Everything about Ren Nicolas De Maupeou totally explained
René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou (
February 25,
1714–
July 29,
1792) was a
French politician,
chancellor of France, whose attempts at fiscal reform signalled the failure of
enlightened despotism in France.
Biography
He was born in
Montpellier to a familly ennobled in the sixteenth century as
noblesse de robe, the eldest son of René Charles de Maupeou (1688–1775), who was president of the
parlement of Paris from 1743 to 1757.
In 1744 he married a rich heiress, Anne de Roncherolles (1725–1752), a cousin of
Madame d'Epinay, the friend of
Rousseau who moved in the circles of the
Philosophes. Entering public life, he was his father's right hand in the conflicts between the
parlement and
Christophe de Beaumont,
archbishop of Paris, who was supported by the court. Between 1763 and 1768, dates which cover the revision of the
Calas case that Voltaire had championed and the trial of the
comte de Lally, Maupeou was himself president of the
parlement. In 1768, he became
chancellor in succession to his father, who had held the office for a few days only, largely in order to permit him to retire with the prestigious title. With the disgrace of
Choiseul, 24 December 1770, Maupeou was the chief minister.
He determined to support the royal authority against the
parlement, the perennial block to reforms of the
tax farming system or the privileges of the propertied classes, which in league with the provincial magistratures was seeking to arrogate to itself the functions of the
states-general. He allied himself with the
duc d'Aiguillon and the king's mistress
Mme du Barry, and secured for a creature of his own, the
Abbé Terray, the office of comptroller-general. The struggle erupted over the trial of the case of the duc d'Aiguillon, ex-governor of
Brittany, and of
La Chalotais,
procureur-général of the province, who had been imprisoned by the governor for accusations against his administration.
When the
parlement showed signs of hostility against Aiguillon, Maupeou read letters patent from
Louis XV annulling the proceedings. Louis replied to remonstrances from the
parlement by a
lit de justice, in which he demanded the surrender of the procedural minutes. On
November 27,
1770 appeared the
Édit de règlement et de discipline, which was promulgated by the chancellor, forbidding the union of the various branches of the
parlement and correspondence with the provincial magistratures. It also made a strike on the part of the
parlement punishable by confiscation of goods, and forbade further obstruction to the registration of royal decrees after the royal reply had been given to a first remonstrance. This edict the magistrates refused to register, and it was registered in a
lit de justice held at
Versailles on
December 7, whereupon the
parlement was suspended in its functions.
Maupeou's coup d'etat
After five summonses to return to their duties, the magistrates were surprised individually on the night of
January 19,
1771 by
musketeers, who required them to sign yes or no to a further request to return. Thirty-eight magistrates gave an affirmative answer, but on the exile of their former colleagues by
lettres de cachet they retracted, and were also exiled. Maupeou installed the council of state to administer justice pending the establishment of six superior courts in the provinces, and of a new
parlement in Paris, in which the magistrature would no longer be a hereditary prorogative but beccome salaried officials appointed by the Crown. The
cour des aides was next suppressed. Maupeou proposed to make the judicial system more uniform throughout the country, which was a patchwork of local judicatures.
Voltaire praised this revolution, applauding the suppression of the old hereditary magistrature, but by the aristocrats and the
noblesse de robe Maupeou's policy was regarded as the triumph of tyranny. The remonstrances of the princes, of the nobles, and of the minor courts, were met by exile and suppression, but by the end of 1771 the new system of the
parlements de Maupeou was established, and the Bar, which had offered a passive resistance, recommenced to plead. A renewed attempt was made to tax the privileged and exempted groups. But the death of Louis XV in May 1774 ruined the chancellor.
Maupeou's fall
The immediate restoration of the
parlements by
Louis XVI was followed by a renewal of the quarrels between the new king and the magistrature. Maupeou and Terray were replaced, 24 August 1774, by
Miromesnil and then by
Malesherbes, recalled from his exile in 1775 to be
Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi and the economist
Turgot. Maupeou is said to have remarked, "I had won for the king an action to last three hundred years: he wishes to lose it again. He is the master of it."
Maupeou lived in retreat, still holding the office of Chancellor (abolished 1 July 1790) until his death at
Thuit (Eure) in 1792, having lived to see the overthrow of the
ancien régime. His work, in so far as it was directed towards the separation of the judicial and political functions and to the reform of the abuses attaching to a hereditary magistrature, was subsequently endorsed by the
Revolution; but no justification of his violent methods or defence of his intriguing and avaricious character is possible. He aimed at securing absolute power for Louis XV, but his action was in reality a serious blow to the monarchy.
Issue
He had two sons:
- René Ange Augustin de Maupeou (1746–1793), who became maître de camp of a cavalry regiment of Burgundy.
- Charles Victor René de Maupeou (1749–1789), who became maître des requêtes.
Further Information
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