The Battle for Prime Minister of 1743

The early years of Louis XV's reign was remarkably untarnished by political intrigues - the few conspiracies that did appear were quickly dealt with by the regent. However, in the 1740's the court of Versailles had taken on a very different nature. 

Unlike his predecessor, Louis XV was not keen on assuming sole responsibility for state affairs and kept a prime minister; furthermore, his preference for privacy resulted in him retreating to his private apartments. This - in turn - left the courtiers free to form factions in a manner that Louis XIV's near omnipresence had otherwise prevented.

To set the stage, by 1743 the king of France was 33 years old but had not taken on the role of absolute monarch yet; instead, the running of the state went to his Prime Minister, Cardinal Fleury. However, Cardinal Fleury had been old for years - by 1743, he had reached the impressive age of 89. When he died in January of that year, the scene was set for a power play to determine the new Prime Minister.

Ready to fight it out within the gilded halls of Versailles were three powerful factions: Chauvelin, Noailles and Belle-Isle.

Faction of Chauvelin

Named for the king's Keeper of the Seals, Chauvelin, was seen as the obvious candidate by many at court. Indeed, he enjoyed remarkably widespread support from such powerful houses as that of the Condé, the Duc de Villeroy, the Carignan-family, the Prince de Chalais, the Duc de Biron, the Duc d'Aumont, the Duc de Créquy, the Marquis de Beringhen etc.

But one of his most valued supporters was a man of far lower rank but who had the immense advantage of holding one of the most sought-after posts in the king's household: First Valet to the King. Bachelier, as was his name, was one of the most intimate friends of the king and as such in an invaluable position to influence things as he saw fit.

And what of the main figure himself? Germain Louis Chauvelin, Marquis de Grosbois, is a rather unknown figure to contemporary minds. Unlike other ministers of his time such as Fleury, Bourbon and Argenson, he seems to have gone somewhat under the radar. This may have been due to his background. Unlike Noailles and Belle-Isle, Germain Louis Chauvelin was not of noble stock. His family were lawyers and had been attached to the Parlament de Paris; they might never have come any further had they not made several vital connections. The first was with the family of Michel Le Tellier who served as an influential politician to Louis XIV. He apparently saw the talents of the Chauvelins and attached them to his service and later to his son, Louvois.

The second was the introduction of Germain to none other than Cardinal Fleury. From there, the two struck up a mutually beneficial relationship in which Germain acted as an aide to the increasingly powerful Cardinal. Chauvelin would reap the benefits of this connection when he was made Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs - a post he held for a decade between 1727 and 1737. However, in 1737, he was suddenly fired by none other than Cardinal Fleury.

One can only imagine that Chauvelin relished the opportunity to succeed the very man who had turned his back on him.

Germain Louis Chauvelin

Faction of Noailles

Undoubtedly one of the more famous families of French nobility, the house of Noailles had already exerted considerable influence during Louis XIV. They had managed to keep a hold on power during the regency and had been instrumental in the rise of the king's trusted advisor, Cardinal Fleury.

The sheer number of Noailles' at court was a massive boon - for instance, the then-reigning Duc de Noailles (Adrien Maurice) had no less than nine sisters, most of whom were married to other dukes or high-ranking noblemen. This, naturally, bound the family of Noailles closely together with other houses - there were so many of them connected by marriage that the Duc de Luynes simply referred to the family as "the tribe". Amongst these houses were those of d'Estrées, Grammont, La Vallière - and the legitimised son of Louis XIV, the Comte de Toulouse. Through the latter, the faction had a key to the king's inner circle in a good friend of the Comtesse de Toulouse: Madame de Mailly. This young lady happened to be amongst the king's first official mistresses and therefore had access to him in private.

The Duc de Noailles was already Minister for War and upon the death of Cardinal Fleury, he surprisingly showed the king a letter that would have tremendous effect. The author of the letter was none other than Louis XIV and the recipient had been his grand-son who had (then) recently been elevated to the throne of Spain as Philip V. In the letter, the Sun King did not mince his words and clearly instructed the newly-crowned Spanish king to take no prime minister but rule by his own will - the argument was that god had chosen him for the role, and god would provide all the guidance needed.

