Louis Phélypeaux (1643-1727)
Encyclopedia
Maurepas, Yvelines
Maurepas is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the center.-demography:-History:...
(1687), comte de Pontchartrain
Jouars-Pontchartrain
Jouars-Pontchartrain is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located approximately 35 kilometres from Paris.-Monuments:...
(1699), known as the chancellor de Pontchartrain, 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...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
.
After serving as head of the Parlement of Brittany, he held office as Controller-General of Finances
Controller-General of Finances
The Controller-General of Finances was the name of the minister in charge of finances in France from 1661 to 1791. The position replaced the former position of Superintendent of Finances , which was abolished with the downfall of Nicolas Fouquet.- History :The term "contrôleur général" in...
and as Navy Secretary
Secretary of State of the Navy (France)
The Secretary of State of the Navy was one of the four or five specialized secretaries of state in France during the Ancien Régime. This Secretary of State was responsible for the French navy and for French colonies...
and, from 1690, Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi
Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi
The Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi was the secretary of state in France during the "Ancien Régime" and Bourbon Restoration in charge of the Département de la Maison du Roi...
.
Long considered a failure, his reputation has been reevaluated by recent historiography
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
which has shown that, in a period of difficulty, he was a capable administrator of an immense department which had responsibility for the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
, trade, colonies, matters of religion, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, the royal household and for finances. He conducted a census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of the population
Demographics of France
This article is about the demographic features of the population of France, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects....
from 1693 onwards, the first since Vauban
Vauban
Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban , commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them...
's of 1678. At court he was an opponent of Fénelon
François Fénelon
François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon, more commonly known as François Fénelon , was a French Roman Catholic archbishop, theologian, poet and writer...
and the Quietists
Quietism (Christian philosophy)
Quietism is a Christian philosophy that swept through France, Italy and Spain during the 17th century, but it had much earlier origins. The mystics known as Quietists insist, with more or less emphasis, on intellectual stillness and interior passivity as essential conditions of perfection...
.
Nonetheless, his handling of the French Navy, a powerful force under Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing...
and Seignelay
Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquis de Seignelay
Jean-Baptiste Antoine Colbert, Marquis de Seignelay was a French politician. He was the eldest son of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, nephew of Charles Colbert de Croissy and cousin of Jean-Baptiste Colbert de Torcy....
, is criticised, and he is considered to be in part responsible for the defeat at the battles of Barfleur and La Hougue
Battles of Barfleur and La Hougue
The related naval battles of Barfleur and La Hogue took place between 29 May and 4 June New Style , 1692 ....
in 1692.
Phélypeaux served as Chancellor of France from 5 September 1699 to 1 July 1714. Historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
François Bluche wrote that "he gave the Chancellor's office an importance and authority not seen since the early years of Pierre Séguier
Pierre Séguier
-Early years:Born in Paris, France of a prominent legal family originating in Quercy. His grandfather, Pierre Séguier , was président à mortier in the parlement of Paris from 1554 to 1576, and the chancellor's father, Jean Séguier, a seigneur d'Autry, was civil lieutenant of Paris at the time of...
." Saint-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...
painted a flattering portrait of Phélypeaux in his diaries, and his discretion was appreciated by Louis XIV
Louis 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...
.
He was made clerk of the prestigious Order of the Holy Spirit
Order of the Holy Spirit
The Order of the Holy Spirit, also known as the Order of the Knights of the Holy Spirit, was an Order of Chivalry under the French Monarchy. It should not be confused with the Congregation of the Holy Ghost or with the Order of the Holy Ghost...
in May 1700.
In 1668 he married Marie de Maupeou. They had one son, Jérôme Phélypeaux
Jérôme Phélypeaux
Jérôme Phélypeaux , comte de Pontchartrain, was a French politician, son of Louis Phélypeaux.He served as a councillor to the parlement of Paris from 1692, and served with his father as Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi and Navy Minster from 1699 onwards...
(1674–1747), comte de Pontchartrain.
He resigned in 1714 for having failed to affix the seals to the decree of 5 July 1714, condemning a document by the Bishop of Metz, Henri-Charles de Coislin, as contrary to the papal bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
Unigenitus
Unigenitus
Unigenitus , an apostolic constitution in the form of a papal bull promulgated by Pope Clement XI in 1713, opened the final phase of the Jansenist controversy in France...
. He had found it difficult to reconcile his religious beliefs with those of the increasingly authoritarian Louis XIV. He retired to an Oratorian
Oratory of Saint Philip Neri
The Oratory of Saint Philip Neri is a congregation of Catholic priests and lay-brothers who live together in a community bound together by no formal vows but only with the bond of charity. They are commonly referred to as Oratorians...
institution where he died in 1727.
Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain is a brackish estuary located in southeastern Louisiana. It is the second-largest inland saltwater body of water in the United States, after the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and the largest lake in Louisiana. As an estuary, Pontchartrain is not a true lake.It covers an area of with...
in Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
was named after him as well as the historic Hotel Pontchartrain
Hotel Pontchartrain
Hotel Pontchartrain may refer to:* The Sheraton Detroit Riverside Hotel, Detroit, Michigan * The Pontchartrain Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana...
in New Orleans, as was Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit
Fort Detroit
Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or Fort Détroit was a fort established by the French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac in 1701. The location of the former fort is now in the city of Detroit in the U.S...
in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
(the site of modern-day Detroit) and Detroit's historic Hotel Pontchartrain
Sheraton Detroit Riverside Hotel
The Detroit Riverside Hotel, is a closed high-rise hotel in downtown Detroit, Michigan.It is located across the street from Cobo Center and from 150 West Jefferson, as well as neighbouring Hotel Fort Shelby to the south. The building was constructed in 1965 to a height of 25 floors . It contains...
. In addition, Île Philippaux and Isle Pontchartrain which appear on early maps of Lake Superior
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...
are believed to have been named after him. Neither island, it was later determined, actually existed. They are thought to have been added to maps by French explorers hoping that Phélypeaux would be inspired to provide more funds to explore the area.