Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Sens | |
 | |
| In office | 1788–1790 |
| Predecessor | Paul d'Albert de Luynes |
| Successor | Anne Louis Henri de La Fare |
| Previous posts | Archbishop of Toulouse (1763–88) Bishop of Condom (1760–63) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 8 March 1752 |
| Consecration | 11 January 1761 by Paul d'Albert de Luynes |
| Created cardinal | 15 December 1788 byPope Pius VI |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 October 1727 Paris, France |
| Died | 19 February 1794 (aged 66) |
| Chief Minister of France | |
| In office 1 May 1787 – 25 August 1788 | |
| Monarch | Louis XVI |
| Preceded by | Count of Vergennes |
| Succeeded by | Jacques Necker |
Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne (French:[etjɛnʃaʁldəlɔmenidəbʁijɛn]; 9 October 1727 – 19 February 1794)[1] was a French clergyman, bishop,cardinal,politician andfinance minister of KingLouis XVI.
He was born inParis, in the Loménie family fromFlavignac, some twenty kilometres from the city ofLimoges, in theLimousin region of France, currently part ofNouvelle-Aquitaine. Their origins have been traced back there to the 15th century.
The Loménie de Brienne were the junior branch of the Loménie family and had succeeded in implanting themselves into the world of the French royal court over several centuries. They had been ennobled in 1552 whenMartial de Loménie became secretary to KingHenry II of France, and later acquired the lordship ofVersailles (1561–1571). By an advantageousmarriage in 1623 the Loménie becamecounts of Brienne. They continued in high ranking positions in the state, occupying important government posts in foreign affairs underLouis XIV and towards the end of theAncien régime at the ministry of war.Charles-François de Loménie de Brienne wasBishop of Coutances (1668–1720) and their adopted cousinPierre-François de Loménie was briefly to be CoadjutorArchbishop of Sens (1789–1794).
A capable student, Étienne-Charles entered the clergy, seeing this as the path to attaining a distinguished position. In 1751 he became a doctor oftheology, though there were doubts as to the orthodoxy of his thesis.[2] The same year he was appointed vicar general(grand vicaire) to the CardinalArchbishop of Rouen,Nicolas de Saulx-Tavannes. After visitingRome, he was madeBishop of Condom on 19 December 1760, and on 21 March 1763 was translated to becomeArchbishop of Toulouse.[3] In the years1766 to1769, he wascommendatory Abbot ofMont-Saint-Michel Abbey, and from 1788commendatory Abbot ofCorbie. In 1772, he chaired theCommission des Réguliers, set up to suppress religious houses that were in terminal decline.
His many famous friends includedA.R.J. Turgot,André Morellet andVoltaire, and in 1770 he was elected to theAcadémie française. He was three times head of thebureau de jurisdiction at thegeneral assembly of the clergy. He also took a lively interest in political and social questions of the day, and addressed to Turgot a number ofmemoires on these subjects, including one on pauperism .[4][5]
Though some contest the suggestion,[6] Loménie de Brienne has not rarely been regarded as an unbeliever from the outset.[7] In 1781, at the death of theArchbishop of Paris,Christophe de Beaumont, there was a lobby to make Loménie de Brienne his successor, butLouis XVI refused, allegedly exclaiming: ‘The Archbishop of Paris should at least believe in God!'.[8]
In 1787, in theAssembly of Notables, Loménie de Brienne led the opposition to the fiscal policy ofCalonne. Close to QueenMarie-Antoinette, Loménie de Brienne was then appointed to succeed him during deliberations by nobles held on 25 May 1787.[9] Once in power, he succeeded in making theparlement register edicts dealing with internalfree trade, the establishment of provincial assemblies and the redemption of thecorvée. In May 1788 the process of tax collection was faulting and the loyalty of the army was slipping. As a result, Louis XVI suspended parlements in May 1788 and created 47 courts.[10] When theparlement refused to register edicts on the stamp duty and the proposed new general land-tax, Loménie de Brienne persuaded Louis XVI to hold alit de justice to enforce their registration. The king also agreed to exile theparlement toTroyes (18 August 1787) as a further measure to crush opposition. When theparlement agreed to prolong the direct tax on all kinds of income, the councillors were recalled to Paris. A further attempt to force theparlement to register an edict for raising a loan of 120 million livres met with determined opposition. The struggle of theparlement against Loménie de Brienne ended on 8 May in its consenting to an edict for its own abolition, with the proviso that theEstates General should be summoned to remedy the disorders of the state.[11] Loménie de Brienne resigned as finance minister on 25 August 1788.[12]
Loménie de Brienne, who had in the meantime been madeArchbishop of Sens (confirmed by Rome on 10 March 1788), now faced almost universal political opposition. He was forced to suspend theCour plenière which had been set up to take the place of theparlement, and to promise that the States General should be summoned. Even these concessions were not enough to keep him in power, and on 29 August he had to retire, leaving the treasury empty.
On 14 September 1788 the publicly-hatedGuillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes was finally recalled, and this led to renewed energy on the part of revolutionaries, who began rioting in Paris. Rioters tried to burn down the homes of both Lamoignon and Brienne.[13]
On 15 December following, he was made acardinal, and went toItaly, where he spent two years.
An adopted nephew,Pierre-François de Loménie, was appointed at his requestCoadjutorof the diocese in his absence. Étienne-Charles consecrated him. He was to follow his uncle in swearing the oath to theCivil Constitution of the Clergy, but along with other members of the family the coadjutor was guillotined on 10 May 1794, having in the meantime repented of his submission.[14]
After the outbreak of theFrench Revolution Étienne-Charles returned to France, and took the oath of theCivil Constitution of the Clergy in 1790, one of the few bishops of theAncien regime to do so,[15] and he encouraged many of his priests to do the same. Subsequently, he had himself electedconstitutional Bishop of theYonne department.[16] He was repudiated byPope Pius VI, and in 1791 at the Pope's insistence resigned in pique as acardinal, just in time to avoid being stripped of the dignity.[11]
He bought the formerAbbey of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif in the city centre ofSens and had the majestic church, burial place of his predecessors as Archbishop of Sens, demolished, installing himself in the abbot's house with members of his family. He had a gift for winning popularity and a section of the local population were his ardent supporters. Nevertheless, the days even of theConstitutional Church were soon done. Though he had refused to ordainconstitutional bishops,[17] at the height of the Revolution, on 15 November 1793, he renounced the priesthood, but his past and present conduct made him an object of suspicion to the then prominent revolutionaries. He was arrested atSens on 18 February 1794, and that same night died in prison, whether from a stroke or by poison, some said by suicide, though the shock of the failure of his bravado and all his frantic efforts at survival would perhaps have been enough to kill him.[18]
The chief works published by Loménie de Brienne are:
It came to be known – every one talked of it and after every one had talked about it, the Notables, drawn from the upper classes and practically a ministerial assembly, separated on 25 May without having done or decided anything. During their deliberations Calonne was replaced by Loménie de Brienne, Archbishop of Sens.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Loménie de Brienne, Étienne Charles de".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 936. | ||