That would be the tipping point - Louis XV chose no new Prime Minister but took on the role of absolute king. But why would the Duc de Noailles do such a thing? One could argue that he missed the chance of becoming Prime Minister himself.

There is one thing that is worth remembering. The Duc de Noailles was no fool and he knew the king's character remarkably well. He knew that Louis XV hated change but also that the king would not hesitate to get rid of a minister who had become bothersome - the king was infamous for his often callous manner of dismissing his ministers as he would rarely give them an opportunity to speak to him. Instead, he would simply have someone else deliver a message of dismissal.

A creature of habit, the king was far more likely to keep people around him whose company he enjoyed and whom he was used to. Much like he would keep Madame de Pompadour as his official mistress for years, even after they stopped sleeping together, so the king disliked an interruption of his normal life. A minister was easy to replace - a friend harder.

That could very well have been the thought behind the action. Perhaps the Duc de Noailles considered his chance of having lasting influence to be greater if he had access to the king in a more intimate atmosphere than merely at the council table. If so, he would have been quite right - as the years following 1743 would show, Louis could be influenced but primarily by those he shared a close bond with.

Adrien Maurice de Noailles

Faction of Belle-Isle

Charles Fouquet, Duc de Belle-Isle was no stranger to intrigue. Having spent the majority of his life in military service, he attempted to persuade Louis XV to join forces with Frederick II of Prussia who was in the midst of violating his own treaty by attacking the newly-crowned Maria Theresia of Austria.

Supported by several influential persons at court, the Duc de Belle-Isle managed to avoid potential disaster when Cardinal Fleury learned that he had previously had ties to another faction which had been forcibly disbanded in 1723. It was only due to the influence of his ally, the Duchesse de Lévis, that Cardinal Fleury not only overlooked it but promoted him to lieutenant-general. 

Besides the Duchesse de Lévis, he could count amongst his friends the Cardinal de Rohan, the Duc de Richelieu (on occasion), Marechal de Boufflers and Madame de Castries. He had also married a member of the Béthune family. However, he would eventually make a blunder. 

Having succeeded in persuading Louis XV to enter the War of the Austrian Succession, France soon found herself in an unfortunate situation. Once Prussia had gotten what they wanted, they hastily made peace with Austria. This left the outnumbered French troops alone against the Habsburg-forces. While Belle-Isle did manage to retreat in a dignified manner - his courage and use of his military experienced gained him respect even from the Austrians - his troubles did not end there. He was said to have openly criticised Cardinal Fleury - it was even rumoured that he had called him an "old fool". 

Naturally, the French were not too pleased to learn that their army had been sent packing and Belle-Isle's reputation suffered. To make matters worse, he found that Cardinal Fleury had little to say in his defence and it is hardly unlikely that the Cardinal would have complained of Belle-Isle to the king. Unfortunately for Belle-Isle he was not even present to defend himself at court. On route back to Versailles, he had been captured by the English army who held him prisoner for a year. One can only imagine the damage that would have done to his reputation.

 

Charles Fouquet, Duc de Belle-Isle

Interestingly, none of these men's rise to influence resembled one another. Chauvelin had climbed up from the position of lawyer and had reached his peak thanks to a mixture of patronage and talent. Noailles - while being astute and intelligent himself - came from an old family to which there were traditional allies to draw on. Finally, Belle-Isle had had to extricate himself several times from former scandals and had used his success on the battlefield to gain further influence.

What they all did have in common were three key characteristics: ambition, intelligence and pragmatism. Each of them had seen the necessity of cultivating a good relationship with Cardinal Fleury (at least until Belle-Isle became too bold) and all had drawn on family connections to achieve their ends. That was hardly a new invention - on the contrary it was all but impossible to make a name for oneself without having at least one, powerful connection already at court.

So, when Louis XV chose to lead France himself, which one of these would-be Prime Ministers came out on top?

The Duc de Noailles continued to exert considerable influence at court; politically, he held the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs for a brief period in 1744. Otherwise, his extensive family ties ensured him a considerable amount of influence at court.

The Duc de Belle-Isle once again demonstrated his uncanny ability to survive immense adversity. Once back on French soil, he was soon dispatched to the army again, despite the previous disaster. This proved to be the right choice as he managed to prevent an invasion of Provence. In return, the king raised him to duke and peer - even his dreams of politics were not unanswered. In 1758, he became Minister for War before dying in 1761.

