Louis-Léon de Brancas
Louis-Léon-Félicité de Brancas (born July 3, 1733 Paris, † October 8, 1824 Paris), 3rd Duc de Lauragais (1755 by renunciation of his father), 6th Duc de Villars (1794), was a French man of letters . He is the son of Louis II. De Brancas , 5th Duc de Villars, and Adélaïde Geneviève d'O, Marquise de Franconville, his first wife.
Life
In 1750, Léon de Madaillan de Lesparre, Marquis de Lassay and builder of the Hôtel de Lassay, died . Since she did not live in it herself, his widow gave this Hôtel particulier to the sons of her niece Adélaide-Geneviève-Félicité d'O from her marriage to Louis II. De Brancas, i.e. Louis-Léon and his brother Bufile-Antoine der Brancas. The city palace, now called Palais Brancas-Lauraguais , was used by his parents until his sons sold it to Louis V Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé in 1768 . During this time the Palais was "one of the most highly regarded private buildings" in Paris.
After giving up the military career to live in Paris in the elegant world, he made a name for himself there for his wit and bon mots . He showed just as much a sense of literature and science as he did of enjoyment. He actively made sure that actors wore costumes that corresponded to historical truth and paid the actors of the Théâtre Français 20,000 livres to take the audience benches off the stage, which obstructed the illusion. He also made significant spending on scientific experiments and was eventually forced to sell his library, one of the richest of the time. The Académie des Sciences accepted him in 1771.
In the Ancien Régime he was "famous for his [...] enthusiasm for the customs of England, for the glamor of his gallant adventures, for his somewhat cynical philosophy and for a luxury that consumed his entire fortune."
Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, made use of the young Duke's frequent trips to London during the American War of Independence : he seemed a useful man for French diplomacy because of his relations with Shelburne and other members of the opposition, as well as with Arthur Lee's circle .
The French Restoration Government appointed him lieutenant-général des armées du Roi and a member of the Chambre des Pairs in 1814 .
Marriage and children
He married on January 11, 1755 in Paris Élisabeth-Pauline de Gand-Vilain-Merode-Isenghien , * October 20, 1737, † guillotined February 16, 1794, daughter of Alexandre-Maximilien-Balthasar de Gand, Count of Middelburg, Maréchal de camp. With her he had two daughters:
- Pauline-Louise-Antoinette-Candide-Félicité de Brancas, born November 23, 1755 Paris, † August 10, 1812 Paris; ⚭ January 19, 1773 Paris Ludwig Engelbert von Arenberg , * August 3, 1750 Brussels, † March 7, 1820 Brussels, Duke of Arenberg ( House of Arenberg )
- Antoinette-Candide-Paule de Brancas, born September 24, 1756, † 1777, nun in the Abbaye-aux-Bois
With his mistress, the singer Sophie Arnould , he had four children, including Antoine-Constant de Brancas (born October 16, 1764 Paris, † May 21, 1809) in the Battle of Aspern , Colonel during the Revolutionary Wars and the Empire, Baron de l'Empire.
He died in 1824 at the age of 91 and was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery (Division 13). Since he had no legitimate male descendants, his nephew Louis Marie Baptiste de Brancas inherited the titles Duc de Villars, Duc de Lauraguais and Pair de France.
Works
Louis-Léon de Brancas wrote a number of works, some of a political nature, but also two tragedies that were never performed:
- Clytemnestre , Tragedy in five acts and in verse, Paris, 1761
- Mémoire sur l'inoculation , Paris, 1763.
- Mémoire sur la compagnie des Indes , Paris, 1769
- Tableau de la constitution françoise, ou Autorité des rois de France dans les différens ages de la monarchie , 1771
- Memoire pour moi; par moi Louis de Brancas, comte de Lauraguais ; London, 1773
- Jocaste , Tragedy in Five Acts, 1781
- Dissertation on les Assemblées nationales, sous les trois races des rois de France , Paris, 1788
- Lettre sur les Etats-généraux, convoqués par Louis XVI, et composés par M. de Target par M. le Comte de Lauraguais , Paris, 1788.
- Première lettre d'un incrédule à un converti , Paris, 1796 (?)
literature
- Adolphe Robert, Gaston Cougny: Dictionnaire des parlamentaires français. Edgard Bourloton, 1889-1891
- Henri Doniol: Histoire de la participation de la France à l'établissement des Etats-Unis d'Amérique. Paris, 1866–1899, 6 volumes
- Paul Fromageot: Les Fantaisies littéraires, galantes, politiques et autres d'un grand seigneur. Le Comte de Lauraguais (1733-1824). in: Revue des études historiques , No. 80, 19149, pp. 14–56.
- Gustave Vapereau: Dictionnaire universel des littératures. Paris, Hachette, 1876, p. 1205.
- Odile Chardon: Louis-Léon de Brancas, come de Lauraguais et la porcelaine dure. Revue de la Société des Amis du Musée National de Céramique, No. 17, 2008, pp. 66–79.
Web link
- Association des Amis du Père Lachaise, ( online )
Remarks
- ↑ Gunter Pirntke, Mätressenwirtschaft , 2019.
- ↑ Louis-Philippe de Ségur , Mémoires, souvenirs et anecdotespar M. le comte de Ségur , quoted in: Histoire et dictionnaire du temps des Lumiéres, 1715–1789. P. 454.
- ↑ Doniol, pp. 378-9.
- ↑ Aubert only assigns Antoine-Constant de Brancas to him, as well as three children of unknown women; after Pattou the others were: Louis (1759–1762), Auguste Camille (* 1761) and Alexandrine Sophie (1767–1797) ⚭ 1780 André de Murville; He had a daughter from Marie-Catherine Vitry, Henriette Louise de Lauraguais, * 1776, ⚭ 1794 Pierre Joseph de Sainte-Luce-Oudaille (1768–1840); He has recognized all of his illegitimate children (Étienne Patou, Maison d'O ( online , accessed January 2, 2020))
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Brancas, Louis-Léon de |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Brancas, Louis-Léon-Félicité de, Duc de Villars, Duc de Lauragais |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French man of letters |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 3, 1733 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 8, 1824 |
| Place of death | Paris |