RADET, ETIENNE. - French general, b. Dec. 19, 1762 at Stenay (Lorraine), d. Sept. 28, 1825 at Varennes. After the outbreak of the French Revolution he entered the gendarmerie.
A monarchist and devout Catholic, on June 23, 1791 he attempted to free the royal family arrested at Varennes. He organized the gendarmerie in Piedmont, Corsica, and Genoa. In the Kingdom of Naples he pursued Michele Pezza, known as Fra' Diavolo. As a general and supreme commander of the gendarmerie in the former Papal States, he was ordered to arrest Pius VII. Indeed, on the night of July 4–6, 1809, Radet, with a band of armed men, scaled the Quirinal and, at daybreak, confronted the Pope, notifying him of the Emperor’s order to renounce temporal power. Upon Pius VII’s firm refusal, Radet served him with the arrest warrant. The Pope was forced to enter a carriage with Radet, who accompanied him as far as Florence. Upon returning to Rome, Radet received the title of baron.
During the Hundred Days he was appointed inspector general of the gendarmerie. After the return of Louis XVIII he was arrested and sentenced by a military tribunal to nine years’ imprisonment, but was pardoned in December 1818.