Joseph Jérôme Siméon

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Portrait from the album du centennaire by Augustine Challamel (1889). More graph. Portraits known
Caricature by Honoré Daumier , 1835.
Signature of Joseph Jérôme Siméons as Minister of Justice in the Kingdom of Westphalia

Joseph Jérôme, comte Siméon (born September 30, 1749 in Aix-en-Provence , † January 19, 1842 in Paris ) was a French lawyer and politician . At the outbreak of the French Revolution he was in the administrative service and had to flee France twice in the turmoil of the revolution. During the reign of King Jérôme in the Kingdom of Westphalia , he was initially the latter's Second State Councilor, and later Minister of Justice and the Interior (until December 31, 1808 in personal union , then only Minister of Justice). In 1810 he was interim Minister of War for a short time . After the collapse of the Kingdom of Westphalia, he was in the service of the restored Bourbon dynasty and also experienced the July Revolution of 1830 , meanwhile raised to the rank of count and awarded the Grand Cordon of the Legion of Honor .

Life

Before and during the French Revolution (1749–1799)

Joseph Jérôme Siméon was born on September 30, 1749 in Aix-en-Provence and was, like his father Joseph-Sextius Siméon (1717–1788), from 1778 initially professor of law at the university there . In the same year he married Françoise Garcin († 1815), their son Joseph-Balthazard Siméon (1781-1846) was a diplomat during the Restoration era . In 1783 he entered the administrative service as an assessor for Provence , but lost his positions during the revolution, which he was rather hostile to. However, he welcomed the social achievements. In 1793 he took part in the provincial uprisings that followed the events of May 31 to June 2, 1793, during which the Girondins lost their position in the National Convention under pressure from the Parisian people . He was declared an outlaw and had to flee to Italy from the reign of terror . Only after the fall of Maximilien de Robespierre on 9th Thermidor II (July 27, 1794) did he return to France. From 1795 he was a Conservative member of the Council of Five Hundred , the second chamber of the French Parliament , from August 19 to September 21, 1797 also its president. A failed conspiracy in the Pluviôse on V (January / February 1797) saw him as Minister of Justice. After violent protests against the coup d'état of the 18th Fructidor V (September 4, 1797), however, he had to flee France again to avoid prison. In 1799 he was finally arrested and interned on the Île d'Oléron until Napoleon came to power through the coup d'état of 18th Brumaire VIII (9 November 1799) .

During the Napoleonic Era (1799-1813)

Napoleon appointed him on April 18, 1800 (year VIII according to the republican calendar) as a member of the Tribunate as a member of the Bouches du Rhône department. Before that, he replaced the chief prosecutor at the court of cassation . As a member of the Corps législatif, he helped to develop the meaning and goals of the Civil Code . In 1804 he was appointed a member of the Conseil d'État .

Joseph Jérôme Siméon (1810), private collection François-Josèphe Kinson

After the establishment of the Kingdom of Westphalia through the Peace of Tilsit , Napoleon first set up a three-member government in August 1807, consisting of Jacques Claude Beugnot , Jean-Baptiste-Moïse Jollivet and Joseph Jérôme Siméon to administer the satellite state . Beugnot and Jollivet were jointly responsible for building the administration and the Ministry of Finance, while Siméon was entrusted with reorganizing the judiciary and preparing for the introduction of the civil code. After the enactment of the Constitution on 15 November 1807 by a decree of Napoleon initially a purely French government prevailed in Westphalia, within a few months, most officials were replaced by Germans, only Simeon remained in office. Until the arrival of King Jérôme on December 6, 1807, the government council ruled autonomously. Siméon was the only minister of the Kingdom of Westphalia who remained in office throughout its existence.