The man who got the short end of the stick was undoubtedly Chauvelin. Having been exiled to his estates following his dismissal from his post of Secretary of State, he saw the death of Fleury as an opportunity to regain royal favour. Unfortunately, Louis XV would have none of it and in what must have been extremely embarrassing circumstances, Chauvelin was obliged to - once again - leave court for his estates. It was not until his friend, d'Argenson, interceded on his behalf that he was finally allowed near the court in 1746 - but any dream of further political office was over. He would never hold a position of note again.

The Anti-Pompadour Faction

Madame de Pompadour's rise to power angered a great deal of people at court. Some disliked her due to her bourgeoisie background while others had hoped that Louis XV would return his affections to Marie Leszczynska. 

Those included in the anti-Pompadour faction counted the Marquis de Maurepas and the Prince de Conti. The latter was Louis XV's own cousin who supported the Jansenist movement. The Marquis de Maurepas served as Minister for the Navy but fell afoul of Louis XV due to his blatantly obvious disdain for the royal mistress. In 1749 that dislike led to Maurepas being exiled from court; he was not the only one to suffer this fate.

Prince de Conti

While pacing his estates, Maurepas' opinions on Madame de Pompadour had definitely not changed. He continued to attack her reputation from afar which can hardly have helped his case.

It is quite likely that Maurepas had contributed to spreading lewd and degrading songs about Madame de Pompadour in Paris. One of the more popular ones became all the rage in his year of exile. It ran as follows:

Qu'une bâtarde de catin 

A la cour se voit avancée,

Que dans l'amour ou dans le vin

Louis cherche une gloire aisée;

Ah! Le voilà, ah! Ce voici

Celui qui n'en a nul souci

The translation:

That a bastard strumpet

Should advance at court,

That in love or wine,

Louis should seek easy glory,

Ah! There he is, ah! Here he is,

He without a care

This little verse is but one of countless examples of the literature used against the Marquise. In fact the category grew so big it earned its own name: Poissonades. Caricatures and pamphlets were equally popular in the faction.

As a faction the anti-Pompadour circle often overlapped with that of the Dévot faction. Louis XV's children were decidedly against their father's mistress, although their opposition lay more in his having an official mistress at all. Ironically, it does not appear that Marie Leszczynska was a part of the faction. She would later say that Madame de Pompadour was her favourite of her husband's mistresses because she never tried to humiliate her.

Those whose dislike were bound in Reinette's person attempted to replace her in the king's affection. Thus, the faction pushed the Comtesse de Lawner on the king but in vain. 

Marquis de Maurepas

Naturally, the faction also attempted to counteract Madame de Pompadour's political influence. Following the death of the Dauphin Louis Ferdinand, Madame Adelaide attempted to influence her father's choice of ministers. She presented him with a list of men chosen by the late Dauphin as candidates for positions of note. All were anti-Pompadour and included the Marquis de Maurepas and Mauchault. 

Another of her most fierce opponents was the Comte d'Argenson. However, where she was powerless against the songs and vicious caricatures, this was a battle she could win. She managed to get d'Argenson exiled as well on the grounds that he had failed his duties which included keeping Paris in order - there had been riots and a rise in crime lately.

Also Mauchault were dismissed allegedly on the order of the Marquise. So, in this sense the king's mistress was quite succesful. It could be argued that she had the last laugh since she remained in power until her death; the efforts of the anti-Pompadour clan effectively proved futile. 

The Bourgogne Faction

The Bourgogne Faction was centred around Louis, Duc de Bourgogne and by extension his popular wife, Marie Adélaïde of Savoy. The faction was convinced that France was in great need of reform as to the governmental system. This shared opinion was what sparked the faction; the Duc de Bourgogne had developed into an intelligent young man who himself was greatly in support of reforming his grand-father's (Louis XIV) system.

The Duc de Bourgogne

The main protagonist of the faction was the Duc de Bourgogne's tutor, Abbé Fénelon. The Abbé (or Archbishop) was outspoken to say the least. He authored several letters and treatises which were harsh in their critics on the Sun King's regime and nothing short of absolutely adoring of the Duc de Bourgogne. However, in 1699, the King had had enough of Fénelon's critics. He banished him from court and forbade him from having any contact with the royal family.


Other members included the Colbert family such as the Duc de Chevreuse and the Duc de Beauvilliers. The infamous Duc de Saint-Simon has also been connected to the faction.

Duc de Chevreuse (Colbert's son)

The circle around the Duc de Bourgogne remained steadfast. High moral principles were the trademark of the faction which included several of the most progressive philosophers of the time as well as aristocrats who sympathised with the lower classes. The development towards a less absolute monarchy was a main agenda for the factions; rather than the all-mighty King they were in favour of delegation some aspect of governmental power to the provinces.

The disgraced Fénelon

During the life of the Grand Dauphin the group had little to no influence. Then, in 1711, the Grand Dauphin died which meant that the Duc de Bourgogne was now Dauphin. Suddenly, the Bourgogne faction stood to gain everything. The chance of reform seemed to be within reach. The ageing King's health was deteriorating so those who looked to the future sought the next in line. Yet, an ageing King is still King and the Dauphin had not nearly enough influence to achieve the faction's goals.

The end of the Bourgogne Faction came just a year later. The Duc de Bourgogne and Marie Adélaïde both fell ill and died to the great horror of the court. Officially, this was the end and the surviving members would themselves follow their idol to the grave soon after. The ideas did not die out though. During the regency of the Duc d'Orléans government was indeed divided into several sectors which had been one of the main goals of the Bourgogne faction.

The Battle for the Throne: The Princes vs. the Legitimised Bastards

In the early years of the 1700's the King was old and everyone had their eyes both on the still all-powerful Louis XIV and on who were to succeed him.
After Louis XIV had legitimised his sons by Madame de Montespan the French court was primarily divided into two opposing factions: that of the Princes and that of the legitimised sons.

The Princes' faction was made up of the old garde of the French nobility; these were the proper noble families whose birth was not stained by bastardy. That last part was especially easy to publicly demonstrate since the legitimised children of the King were obliged to display a clear bar on their coat-of-arms indicating their dubious ancestry. That was not required of those born on the right side of the sheet.

Especially the houses of Orlèans, Conti and Condé were the frontrunners of the Princes' faction. The Legitimised party was headed by the Comte de Toulouse and the Duc du Maine - referred to as "the bastards" by the Duc de Saint-Simon - but had the support of the other children of the King - most of whom had been married into the noble families of France. Another supporter was Madame de Maintenon whose patronage can probably be traced back to the support from the King's natural children to see her recognised as Queen of France.

Everything depended on who were to rule France once the King was dead. Since the Dauphin was just a few years old the Duc d'Orlèans was entitled to the regency. To prevent this from happening the Legitimised faction launched an attack on the would-be regent. When the Duc and Duchesse de Bourgogne suddenly died the rumours of poisoning swept through court. Thanks to the combined efforts of the legitimised sons and the King's confessor (another supporter of "the bastards") it did not take long to point out the suspect. Soon after the public took hold of the idea as well and the Duc d'Orlèans had to put up with being shouted after when he went to Paris.

The Duc du Maine

After considering the case news reached the Duc d'Orlèans at his estate of Saint-Cloud that the King had found him to be entirely innocent. Just like that everything changed once again for the future Regent - and the bastards.

In 1715 on the first day of September Louis XIV died and all hell broke lose. However, since the Duc d'Orlèans had been publicly cleared of the charges made against him he stood in a strong position to claim the regency. But the will of the late monarch disappointed him; rather than naming the Duc d'Orlèans as Regent, Louis XIV had established a regency council - with the Duc du Maine and Comte de Toulouse. Although the Duc would still be presiding over the council he would have no actual power.

The Comte de Toulouse

The end to the bitter feud came swiftly and dramatically. Already on the day after the King's death the Duc d'Orlèans swept into Paris and declared that he had law and tradition on his side (which was true). The "bastards" could only sit and watch as the Duc d'Orlèans easily gained the approval of the gathered parlament. By the end of that day it was settled. The Duc d'Orlèans became Regent while the King's legitimised sons quickly went into an embarrassing retreat.

The Dévots Faction

The dévot faction (or Devoted Faction) was mainly made up by the adult children of Louis XV (including Mesdames Tantes), the Dauphin, Louis Auguste (future Louis XVI) the Comte d'Argenson and the Jesuits - Louis, Duc de Bourgogne was strongly influenced by them too without becoming a full "member". Surprisingly enough, Rose Bertin proved to be a dévot too.

