Louis Marie de Narbonne-Lara

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Louis Marie Jacques Almalric Comte de Narbonne-Lara (born April 17, 1755 in Colorno , † November 17, 1813 in Torgau ) was French Minister of War under Louis XVI. and general and diplomat under Napoleon .

Louis Marie de Narbonne-Lara

Origin and family

He was the son of Field Marshal Jean-François Comte de Narbonne-Lara, 1st Duc de Narbonne-Lara and Françoise de Châlus . The mother was the maid of honor of Princess Marie Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon , Duchess of Parma, and later Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon . There is a widespread rumor that he was an illegitimate son of Louis XV. been. The son came to France in 1760 and was educated at the court of Versailles .

He joined the army and became a colonel in the Piémont regiment.

In 1782 he married Marie-Adélaïde de Montholon, a daughter of Nicolas de Montholon. The marriage resulted in two daughters. Narbonne later had an intimate relationship with Germaine de Stael . With her he had two sons.

He was considered polished and immoral and had first-class contacts in the Parisian society of the ancien regime. He belonged to the circle around Talleyrand . He was highly educated and had a distinct literary taste. He was considered an expert on Renaissance diplomacy .

French Revolution

After the beginning of the French Revolution he belonged to the party of constitutionalists loyal to the king. He became commander of the National Guard in the Doubs department . Less through violence than through negotiations, he contributed to dampening the unrest that broke out there. In 1791 he escorted the king's aunts into exile in Rome . In the same year he was appointed Marechal de Camp by the National Assembly .

In December of the same year, Louis XVI appointed him. to Minister of War. Madame de Stael played an important role in this. He then inspected the coastal defenses and the border to the west. He was extremely active and organized the formation of three armies totaling 150,000 men. In the National Assembly, however, he met political opposition. The king withdrew from this pressure and released Narbonne-Lara on March 10, 1792.

Together with de Stael and others, against the background of the radicalization of the revolution, he proposed in vain to the royal family to go into exile in Great Britain. When the king was brought into the Temple , Narbonne and other friends of Madame de Stael tried to protect him. She managed to escape to the Swedish embassy with difficulty. With the help of de Stael he managed to go into exile in London. When the trial against the king was opened, he asked the National Convention in vain for safe conduct to Louis XVI. to exonerate with his statements.

In the following years he lived in Switzerland, Swabia and most recently in Saxony. In 1800 he returned to France without initially holding a position there. It was not until 1809 that he was appointed lieutenant general.

In the service of Napoleon

De Narbonne-Lara served Napoleon as envoy on various occasions. He was the first to negotiate with Metternich about the marriage of an Austrian princess to Napoleon. In Berlin he later negotiated about further Prussian support for France. He also served temporarily as governor in Raab and Trieste . Later he was ambassador to Bavaria. He took part in the Russian campaign of 1812 on Napoleon's staff. Before the attack, he traveled to Vilnius to Alexander I to convince the French readiness for peace, but he also the clout of the Grande Armee to keep in mind. He should try to get the Russian emperor to close the ports to English ships. He should also investigate the mood of the Russian generals and prevent Alexander from attacking. Upon his return he reported to Napoleon the determination of the Russian emperor. He warned of an attack and referred to the peculiarities of the Russian people and the impassable area. Napoleon did not accept these arguments and believed a devastating blow to the heart of the empire, to great Moscow, to holy Moscow, would bring the decision. This wasted the last chance to prevent the war.

In 1813 he became envoy in Vienna because of his connections to the Austrian aristocracy . He reported on the atmosphere hostile to France, which meant that Napoleon showed little consideration for Austria, which was still officially allied. Later he was involved with Armand de Caulaincourt in the unsuccessful negotiations at the Peace Congress in Prague . After his return he was sent to Torgau as governor . On October 9th, he declared the state of siege and fought the opposing troops blocking the city with raids. He died after an accident.

literature

  • General German conversation lexicon for the educated of every class . Vol. 7. Leipzig, 1840 pp. 559f.
  • The generals of the republic and the empire . Leipzig, 1846 pp. 461-463.
  • Dieter Walz / Reinhard Münch / Wolf-Dieter Schmidt: In Napoleon's footsteps through Saxony in the war year 1813 . Passage Verlag Leipzig; 1st edition 2008; ISBN 978-3-938543-51-1

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ for example: Louis de Bourbon, Comte de Narbonne-Lara on thepeerage.com , accessed on August 21, 2015.
  2. ^ Helmina von Chézy: Life and Art in Paris since Napoleon I. Berlin, 2009 p. 451
  3. ↑ Simon Schama: The hesitating citizen. Step backwards and progress in the French Revolution. Munich, 1989 p. 233
  4. ^ Adam Zamoyski: 1812: Napoleon's campaign in Russia . Munich, 2012 p. 133
  5. ^ Anne Louise Germaine de Stael: Selected correspondence. Dordrecht, 2000 p. 34
  6. ^ Alan Palmer : Napoleon in Russia. Frankfurt am Main, 1969 p. 23
  7. ^ Alan Palmer: Napoleon in Russia. Frankfurt am Main, 1969 p. 24, Adam Zamoyski: 1812. Napoleon's campaign in Russia. Munich, 2012 p. 156
personal data
SURNAME Narbonne-Lara, Louis Marie de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Narbonne-Lara, Louis Marie Jacques Almalric Comte de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French general, minister of war and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH April 17, 1755
PLACE OF BIRTH Colorno
DATE OF DEATH November 17, 1813
Place of death Torgau