François Joseph Lagrange-Chancel
Encyclopedia
François Joseph Lagrange-Chancel (January 1, 1677 – December 26, 1758), born at Périgueux
, was a French
dramatist and satirist.
He was an extremely precocious boy, and at Bordeaux
, where he was educated, he produced a play when he was nine years old. Five years later his mother took him to Paris, where he found a patron. in the princesse de Conti, to whom he dedicated his tragedy of Jugurtha or, as it was called later, Adherbal (1694). Racine
had given him advice and was present at the first performance, although he had long lived in complete retirement. Other plays followed: Oreste et Pylade (1697), Méleagre (1699), Amasis (1701), and Ino et Mélicerte (1715).
Lagrange hardly realized the high hopes raised by his precocity, although his only serious rival on the tragic stage was Campistron
, but he obtained high favour at court, becoming maître d'hôtel
to the duchess of Orléans.
This prosperity ended with the publication in 1720 of his Philippiques, odes accusing the regent, Philip, duke of Orléans, of the most odious crimes. He might have escaped the consequences of this libel but for the bitter enmity of a former patron, the duc de La Force
. Lagrange found sanctuary at Avignon
, but was enticed beyond the boundary of the papal jurisdiction, when he was arrested and sent as a prisoner to the Île Sainte-Marguerite
.
He contrived, however, to escape to Sardinia
and thence to Spain
and Holland, where he produced his fourth and fifth Philippiques. On the death of the Regent he was able to return to France. He was part author of a Histoire de Périgord left unfinished, and made a further contribution to history, or perhaps, more exactly, to romance, in a letter to Élie Fréron
on the identity of the Man with the Iron Mask. Lagrange's family life was embittered by a long law-suit against his son. He died at Périgueux at the end of December 1758.
He had collected his own works (5 vols, 1758) some months before his death. His most famous work, the Philippiques, was edited by M. de Lescure in 1858, and a sixth philippic by M. Diancourt in 1886.
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Périgueux
Périgueux is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.Périgueux is the prefecture of the department and the capital of the region...
, was a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
dramatist and satirist.
He was an extremely precocious boy, and at Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, where he was educated, he produced a play when he was nine years old. Five years later his mother took him to Paris, where he found a patron. in the princesse de Conti, to whom he dedicated his tragedy of Jugurtha or, as it was called later, Adherbal (1694). Racine
Jean Racine
Jean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition...
had given him advice and was present at the first performance, although he had long lived in complete retirement. Other plays followed: Oreste et Pylade (1697), Méleagre (1699), Amasis (1701), and Ino et Mélicerte (1715).
Lagrange hardly realized the high hopes raised by his precocity, although his only serious rival on the tragic stage was Campistron
Jean Galbert de Campistron
Jean Galbert de Campistron was a French dramatist-Biography:Campistron was born in Toulouse, France to a noble family.At the age of seventeen he was wounded in a duel and sent to Paris...
, but he obtained high favour at court, becoming maître d'hôtel
Maître d'hôtel
The maître d’hôtel in the original French language is literally the "master of the hotel". In a suitably staffed restaurant or hotel, it is the person in charge of assigning customers to tables and dividing the dining area into areas of responsibility for the various servers on duty. The plural...
to the duchess of Orléans.
This prosperity ended with the publication in 1720 of his Philippiques, odes accusing the regent, Philip, duke of Orléans, of the most odious crimes. He might have escaped the consequences of this libel but for the bitter enmity of a former patron, the duc de La Force
Henri-Jacques de Caumont, duc de La Force
Henri-Jacques de Caumont, duc de La Force was Duc de La Force, member of the Académie Française and Finance vice-minister of France, 1718-1719....
. Lagrange found sanctuary at Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
, but was enticed beyond the boundary of the papal jurisdiction, when he was arrested and sent as a prisoner to the Île Sainte-Marguerite
Île Sainte-Marguerite
The Île Sainte-Marguerite is the largest of the Lérins Islands, about half a mile off shore from the French Riviera town of Cannes. The island is approximately 3km in length and 900m across....
.
He contrived, however, to escape to Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
and thence to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Holland, where he produced his fourth and fifth Philippiques. On the death of the Regent he was able to return to France. He was part author of a Histoire de Périgord left unfinished, and made a further contribution to history, or perhaps, more exactly, to romance, in a letter to Élie Fréron
Élie Catherine Fréron
Élie Catherine Fréron was a French critic and controversialist whose career focused on countering the influence of the philosophes of the French Enlightenment, partly thorough his vehicle, the Année littéraire...
on the identity of the Man with the Iron Mask. Lagrange's family life was embittered by a long law-suit against his son. He died at Périgueux at the end of December 1758.
He had collected his own works (5 vols, 1758) some months before his death. His most famous work, the Philippiques, was edited by M. de Lescure in 1858, and a sixth philippic by M. Diancourt in 1886.
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