Michel de Marillac

Michel de Marillac (born August 28, 1560 in Paris , † August 7, 1632 in Châteaudun ) was an important statesman in the France of the Ancien Régime . He shaped the policy of the French crown under Louis XIII . played a key role in various functions. Marillac was committed to religious politics as a determined Catholic in the so-called League . He was the uncle of Louise de Marillac , who was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1934.

Childhood and youth

Marillac came from an important family in the Hochauvergne. Because his parents died early, he was orphaned at the age of ten. Marillac went to school in Paris. He soon distinguished himself through his knowledge of various languages. In addition to Italian and Spanish, this also included Latin and ancient Greek.

Political activity

Marillac was already a member of the Paris Parliament in 1586 , where he took on the function of a council. A year later he married Marguerite Barbe de la Forterie, who, in addition to her noble origins, also brought a significant dowry into the joint marriage. The religious wars that had been raging in France for over two decades were approaching their climax at the time. Marillac took a stand on the side of the strictly Catholic devotees and was involved in the league . Nonetheless, he also repeatedly took mediating positions.

After Marillac first worked with Henry IV in 1594 . had met, he secretly worked in Paris to ensure that the gates of the capital were opened to the king. In recognition of this, Heinrich appointed him maître des requêtes (requete master) the following year . In 1600 Marguerite Barbe de la Forterie, who had given four children to Marillac, died. Marillac therefore married Marie de Saint-Germain in 1601. Not least thanks to his half-brother Louis, Marillac soon gained the favor of Maria von Médicis . At the instigation of the Queen Mother, he was appointed Councilor of State in 1612. From 1624 Marillac held the position of chief manager of finance . As such, he tried to counteract the inappropriate use of royal funds. In 1626 Marillac, who in the meantime was also patronized by the First Minister Richelieu , rose to keep the seal . In this function he was in 1626/27 before a notable assembly , which should work out solutions to widespread grievances in the kingdom. On the basis of the resolutions of this assembly, Marillac prepared a fundamental reform of the ancien régime. The resulting legislation was named after its creator "Code Michau" and marked the climax of Marillac's political work.

Loss of power and death

However, Marillac's reform work soon fell victim to a change in course in the policy of the Ancien Régime, which was largely driven by Richelieu . Something similar can be said about Marillac himself, especially since at the end of the 1620s the latter turned against plans by the First Minister to intervene militarily in northern Italy in the context of the War of the Mantuan Succession . The political fate of Marillac was sealed in 1630 in connection with the journée des dupes . In the power struggle between Richelieu and the Queen Mother, Louis XIII. decided in favor of his First Minister, the latter saw Marillac as the central adversary. Marillac was therefore disempowered and then brought first to Caen and Lisieux , and later to Châteaudun . While he was allowed to move freely here at first, the escape of the Queen Mother from the castle of Compiègne Richelieu caused Marillacs to be locked up. Marillac died in Châteaudun while he was working on a translation of the biblical book of Job .

Code Michau

In addition to several writings, Marillac left the Code Michau as his most important work. The 430 articles of this collection of laws related to all aspects of government action. However, full implementation of the Michau Code failed due to the aforementioned shift in focus in French politics. In particular, the Parliament of Paris put up massive resistance to Richelieu's influence by refusing to register the order in which the law was written. Parliament was only able to give way through a lit de justice in the presence of the king. Nevertheless, only a small part of the regulations of the Michau Code were subsequently applied. In the history of the Ancien Régime, there was no longer a collection of laws in this format . With the death of Marillac, the last politician who could have suggested a serious alternative to Richelieu's politics disappeared .

literature

• Donald A. Bailey: Power and piety: The religiosity of Michel de Marillac , in: Canadian Journal of History 42.1 (2007), pp. 1-24.
• Maillet-Rao, La pensée politique des dévots Mathieu de Morgues et Michel de Marillac. Une opposition au ministériat du cardinal de Richelieu , Paris 2015. ISBN 9782745329035
• Georges Pagès: Autour du "grand orage": Richelieu et Marillac, deux politiques , in: Revue historique 179 (1937), pp. 63-97.
• Lothar Schilling: Legislation in France Ludwig XIII. - a constitutive element of absolutism? The example of the Code Michau (1629), in: Ius Commune. Zeitschrift für Europäische Rechtsgeschichte 24 (1997), pp. 91-131.

supporting documents

1. ↑ Donald A. Bailey, The family and early career of Michel de Marillac (1560-1632), in: Mack P. Holt (ed.), Society and institutions in early modern France, Athens et al. 1991, pp. 170-189.
2. ↑ Donald A. Bailey, Power and piety: The religiosity of Michel de Marillac, in: Canadian Journal of History 42.1 (2007), pp. 1-24.
3. ↑ Lefèvre, Nicolas (sieur de Lezeau), La vie de Michel de Marillac (1560-1632), garde des sceaux de France sous Louis XIII, transcribed and edited by Donald A. Bailey, Laval 2007.
4. ↑ Caroline Maillet-Rao, La pensée politique des dévots Mathieu de Morgues and Michel de Marillac. Une opposition au ministériat du cardinal de Richelieu, Paris 2015.
5. ^ Yves-Marie Bercé, “Marillac (Michel de)”, in: François Bluche, Dictionnaire du grand siècle, Paris 2005, pp. 975f., Here 976.
6. ↑ Abel Poitrineau, “Code Michau”, in: François Bluche (ed.), Dictionnaire du Grand Siècle, Paris 2005, p. 340.