The Civil Code was introduced as a civil code on January 1, 1808 (parallel to this, the Code de procédure as civil procedural law). As minister, Siméon managed a completely rewritten judicial system. At the head of the judiciary in 1808, the highest instances were initially a court of appeal with 26 judges in Kassel and the Council of State. Among these, a criminal court was set up in each of the eight departments , and a civil court (court of first instance) was set up in each of the districts ; in the Canton were Friedensrichter used, which for the individual municipalities also constitute the police dishes on the bottom of Justice level. On February 29, 1808, the business of all former courts of law and the patrimonial jurisdiction were terminated. On August 8, a court of appeal for commercial matters started work in Braunschweig. In 1810, after the incorporation of the Electorate of Braunschweig-Lüneburg and the associated expansion of the kingdom to eleven departments , the Celle Court of Appeal was created as an equal authority to the Court of Appeal in Kassel. In addition, a separate court of cassation and a petition commission were created.

The most important services that the judiciary in Westphalia provided were the abolition of serfdom and the reduction of the privileges of the nobility, as well as the equality of all subjects before the law, which also included the unconditional equality of the Jews . The abolition of all duties and services inherited from feudalism without compensation did not succeed in Westphalia, as aristocratic landowners successfully resisted in central administrative offices. So all the obligations of the former servants that burdened the property remained in place, in some cases there were also imprecise regulations for the variety of taxes . An opposition in the State Council also made it difficult for those ministers who advocated the economization of land. Siméon, who was one of these ministers, at times represented a radical demand , particularly with the abolition of manual and span services, and, as expected, could not prevail in the State Council "against the united front of the Westphalian aristocratic opposition". Not least because of this, he was relatively isolated at the court in Kassel. A decisive factor here was that he did not learn the German language during his entire activity in the Kingdom of Westphalia. He even temporarily disappeared from the list of conseillers d'Etat . Despite this loss of title, he remained one of the most influential politicians in the kingdom and was raised to the rank of Grand Commander of the Order of the Westphalian Crown on November 14, 1810 for his services , an honor that was bestowed on only four other people. In addition, he was Grand Master of the Grand State Lodge of Freemasons in Kassel . As early as 1810, he was considered one of the few ministers who were able to effectively direct the fate of the state. After King Jérôme left for Russia in 1812 and the transfer of power to Queen Catherine , Siméon was able to expand his position again. He took over the chairmanship of the Council of Ministers, which stood by Katharina in an advisory capacity and in practice also held the position of State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, since the incumbent accompanied the king on the Russian campaign.

After the end of the Kingdom of Westphalia (1813–1842)

On October 12, 1813, Gustav Anton von Wolffradt von Siméon took over the Ministry of Justice in Westphalia for the last few weeks, as the latter had fled to France from the approaching Cossacks . Despite a violent anti-Bourbon speech in the course of the elevation of Napoleon to emperor, he entered the service of the Restoration after the end of the Empire . In the course of the First Restoration he became Prefect of the North Department , and during the Napoleonic rule of the Hundred Days in 1815 he was elected to the House of Representatives. After the final defeat of Napoleon, he was given a place in the Chambre introuvable , the second chamber of parliament, in the Second Restoration (1815-1830) . In 1815 he became a member of the Conseil d'Etat again.

In 1818 he was appointed Comte and in January 1820 Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Justice. From February 21 to December 14, 1821 he was Minister of the Interior in Armand du Plessi's cabinet , and he also chaired the training committee. In the same year he was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Legion of Honor and in October he was appointed Peer of France and after the end of the du Plessis government, he was appointed Ministre d'Etat, which at that time was a purely honorary title. On August 30, 1824, he married Amélie Cornuau (1776-1840) after his first wife had died in 1815.

