcallec), praising "le jeune marquis de Pontcallec, si beau, si gai, si plein de cœur" (the young Marquis de Pontcallec, so handsome, so gay, so full of heart). This song became very popular in Brittany, and has been recorded by Alan Stivell
, Gilles Servat
and Tri Yann
.
Le Villemarqué's notes portray Pontcallec as a rebel who led a Breton independence movement supported by both the aristocracy and the people, stating that "the Bretons declared the act of union with France null" and that they had sought Spanish help to secure the "absolute independence of Brittany". The interpretation was repeated by the Breton nationalist movement
, which depicted him as a martyr: the Breton equivalent of Wolf Tone
and Patrick Pearse
. Arthur de la Borderie
in La Bretagne aux Temps Modernes 1471-1789 (1894) stated that the rebellion was a legitimate reaction to a centralising and potentially despotic monarchy, adding that the names of the victims are "enrolled in the most glorious place in our martyrology ... it was the last blood spilt for the law, constitution and freedom of Brittany." In Jeanne Coroller-Danio
's Histoire de Notre Bretagne (1922) the conspiracy is presented as an heroic act of resistance to French oppression. In 1979 a plaque was placed at the site of the executions by Raffig Tullou's nationalist group Koun Breizh stating that "defenders of Breton liberty" were decapitated on the spot "by royal order".
The Pontcallec Conspiracy is dramatized in Alexandre Dumas's novel The Regent's Daughter (1845), which tells the story of two lovers mixed up in the events of the conspiracy. It is also central to the 1975 film Que la fête commence
(English title Let Joy Reign Supreme), directed by Bertrand Tavernier
and starring Philippe Noiret
as the Regent and Jean-Pierre Marielle
as Pontcallec.
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
between 1718 and 1720. This was at the beginning of the Régence
Régence
The Régence is the period in French history between 1715 and 1723, when King Louis XV was a minor and the land was governed by a Regent, Philippe d'Orléans, the nephew of Louis XIV of France....
(Regency), when France was controlled by Philippe II, 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...
during the childhood of Louis XV. Led by a small faction of the nobility of Brittany, it maintained links with the ill-defined 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:...
, to overthrow the Regent in favour of Philip V of Spain
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...
, who was the uncle of Louis XV. Poorly organised, it failed, and four of its leaders were beheaded in Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
. The aims of the conspirators are disputed. In the 19th and early 20th century it was portrayed as a proto-revolutionary uprising or as a Breton independence movement. More recent commentators consider its aims to have been unclear.
Background
In 1715, after Louis XIV died, France was heavily in debt after many years of war. Feeling unfairly taxed, the Estates of BrittanyEstates of Brittany
The Estates of Brittany was the States Provincial for the province of Brittany in ancien regime France. It gathered members of the high clergy, a large number of nobles and delegates from the 42 towns and cities of Brittany...
gathered in Saint-Brieuc
Saint-Brieuc
Saint-Brieuc is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France.-History:Saint-Brieuc is named after a Welsh monk Brioc, who evangelized the region in the 6th century and established an oratory there...
and refused to extend new credits to the French state. The Estates sent three emissaries to Paris to explain its position to the Regent. However, the Regent responded by sending Pierre de Montesquiou d'Artagnan
Pierre de Montesquiou d'Artagnan
Pierre de Montesquiou, comte d'Artagnan and later comte de Montesquiou was a French soldier and Marshal of France....
to Brittany as representative of the King. Montesquiou decided to raise taxes by force.
The Regent decided to convene the Estates anew. On 6 June 1718, it assembled in Dinan
Dinan
Dinan is a walled Breton town and a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in northwestern France.-Geography:Its geographical setting is exceptional. Instead of nestling on the valley floor like Morlaix, most urban development has been on the hillside, overlooking the river Rance...
. It was dominated by the gentry, the composition of which was very different from the rest of France, since a significant proportion of the population were counted as "dormant nobles". This concept allowed noble status, and consequent political rights and exemptions, even among the poor if they could prove noble ancestry. In some areas the overwhelming majority of "nobles" were living in poverty. The Estates resisted new taxation arrangements that threatened the poorer nobles. Exasperated by the taxes, the lesser nobles dreamed of an aristocratic republic. On 22 July 1718, 73 of the more radical delegates to the Estates were exiled.
Meanwhile links were established with Philip V of Spain
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...
and the Duke and Duchess of Maine
Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine
Louis Auguste de Bourbon, Legitimé de France was the eldest legitimised son of the Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Montespan...
, who were conspiring to overthrow the Regency which had originally been promised in Louis XIV's will to the Dukes of Maine and Orleans jointly. Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse
Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Comte de Toulouse
Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse , duc de Penthièvre , d'Arc, de Châteauvillain and de Rambouillet , , was the son of Louis XIV and of his mistress Madame de Montespan...
