AGUESSEAU, HENRI FRANÇOIS d'. - Born at Limoges in 1668, died at Paris in 1751. French jurist and statesman; after holding various offices he was appointed Chancellor in 1717, an office he held repeatedly until 1751. While he was Attorney General of the Parlement, he tenaciously opposed the registration in France of the Bull Unigenitus (v. CLEMENTE XI), a registration which he subsequently allowed in 1720, as Chancellor. He acquired great popularity, among other reasons, through his defence of Anglican liberties, although he was Catholic. Some of his complex ordinances concerning procedure, donations, and successions are celebrated.
He wrote, among other things, on politico-religious history (Mémoires historiques sur les affaires de l'Église de France depuis 1697 jusqu'en 1710), and on the philosophy of law (Méditations métaphysiques sur les vraies ou sur les fausses idées de la justice, somewhat Jansenist in tone).
Noteworthy from the apologetic point of view is his work Lettres sur Dieu et la religion.