As the name suggests, the dévots was a faction with roots in religion. Their origin began with opposition to the Protestants within France and their key object was to uphold the Catholic church's presence at court. That in itself became quite a challenge as the court of Louis XV grew further and further from the faith of their ancestors.
Originally, they had been opposed to an absolute monarchy but they had to fall in line when Louis XIV entered the stage.

Mesdames Victoire, Adélaide and Louise

Naturally, one of their greatest defeats was the expulsion of Jesuits in 1764 - which was promptly (and somewhat accurately) placed with Choiseul.

Fénelon, who was close to the Duc de Bourgogne, flirted with the dévots but is also mentioned as a supporter of the Duc de Burgogne's faction. Like most other dévots, he was convinced that Louis XIV's court had grown corrupt and sinful and they wasted no time in placing blame with the mistresses. Madame de Pompadour was especially among the targets of Louis XV's daughters' blame, as was Madame du Barry.

The dévots launched a direct campaign against Madame de Pompadour in which the goal was to have her dismissed by blaming her for most of France's problems. That tactic did not work with the King but only succeeded in making Louis XV seem weak and completely controlled by his charming mistress.

Louis Ferdinand, Dauphin

Despite the continued presence of the mistresses, the dévots wielded considerable power at court. Due to their basis in religion, they found supporters not just among the clergy but with other court factions and managed to oppose new tax demands from Parlement.

The dévot faction was strongly opposed to France's alliance with Austria which also meant that they were against Louis Auguste's marriage with Marie Antoinette. This opposition was only enhanced by their dislike of the Duc de Choiseul - the architect behind the alliance. They had never really forgiven him for choosing Marie Antoinette over a relative of their mother from Saxony, Marie-Josèphe.

Ironically, Louis XVI was also a dévot which meant that he was suspicious of the Austrians as well; although he did grew to adore his Austrian wife.

The Choiseul Faction

The Choiseul Faction grew around Étienne François, Duc de Choiseul, who acted as France's Foreign Minister. It was largely thanks to him that the marriage contract that would bring Marie Antoinette to the French court was arranged. Consequently, Marie Antoinette was one of his greatest supporters and worked constantly on bringing him back from exile.

The Duc de Choiseul

After the Duc de Choiseul successfully negotiated between Empress Maria Theresia and Louis XV, he became the centre of his fraction. Surprisingly quickly his supporters popped up at court and before long many found seats at the King's council. Among those who were a part of the Choiseul Faction were the nobles from Lorraine; Marie Antoinette's father had been of the Lorraine line and the Duc de Choiseul himself was of a Lorraine branch. Another prominent member was Madame de Gramont who happened to be the Duc's sister. Choiseul's rise had been largely thanks to Madame de Pompadour who was an avid supporter of him for as long as she lived.

Since the idea of the Austrian Dauphine had originated with the Choiseul Faction, they were absolutely anti-du Barry - a new mistress meaning new rivals.
It is said that the Choiseul Faction tried to sabotage Madame du Barry's official presentation at court by "hijacking" her hair-dresser and sending her carriage away. But, it went on as planned with a few alterations.

The main rival was the faction of the Duc d'Aiguillon who stood for pretty much everything that Choiseul was against. Where Choiseul preferred to see the end of the Jesuits, d'Aiguillon was prepared to help them. Choiseul supported the Parlements whereas d'Aiguillon was set on ruining them.

The Choiseul Faction suffered a severe setback when the Duc de Choiseul was dismissed from his position just six months after the wedding between Louis Auguste and Marie Antoinette. He never truly regained his former position and Marie Antoinette never succeeded in persuading her husband to bring him back. It can safely be said that the fall of the Choiseul faction was due to the Duc's inability to win the good graces of the future Louis XVI.

Later on when Louis XV became fatally ill, they pressured the King to confess and receive the sacrament as early as possible; that would effectively mean the removal of Madame du Barry from court. But once again, Louis XV went right till the last moment before finally dismissing du Barry.

While the Choiseul Faction had lost its front figure back in 1774, the Duc was not completely isolated. But ever since his all-but exile the Choiseul Faction never truly gained its' former glory.