, who was also Duke of Penthièvre
Counts and dukes of Penthièvre
In the 11th and 12th centuries the countship of Penthièvre in Brittany belonged to a branch of the sovereign house of Brittany. Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany, gave it to his brother Eudes in 1035, and the line formed a cadet branch of the ducal house of Brittany...
and thus a Breton aristocrat, liaised with the Duke of Maine.
The conspiracy
On 26 August 1718, a ruling prevented the Duke of Maine from taking advantage of the prerogatives granted by Louis XIV in his will, giving him a powerful incentive to overthrow the regency. Events unfolded rapidly; in Brittany it was rumored that the Duke of Maine wanted to recruit troops. Meanwhile an "Act of Union", a list of local grievances, was drawn up and signed by several hundred Breton nobles. In September, the Count of Noyan, one of its authors, met with the Marquis de Pontcallec (1670–1720), a member of a well-known family and owner of a powerful fortress near VannesVannes
Vannes is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2000 years ago.-Geography:Vannes is located on the Gulf of Morbihan at the mouth of two rivers, the Marle and the Vincin. It is around 100 km northwest of Nantes and 450 km south west...
. Along with a group of radicals Pontcallec hoped to organise a rebellion. Recruitment of support began among the middle-class farmers and local smugglers, traditional clients of the nobility of Brittany. When the War of the Quadruple Alliance
War of the Quadruple Alliance
The War of the Quadruple Alliance was a result of the ambitions of King Philip V of Spain, his wife, Elisabeth Farnese, and his chief minister Giulio Alberoni to retake territories in Italy and to claim the French throne. It saw the defeat of Spain by an alliance of Britain, France, Austria , and...
between Spain and France broke out a Breton envoy was sent by Pontcallec's faction to the Spanish minister Giulio 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....
.
On 29 December 1718, the Duke and Duchess of Maine were arrested. Pontcallec pursued his plans and continued recruitment, while other aristocrats joined him. Threatened with being arrested for smuggling, he ordered a general meeting in Questembert
Questembert
Questembert is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.It is located approximately from Vannes.-Demographics:Inhabitants of Questembert are called Questembertois.It was 7,404 as of the estimation of 2005....
which was attended by 200 supporters. However, no attempt to arrest him was made and the group dispersed. Nevertheless, the rally had been noted. In July, the Regent was informed.
Meanwhile the Spanish offered support to overthrow the Regent and install in his place Philip V or the Duke of Maine. None of this was originally planned, but was accepted by Pontcallec. On 15 August, a group of peasants led by Rohan of Pouldu forced a group Royal soldiers sent to enforce tax collection to retreat. In September, Pierre de Montesquiou entered Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
at the head of an army of 15000 men. At the same time, one of the conspirators was arrested at Nantes where he confessed everything. Alerted, Pontcallec's supporters took refuge in his castle. However, Pontcallec failed to organize his defenses, and only a dozen people responded to his call for aid. On 3 October, the Regent established a Board of justice to try the conspirators.
Three frigates containing Irish troops were sent by the Spanish to Brittany. When the first ship landed it became apparent that the 2,000 troops sent would not be able to sustain a battle against the 15,000 strong Royal army without local support. The troops were reembarked, and some conspirators fled with them. Completely isolated, Pontcallec was betrayed and arrested on December 28, 1719. Seventy other participants were also detained.
Trial
The trial occurred in Nantes. The Duchess of Maine confessed the existence of a plot against the Regency, which was to have been overthrown by inciting risings in Paris and Brittany with Spanish assistance. The Regent, Philip II, Duke of Orléans, along with the Abbé Guillaume DuboisGuillaume Dubois
Guillaume Dubois was a French cardinal and statesman.-Early years:Dubois, the third of the four great Cardinal-Ministers , was born in Brive-la-Gaillarde, in Limousin...
and the financier John Law
John Law (economist)
John Law was a Scottish economist who believed that money was only a means of exchange that did not constitute wealth in itself and that national wealth depended on trade...
identified 23 key conspirators. 16 had escaped and were accused in absentia; 7 more were in custody (Pontcallec, Montlouis, Salarun, Talhouët, Du Couëdic, Coargan and Hire de Keranguen). 20 conspirators were found guilty and four of the seven in court were condemned to death: Pontcallec, Montlouis, Talhouët and Du Couëdic. Sixteen others were also condemned in their absence. The four condemned men were decapitated the same day, in the Place du Bouffay, Nantes.
The verdict shocked contemporaries by its severity, since the rebellion had amounted to so little. The cost of the whole operation was also deemed excessive. However, soon afterwards the economic crisis brought about by the collapse of John Law's financial system overwhelmed such concerns. After the executions, the repression stopped. The government withdrew from its taxation demands, and confiscated monies and property were restored. Exiled conspirators were allowed to return to France after ten years.