In 1830 he joined the monarchy under Louis-Philippe I during the July Revolution . After the restoration of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in 1832, he was one of the first members of the Academy. He held his last public position as First President of the French Court of Auditors between May 1837 and March 1839. Siméon died on January 19, 1842 at the age of 92 in Paris.

reception

The appreciation that Joseph Jérôme Siméon experienced in France during his lifetime can be seen in the fact that he held an office under eight different administrations. It is also rated extremely positively in German historiography of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Georg Winter explains that he was “one of the few French officials from the time of that foreign rule who enjoyed general respect and who, even in the harshest pamphlets against the malevolence in the Kingdom of Westphalia, directed almost no malicious attacks ". Friedrich Karl von Strombeck established as early as 1833 that the Kingdom of Westphalia owes in particular to Joseph Jérôme Siméon a judicial system "which still seems to be masterful". The praise was particularly exuberant in Arthur Kleinschmidt's story of the Kingdom of Westphalia from 1893. For him, “the liberal man with the broad horizon was indisputably the main pillar of the young throne; [...] his line of ideas was precise, clear, correct, his character was determined and free of spots, he was the most respected of all ministers ”.

In more modern historiography, his services to the reform of the judicial constitution, which was revolutionary for the conditions at the time in Germany, are in the focus. The introduction of the hierarchically structured French judicial system, which left no room for competing powers and thus also severely limited the power of the church, attracted particular attention. He is therefore rightly considered the minister from whom the strongest reform impulses in the Kingdom of Westphalia emanated, or, in the words of Jean Tulard , as “homme fort du royaume”. Nevertheless, Siméon was by no means able to implement all of his reform projects; in particular the futile struggle to abolish feudal rule shows that there were other powerful influences at the court in Kassel. The interpretation of Klaus Rob, who complains that Justus Christoph Leist, when attempting to introduce a new agricultural constitution from Siméon, “who is in no way able to cope with the partly secret, partly open obstruction [e] and - probably hardly a solid one , stands relatively isolated Character - to break down confrontations by giving in is used ", was not supported. This is countered by Tulard's statement that Siméon enforced the use of a non-adapted civil code as a code of law even against considerable resistance from the nobility.

Honors and titles

  • Knight of the First Empire (September 10, 1808)
  • Grand Commander of the Order of the Westphalian Crown (November 14, 1810)
  • Baron of the First Empire (1813)
  • First comte Siméon (July 3, 1818)
  • Pair of France (October 1821, associated with conferring the majorate for the title of Baron-Pair)
  • Great Cordon of the Legion of Honor (1821)

Publications

  • Motion d'ordre par Siméon, sur les délits de la presse; séance du 30 thermidor at V , Paris 1797.
  • Nouveau projet de résolution sur les délits de la presse: en conséquence de l'arrêté du 22 pluviôse présenté par Siméon , Paris 1797
  • Opinion de Siméon, sur la répression des délits de la presse , Paris 1797.
  • Report fait au nom d'une commission spéciale par Siméon; sur le projet de loi relatif au Concordat, à ses articles organiques, et à ceux des cultes protestans; séance du 17 germinal at 10 , Paris 1802.
  • Discourse prononcé par Siméon, sur la motion d'ordre relative au gouvernement héréditaire; séance extraordinaire du 10 floréal at 12 , Paris 1804.

swell

  • Klaus Rob (edit.): Government files of the Kingdom of Westphalia 1807–1813 (= sources on the reforms in the states of the Rhine Confederation 2) , Munich 1992.

