Charles Maurice de Talleyrand: Encyclopedia II - Charles Maurice de Talleyrand - French Revolution

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand - French Revolution

In the Estates-General of 1789, he represented the clergy, the First Estate. During the French Revolution, he supported the revolutionary cause. He assisted Mirabeau in the secularization of ecclesiastical properties. He participated in the writing of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and proposed the Civil Constitution of the Clergy that nationalized the Church, and was the person to swear in the first two constitutional bishops, though he had himself resigned as Bishop following his excommunication by Pope Pius VI. Notably, he promoted the public education in full spirit of Enlightenment. He celebrated the mass during the Fête de la Fédération on the 14 July 1790.

In 1792, he was sent twice, though not officially, to Britain to avert war. Besides an initial declaration of neutrality during the first campaigns of 1792, it ultimately failed. In September 1792, he left Paris for England just at the beginning of September Massacres, yet declined the émigré status. Because of his aristocratic background, Convention issued a warrant for his arrest in December 1792. His stay in England was not uneventful as well; in March 1794, he was forced to leave the country by Pitt's expulsion order. He then arrived at the United States where he stayed until his return to France in 1796. During his stay, he subsidized himself by working as a bank agent, involving in commodity trading and real-estate speculation.

After the 9 Thermidor and demise of Robespierre, he mobilized his friends (most notably Desrenaudes and Germaine de Staël) to lobby in Convention and newly established Directoire for his return. His name was then suppressed from the émigré list and he returned to France in September 25, 1796. In 1797, he became Foreign Minister. Talleyrand saw a possible political career for Napoleon during the Italian campaigns of 1796/1797. He wrote many letters to Napoleon and the two became close allies. Talleyrand was against the destruction of the Republic of Venice, but he complimented Napoleon when peace with Austria was concluded and Venice was finished, probably because he wanted to reinforce his alliance with Napoleon. Together with Napoleon's younger brother, Lucien Bonaparte, he was instrumental in the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire, 1799 and soon after he was made Foreign Minister by Napoleon, although he rarely agreed with Napoleon's foreign policy. The Pope also released him from the ban of excommunication.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "French Revolution", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki