Alexandre-Marie-Léonor de Saint-Mauris de Montbarrey

Alexandre-Marie-Léonor de Saint-Mauris de Montbarrey

Alexandre-Marie-Léonor de Saint-Mauris, Count (later: Prince ) de Montbarrey et de Savigny (born April 20, 1732 in Besançon ; † May 5, 1796 in Constance ) was Minister of War of France from 1777 to 1780.

biography

On April 9, 1774, de Montbarrey was raised to the rank of imperial prince by Emperor Joseph II , while simultaneously conferring the titles "Illustrissimus" and "Consanguineus carissimus". The most Christian king , Louis XVI. , confirmed this increase in rank in August 1776. The Prince of Montbarrey was then appointed French Minister of War by him, but soon aroused the displeasure of Marie-Antoinette . He was a feeble courtier who devoted all of their creativity to his progress at court. His time as minister left no lasting impression. He tried to improve his position at court by marrying his daughter to the son of the ruling Prince Ludwig von Nassau-Saarbrücken. This marriage was politically not without controversy in France and also triggered the resentment of the Nassau family, as the Saarbrücken Hereditary Prince was only eleven years old at the time of the marriage. In 1780, during the French intervention in the American Revolutionary War , he asked for his release from office because of the continued criticism from Treasury Secretary Jacques Necker . The Minister of War used significant funds from the military budget to increase the military strength of the Principality of Nassau-Saarbrücken. Among other things, the donations allowed Prince Ludwig of Nassau-Saarbrücken to set up not only a regiment of Royal Nassau-Sarrebruck infantry , but also a much more expensive regiment of Royal Nassau-Sarrebruck Cavalery . After storming the Bastille , he retired to his castle near Besançon . In 1791 he fled from the French Revolution to join his daughter's husband, the Hereditary Prince Heinrich von Nassau-Saarbrücken .

De Montbarrey was entrusted by the king with the office of Oberlandvogts (Grand Préfet) in Alsace. In this capacity, after his flight, in opposition to the forces of the revolution, he campaigned for the preservation of feudal rights in Alsace.

literature

• Albert Ruppersberg : History of the county of Saarbrücken. Vol. 2, Saarbrücken 2nd edition 1910 (ND St. Ingbert 1979)
• Alexandre-Marie-Léonor de Saint-Mauris de Montbarrey : Mémoires du prince de Montbarey , Paris 1823, (digitized version ) , accessed on January 29, 2019.

Web links

• Ludwig von Nassau-Saarbrücken in the Saarland biographies

predecessor	Office	successor
Claude-Louis, Comte de Saint-Germain	Minister of War of France September 27, 1777 - December 19, 1780	Philippe-Henri de Ségur