Philippe-Auguste de Sainte-Foy

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Philippe-Auguste de Sainte-Foy, Chevalier d'Arc (also: Chevalier d'Arcq) (born July 20, 1721 in Paris , † February 5, 1795 in Paris) was a French officer and writer .

Life

Philippe-Auguste was born in 1721 as the natural son of the French admiral Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon-Toulouse (1678-1737). His mother was Madeleine d'Aumont, a woman of simple origin with whom the admiral had an affair under the code name Louis Alexandre de Sainte-Foy . The Comte de Bourbon-Toulouse was himself a natural son of King Louis XIV. Although Philippe-Auguste was thus a grandson of the Sun King , he was denied social advancement because his father would never recognize him.

Philippe-Auguste joined the French army and served in the Netherlands during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748) . There he took part in the Battle of Fontenoy (May 11, 1745) and then served in the Régiment des Royal Cravates . He distinguished himself through personal bravery and was thereupon by King Louis XV. equipped with a detailed letter of nobility, after which he called himself Chevalier d'Arcq from now on . After the war he retired from the army.

In the following years the Chevalier d'Arc devoted himself to writing. His most important work was "La noblesse militaire, ou le Patriote français" , which was intended as an answer to the book "La noblesse commerçante" by Abbé Gabriel-François Coyer (1707–1787). In terms of content, he dealt with the social preference of the high nobility in military matters and advocated that the nobility would be obliged to put their strength in the service of the state. He also called for the title of nobility to be linked to military merit and commitment, which also enables commoners to have personal access to the nobility. The work therefore caused quite a stir. His last two works, however, remained unfinished, as they enjoyed little demand and only the first volume was published.

Little is known about the life of the Chevalier d'Arc. He became the first falconer with the Duke of Provence and in 1772 married the commoner Anne Marie Richard (1750–1801). During this period he was also accepted into the Order of Malta . For reasons that are no longer known, he had to go into exile several times , for example in Tulle in 1779 and in Montauban from 1785 to 1789 . Philippe-Auguste died in Paris on February 5, 1795.

Works

Histoire du commerce , 1758 ( Fondazione Mansutti , Milano)
  • Lettre d'Osman (1753)
  • Le Roman du jour, pour servir à l'histoire du siècle (1754)
  • Le Palais du Silence (1754)
  • Mes Loisirs (1755)
  • La noblesse militaire, ou le Patriote français opposé à la noblesse commerçante (1756)
  • Histoire générale des guerres (1756)
  • Histoire du commerce et de la navigation des anciens et des modern (1758)

literature

  • A. Beuchot: ARC (Philippe-Auguste de Sainte-Foy, chevalier d '), in: J.Fr. Michaud (Ed.): Biographie Universelle, Vol. 2, Graz 1966, p. 151 (reprint of the edition from 1854)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Sainte-Foy, Philippe-Auguste de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Arc, Philippe-Auguste de Sainte-Foix chevalier d '; Arcq, Philippe-Auguste de Sainte-Foy chevalier
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French officer and writer
DATE OF BIRTH July 20, 1721
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH February 5, 1795
Place of death Paris