literature

Web links

Commons : Joseph Jérôme Siméon  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Siméon, Joseph Jerome Comte. (No longer available online.) Europeana, archived from the original on October 30, 2017 ; Retrieved June 25, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.europeana.eu
  2. ↑ Original storage location: Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg , Kingdom of Westphalia, inventory 76a (prefecture), No. 204.
  3. ↑ Article Joseph Jérôme Comte Simeon. In: Hugh Chisolm (Ed.): Encyclopædia Britannica , Volume 25; Cambridge 1911, p. 122.
  4. ^ Jean Tulard: Siméon et l'organization du royaume de Westphalie (1807-1813). In: Francia 1 (1973), p. 561.
  5. ^ Jean Tulard: Siméon et l'organization du royaume de Westphalie (1807-1813). In: Francia 1 (1973), p. 560.
  6. ^ Gabriele B. Clemens: Prince servants - collaborators? The officials in the Kingdom of Westphalia : in: Jens Flemming, Dietfrid Krause-Vilmar (Ed.): Foreign rule and freedom: The Kingdom of Westphalia as a Napoleonic model state , Kassel 2009, p. 125.
  7. ↑ Connelly, Owen: Napoleon's satellite kingdoms. New York 1965, p. 182.
  8. ↑ Connelly, Owen: Napoleon's satellite kingdoms. New York 1965, p. 186. Wolffradt's appointment as successor to Siméon took place after the first conquest of Kassel by the Cossacks on October 1, 1813.
  9. ^ Arthur Kleinschmidt: History of the Kingdom of Westphalia ; Gotha 1893, p. 152.
  10. ^ Owen Connelly: Napoleon's satellite kingdoms ; New York 1965, pp. 188f.
  11. ^ Jean Tulard: Siméon et l'organization du royaume de Westphalie (1807-1813). In: Francia 1 (1973), p. 564f. Arthur Kleinschmidt: History of the Kingdom of Westphalia ; Gotha 1893, p. 156.
  12. ↑ Helmut Berding: Napoleonic rule and social policy in the Kingdom of Westphalia 1807–1813 (= critical studies on historical science 7); Göttingen 1973, p. 76.
  13. ↑ Overview page of the French National Library on the almanacs impériaux, see volumes 1810–1813 .
  14. ^ Arthur Kleinschmidt: History of the Kingdom of Westphalia. Gotha 1893.
  15. ^ Jean Tulard: Siméon et l'organization du royaume de Westphalie (1807-1813) : in: Francia 1 (1973), p. 562.
  16. ^ Jean Tulard: Siméon et l'organization du royaume de Westphalie (1807-1813). In: Francia 1 (1973), p. 566.
  17. ↑ Klaus Rob (edit.): Government files of the Kingdom of Westphalia 1807–1813 (= sources on the reforms in the states of the Rhine Confederation 2); Munich 1992, p. 12.
  18. ^ Jean Tulard: Siméon et l'organization du royaume de Westphalie (1807-1813). In: Francia 1 (1973), p. 567.
  19. ^ Ancien Régime , Rule of the Directory , Napoleonic Era, Kingdom of Westphalia, First Restoration, Rule of 100 Days, Second Restoration, July Monarchy.
  20. ^ Georg Winter: Siméon, Joseph Jérôme Comte. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. (ADB), Volume 34, Leipzig 1892, p. 349.
  21. ^ Karl Friedrich von Strombeck: Representations from my life and from my time. Volume II, Braunschweig 1833, p. 49f.
  22. ^ Arthur Kleinschmidt: History of the Kingdom of Westphalia. Gotha 1893, p. 149.
  23. ^ Helmut Berding: The Kingdom of Westphalia as a Napoleonic model state (1807-1813). Kassel 2003, p. 6.
  24. ↑ Helmut Berding: Napoleonic rule and social policy in the Kingdom of Westphalia 1807-1813 (= Critical Studies on History 7). Göttingen 1973, p. 76.
  25. ^ Jean Tulard: Siméon et l'organization du royaume de Westphalie (1807-1813). In: Francia 1 (1973), p. 562.
  26. ↑ Klaus Rob (edit.): Government files of the Kingdom of Westphalia 1807–1813 (= sources on the reforms in the states of the Rhine Confederation 2); Munich 1992, p. 17f.
  27. ^ Jean Tulard: Siméon et l'organization du royaume de Westphalie (1807-1813). In: Francia 1 (1973), p. 566.
personal data
SURNAME Siméon, Joseph Jérôme
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Siméon, Joseph Jérôme, comte (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French lawyer and politician
DATE OF BIRTH September 30, 1749
PLACE OF BIRTH Aix-en-Provence
DATE OF DEATH January 19, 1842
Place of death Paris