Jean Baptiste Treilhard | |
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| 8th President of the National Convention | |
| In office 27 December 1792 – 10 January 1793 (1792-12-27 –1793-01-10) | |
| Preceded by | Jacques Defermon |
| Succeeded by | Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 January 1742 |
| Died | 1 December 1810(1810-12-01) (aged 68) Paris, France |
| Resting place | Panthéon, Paris |
| Political party | Girondins |
| Children | Achille Libéral Treilhard |
| Signature |  |
Jean-Baptiste Treilhard (French pronunciation:[ʒɑ̃batisttʁɛjaʁ]; 3 January 1742 – 1 December 1810) was an importantFrench statesman of therevolutionary period. He passed through the troubled times of theRepublic andEmpire with great political savvy, playing a decisive role at important times.
Without achieving the notoriety of some of his more famous revolutionarycolleagues, he held a number of key positions - President of theNational Constituent Assembly (20 July - 1 August 1790), President of theNational Convention (27 December 1792 – 10 January 1793, coinciding withthe trial of Louis XVI, three-time member of theCommittee of Public Safety (7 April 1793 – 12 June 1793; 31 July 1794 - 5 November 1794; 4 May 1795 – 2 August 1795), chairman of theCouncil of Five Hundred, member of theFrench Directory.
Eugene Marbeau describes Jean-Baptiste Treilhard as "a man honest and right, who is content to do his duty in the situation... but who does not seek... to dominate events". He is buried at thePanthéon.
Born inBrive-la-Gaillarde,Corrèze,[1] to a father who was a lawyer at thePrésidial andmaire perpétuel of Brive.
Jean Baptiste was a student at thecollège des doctrinaires (now theHôtel de Ville) at Brive, where he received an education balancing the requirements ofscience andfaith.
After studies in law, Jean-Baptiste Treilhard settled inParis and became, in 1761, a lawyer at theParlement. He was a protégé ofTurgot, futureController-General of Finances (24 August 1774 – 12 May 1776) toLouis XVI. Treilhard was retained to care for judicial affairs of theCondé family.
Treilhard was elected deputy by theThird Estate ofParis to theEstates-General of 1789, then to theNational Constituent Assembly. His most important early role was in the Comité ecclésiastique (Ecclesiastical Committee) where he took the lead in promoting theCivil Constitution of the Clergy, a major reorganization of theRoman Catholic Church (including the suppression of its monasteries and thenationalization of its property). He served one term as President of theNational Constituent Assembly (20 July - 1 August 1790).[1]
Ineligible, like all the members of the Constituent Assembly, for theLegislative Assembly, he became president of the criminal tribunal of Paris, but was judged as lacking of firmness.[1]
Elected to theNational Convention by the department ofSeine-et-Oise, Treilhard was President (27 December 1792 – 10 January 1794) of the National Convention, and in this capacity served as first magistrate during a part ofthe trial of Louis XVI, in which he voted for death without reprieve.[1]
He was an inaugural member of theCommittee of Public Safety (7 April 1793 – 12 June 1793), but was excluded by theMontagnard. He was imprisoned, but would survive theReign of Terror. On 31 July 1794, after 9 Thermidor Year II (27 July 1794), he returned to the Committee until 5 November 1794. He would serve again from 4 May to 2 August 1795.
Treilhard served on threemissions:
Chairman of theCouncil of Five Hundred in the month ofNivôse,Year IV (22 December 1795 – 23 January 1796). In his speech from 1 Pluviose year IV (21 January 1796), he delivered a speech on the third anniversary of the execution of Louis XVI, in which he execratedmonarchy.
In 1795, he arranged the exchange of the daughter ofLouis XVI,Marie Thérèse of France, futureDuchess of Angoulême, who was a prisoner of theRepublic since autumn 1792, for the commissioners to armies betrayed by the generalDumoriez and turned over to the Austrians in spring 1793.
After refusing an appointment asambassador toNaples in 1796, he served as a judge of theCourt of Cassation (6 September - 23 October 1797), before theDirectory of France appointed himminister plenipotentiary at theCongress of Rastadt in December 1797).
Treilhard became one of five Directors, the chief executive body of France, 15 May 1798 (26 Floréal year VI)[1] in replacement ofFrançois de Neufchâteau. He chaired the Directory 24 August - 27 November 1798.
On 17 June 1799, his election as a member of the Executive Board is invalidated by a resolution of theCouncil of Ancients, on the grounds of ineligibility due to an irregularity in the election. He is succeeded byLouis-Jérôme Gohier.
After the coup of18 Brumaire (10 November 1799), during the Consulate, he was appointed on 4 April 1800 vice-president of the court of appeal of the department of theSeine, and became its president on 1 January 1802. He chaired the legislative section of theCouncil of State, in 1802, and participated in the drafting of the FrenchCivil Code, the Criminal Code and the Code of commerce in close collaboration withTronchet andPortalis. He also served as asenator.
He collected such honours as being named Grand Officer of theLegion of Honor 14 June 1804, andcomte de l'Empire 24 April 1808.
On 30 March 1809 he is named to theCouncil of State, a position he held until his death.
As officer of the Empire, he is buried at thePanthéon 5 December 1810.
Under theDirectory, he entered theCouncil of Five Hundred, of which he was president during the month ofNivôse,Year IV,[1] and was a member of theCourt of Cassation, as wellplenipotentiary at theSecond Congress of Rastatt (December 1797). Treilhard became a director in the year VI.
Attribution:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Treilhard, Jean Baptiste".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 238.French Directory (2 November 1795 to 10 November 1799) | |||||||||||||||
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