Simon Arnauld, marquis de Pomponne
Encyclopedia
Lord
Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
and then Marquis
Marquis
Marquis is a French and Scottish title of nobility. The English equivalent is Marquess, while in German, it is Markgraf.It may also refer to:Persons:...
(1682) of Pomponne
Pomponne
Pomponne is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.The inhabitants are called Pomponnais.-History:...
(Paris, November 1618 - Fontainebleau, 26 September 1699) 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...
diplomat and minister.
Early life
Simon Arnauld was born in Paris in 1618. He was son of Robert Arnauld d'AndillyRobert Arnauld d'Andilly
Robert Arnauld d’Andilly was a French conseiller d’État, specialising in financial questions, in the court of Marie de' Medici. By the elegance of his language, he was among the major poets, writers and translators of 17th century French classicism...
, governor of Monsieur and "intendant d'armée" under Richelieu, and of Catherine Le Fevre de la Boderie. Member of the famous jansenist
Jansenism
Jansenism was a Christian theological movement, primarily in France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. The movement originated from the posthumously published work of the Dutch theologian Cornelius Otto Jansen, who died in 1638...
family Arnauld
Arnauld family
The Arnauld family was a noble French family prominent in the 17th century, and closely associated with Jansenism, associating frequently with the Jansenist religious communities in Port-Royal de Paris and Port-Royal des Champs...
(his siblings were Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld (1616-1698)
- Biography :Eldest son of Robert Arnauld d'Andilly, Antoine Arnauld was born in 1616. His first tutor was Martin de Barcos, the nephew of the Abbot of St. Cyran. He was then sent to the college of Lisieux in order to finish his studies...
and Angélique de Saint-Jean Arnauld d'Andilly
Angélique de Saint-Jean Arnauld d'Andilly
Angélique de Saint-Jean Arnauld d'Andilly was a French Jansenist nun. Niece of Angélique Arnauld, daughter of Robert Arnauld d'Andilly, and sister of Antoine Arnauld and Simon Arnauld, Angélique de Saint-Jean Arnauld d'Andilly was from the Jansenist Arnauld family.-Life:She entered the ...
), he was named Simon Arnauld de Briottes till 1643, then Simon Arnauld d'Andilly from 1643 to 1660, and eventually Simon Arnauld de Pomponne, after the estate of Pomponne, which was led to him by his mother, when he got married in 1660.
After having been taught by Martin Barcos, he entered the world of the "précieuses", attending the salon of Mme de Rambouillet, with several members of his family. He wrote a number of poems for the "Guirlande de Julie
Guirlande de Julie
The Guirlande de Julie is a unique French manuscript of sixty-two madrigaux.The salon of Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet , wife of Charles d'Angennes, marquis de Rambouillet , was the first and most brilliant Parisian literary salon of the first half of the 17th century, at its...
", and was a friend of important writers, such as Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné
Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné
Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné was a French aristocrat, remembered for her letter-writing. Most of her letters, celebrated for their wit and vividness, were addressed to her daughter.-Life:...
, Marie-Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, comtesse de la Fayette
Marie-Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, comtesse de la Fayette
Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, comtesse de La Fayette , better known as Madame de La Fayette, was a French writer, the author of La Princesse de Clèves, France's first historical novel and one of the earliest novels in literature.- Life :Christened Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, she was...
, and the duke François de La Rochefoucauld
François de La Rochefoucauld (writer)
François VI, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillac was a noted French author of maxims and memoirs. The view of human conduct his writings describe has been summed up by the words "everything is reducible to the motive of self-interest", though the term "gently cynical" has also been applied...
.
Early career
He began his career as an "intendant" of the French garrison in CasaleCasale Monferrato
Casale Monferrato, population 36,058, is a town and comune in the Piedmont region of north-west Italy, part of the province of Alessandria. It is situated about 60 km east of Turin on the right bank of the Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montferrato hills. Beyond the river lies the...
, where he staid from 1642 to 1647. Then, supported by Mazarin and Michel Le Tellier
Michel Le Tellier
Michel Le Tellier, marquis de Barbezieux, seigneur de Chaville et de Viroflay was a French statesman.-Biography:...