Aftermath and significance
The conspiracy of Pontcallec is noted for its ineffectiveness and the confused aims of its leaders. Only a small fraction of the Breton nobility in general took part and the Breton people as a whole were excluded since its professed intent was to defend the established rights and liberties of the nobility. Despite this the conspiracy quickly acquired legendary status in Brittany and Pontcallec's death turned him into a folk hero. Théodore Hersart de la Villemarqué discusses his actions in his historical notes to Barzaz BreizBarzaz Breiz
Barzaz Breiz is a collection of Breton popular songs collected by Théodore Hersart de la Villemarqué and published in 1839. It was compiled from oral tradition and preserves traditional folk tales, legends and music...
(The Ballads of Brittany), in which he included a ballad Marv Pontkalleg (The Death of Pontcallec), praising "le jeune marquis de Pontcallec, si beau, si gai, si plein de cœur" (the young Marquis de Pontcallec, so handsome, so gay, so full of heart). This song became very popular in Brittany, and has been recorded by Alan Stivell
Alan Stivell
Alan Stivell is a Breton musician and singer, recording artist and master of the celtic harp who from the early 1970s revived global interest in the Celtic harp and Celtic music as part of world music.- Background: learning Breton music and culture :Alan was born in the Auvergnat town of Riom...
, Gilles Servat
Gilles Servat
Gilles Servat is a French singer, born in Tarbes in southern France in 1945, into a family whose roots lay in the Nantes region of Brittany.He spent his early childhood around Nantes and Cholet. His music evoques the Isle of Groix, off the coast of Morbihan.His music was originally inspired by the...
and Tri Yann
Tri Yann
Tri Yann is a French band from Nantes , who play folk rock music drawing on traditional Breton folk ballads.The band was founded in 1970 by Jean Chocun, Jean-Paul Corbineau and Jean-Louis Jossic – all of whom remain members – hence the suggested name of Tri Yann an Naoned , Jean and Yann being...
.
Le Villemarqué's notes portray Pontcallec as a rebel who led a Breton independence movement supported by both the aristocracy and the people, stating that "the Bretons declared the act of union with France null" and that they had sought Spanish help to secure the "absolute independence of Brittany". The interpretation was repeated by the Breton nationalist movement
Breton nationalism
Breton nationalism is the nationalism of the traditional province of Brittany in France. Brittany is considered to be one of the six Celtic nations...
, which depicted him as a martyr: the Breton equivalent of Wolf Tone
Wolf tone
A wolf tone, or simply a "wolf", is produced when a played note matches the natural resonating frequency of the body of a musical instrument, producing a sustaining sympathetic artificial overtone that amplifies and expands the frequencies of the original note, frequently accompanied by an...
and Patrick Pearse
Patrick Pearse
Patrick Henry Pearse was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist and political activist who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916...
. Arthur de la Borderie
Arthur Le Moyne de La Borderie
Arthur Le Moyne de La Borderie, was a Breton historian, regarded as a father of Brittany's historiography.-Life:He came from La Borderie, which was an estate in the commune of Étrelles....
in La Bretagne aux Temps Modernes 1471-1789 (1894) stated that the rebellion was a legitimate reaction to a centralising and potentially despotic monarchy, adding that the names of the victims are "enrolled in the most glorious place in our martyrology ... it was the last blood spilt for the law, constitution and freedom of Brittany." In Jeanne Coroller-Danio
Jeanne Coroller-Danio
Jeanne Coroller-Danio was a Breton nationalist and writer. She is also known as Jeanne Coroller and Jeanne Chassin du Guerny . Her best known pen-name was Danio, but she published her work under various pseudonyms: J.C...
's Histoire de Notre Bretagne (1922) the conspiracy is presented as an heroic act of resistance to French oppression. In 1979 a plaque was placed at the site of the executions by Raffig Tullou's nationalist group Koun Breizh stating that "defenders of Breton liberty" were decapitated on the spot "by royal order".
The Pontcallec Conspiracy is dramatized in Alexandre Dumas's novel The Regent's Daughter (1845), which tells the story of two lovers mixed up in the events of the conspiracy. It is also central to the 1975 film Que la fête commence
Que la fête commence
Que la fête commence... is a 1975 French film directed by Bertrand Tavernier and starring Philippe Noiret...
(English title Let Joy Reign Supreme), directed 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...
and starring Philippe Noiret
Philippe Noiret
Philippe Noiret was a French film actor.-Biography:Noiret's father was in the clothes trade. Philippe was an indifferent scholar and attended several prestigious Paris schools, including the Lycée Janson de Sailly. He failed several times to pass his baccalauréat exams, so he decided to study...
as the Regent and Jean-Pierre Marielle
Jean-Pierre Marielle
Jean-Pierre Marielle is a French actor. He has played in more than a hundred movies in which he brought life to a very large diversity of roles, from the banal citizen , to the serial killer , to the World War II hero , to the compromised spy , to the has-been actor Jean-Pierre Marielle (born...
as Pontcallec.