, he was appointed "intendant d'armée" in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, in 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...
during the Fronde
Fronde
The Fronde was a civil war in France, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. The word fronde means sling, which Parisian mobs used to smash the windows of supporters of Cardinal Mazarin....
, and in Catalonia.
He first acted as a diplomat in 1655, having to negotiate and sign a treaty with the Duke of Mantua
Mantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
, a mission he was to achieve outstandingly. But, as Jansenism began to widespread, his uncle Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld — le Grand as contemporaries called him, to distinguish him from his father — was a French Roman Catholic theologian, philosopher, and mathematician...
became one of its leaders, while his own father decided to retire in Port-Royal
Port-Royal
Port-Royal-des-Champs was an abbey of Cistercian nuns in Magny-les-Hameaux, in the Vallée de Chevreuse southwest of Paris that launched a number of culturally important institutions.-History:...
. It explains why, in 1658, Mazarin refused to let him become chancellor of Monsieur, 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...
's own brother. Worst of it, Pomponne turned to be both a client and a friend of Nicolas Fouquet
Nicolas Fouquet
Nicolas Fouquet, marquis de Belle-Île, vicomte de Melun et Vaux was the Superintendent of Finances in France from 1653 until 1661 under King Louis XIV...
, and married one of his cousins. Hence his exiles in Verdun
Verdun
Verdun is a city in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is the slightly smaller city of Bar-le-Duc.- History :...
in the East of France (1662-1664), then in his estate of Pomponne (1664-1665).
The Diplomat
Though he was allowed back in Paris by the King only in 1665, his friendships with Michel Le Tellier, Le Pelletier and Hugues de LionneHugues de Lionne
Hugues de Lionne was a French statesman.He was born in Grenoble, of an old family of Dauphiné. Early trained for diplomacy, he fell into disgrace under Cardinal Richelieu, but his remarkable abilities attracted the notice of Cardinal Mazarin, who sent him as secretary of the French embassy to the...
enabled him to be promoted as ambassador to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. His part was to prevent this State from entering the Triple Alliance (1665-1668). Even if Sweden strengthened its links with the United Provinces, Pomponne gave the King complete satisfaction, and was thus entrusted a new mission, this time in the United-Provinces (1668-1671). In 1671, however, he was recalled to Sweden for the delicate mission of forging a new alliance between Sweden and France. Therefore, United Provinces were isolated on the diplomatic scale, and could be attacked by Louis XIV.
After Hugues de Lionne, Secretary of State for Foreign affairs, died in September 1671, Simon Arnauld de Pomponne was brought to this board, of which he remained in charge until 1679. His style is one of a real diplomat, trying to find agreements with other countries, during war times, while Louvois
François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois
François Michel Le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois was the French Secretary of State for War for a significant part of the reign of Louis XIV. Louvois and his father, Michel le Tellier, would increase the French Army to 400,000 soldiers, an army that would fight four wars between 1667 and 1713...
, Secretary of State for War, was more aggressive and keen to fight. While Pomponne managed to obtain the peace treaty of Nijmegen (1678), he was eventually dismissed at a time when the King wanted to conduct a more brutal Foreign policy (18 November 1679).
Latter years
However, the King remained favourable to him: his estate of Pomponne became a marquisate in 1682, and his sons were offered a regiment and an important abbey. Louis XIV called him back in 1691 (as member of the Conseil d'en hautConseil du Roi
The Conseil du Roi or King's Council is a general term for the administrative and governmental apparatus around the king of France during the Ancien Régime designed to prepare his decisions and give him advice...
, but without the charge of a specific board), right after Louvois' death, and fostered the marriage of the son of the Secretary of State for Foreign affairs, the marquis de Torcy
Jean-Baptiste Colbert, marquis de Torcy
Jean-Baptiste Colbert, marquis de Torcy , generally called Colbert de Torcy, was a French diplomat, who negotiated some of the most important treaties towards the end of Louis XIV's reign, notably the treaty that occasioned the War of the Spanish Succession , in which the dying Charles II of Spain...
, with Pomponne's daughter. Pomponne still played an important role in French policy in the 1690s.
He died in Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau...
in 1699.