TALLEYRAND PÉRIGORD, CHARLES-MAURICE, prince. — Bishop of Autun, diplomat, and statesman, b. on 2 February 1754 in Paris, d. there on 17 May 1838. In 1770 he entered the Seminary of St-Sulpice, received the abbey of St-Denis of Reims in 1775, and was deputy for that province (1775).
He was ordained a priest in 1779, consecrated bishop of Autun in 1789, and elected deputy to the States-General. He played a significant part in the events of the Revolution: he proposed that ecclesiastical property be used to meet the public debt (1789), and supported the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790). He participated in various ways in the activity of the republican government. By then he was in rebellion against the Church because in 1790 he had sworn the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, and shortly afterward he received the brief of excommunication, which would have been imposed upon him if he had not retracted the oath within forty days. Meanwhile, he had been left only the purely administrative functions of a member of the Directory of the Scine, and was therefore very glad to accept a diplomatic mission to London (1792), with the aim of securing the neutrality of the English government in the event of war. Although he did not place excessive confidence in the chances of success, he nevertheless succeeded, and England promised to observe neutrality in the event of war between France and Austria. He returned on another mission to London after the events of 10 August. The ostensible purpose of the journey was to persuade the English to accept the unification of the system of weights and measures and to keep them neutral. In reality, T. was going to London because residence in France was becoming dangerous for him. In December 1792 he was accused by the Convention of anti-republican activity and escaped disastrous consequences only because he was abroad; nevertheless, he was included in the lists of political émigrés (1793). The following year he went to the United States, where he remained until 1796, when he was permitted to return to France. In 1797 Barras appointed him minister of Foreign Affairs, and he was a supporter of Bonaparte’s expedition to Egypt, drawing up a program according to which the Mediterranean was to become a French sea. Attacked by his political opponents after the failure of the Egyptian campaign, he resigned and attempted to justify himself in the work Éclaircissements. Bonaparte appointed him minister of Foreign Affairs again in 1799, and he left the ministry in 1807. In politics he supported the principles of legitimacy and equilibrium, and in his work as a statesman he played a significant role in relations between Napoleon and the Pope. Convinced, together with Napoleon, of the advisability of making a concession to the religious sentiment of French Catholics, he encouraged those lengthy conversations in which it appeared that an inevitable concession to tolerance and freedom of conscience was being made for purposes of domestic policy; meanwhile, the enthusiasm and religious fervor that the event aroused among the population in fact confirmed its diametrically opposite character, demonstrating that it truly represented the longed-for return of the Church among the faithful. Many projects were drawn up, and only the seventh was deemed satisfactory by both parties; further concessions had to be made to Cardinal Consalvi beyond those originally envisaged. The negotiations for the conclusion of the Concordat ended in 1801. The following year, T.’s personal relations with the Church were settled, and in June 1802, through Napoleon’s intercession, a papal brief restored him to the lay state. He could thus marry Caterina Noël Worlée civilly, but despite this, when Pius VII came to France in 1804, he refused to receive the woman who, in the eyes of the Church, remained a concubine.
In June 1806 T. received from Napoleon, as a reward for his activities, the principality of Benevento, which he resold to the Pope in 1815.
TALLEYRAND PÉRIGORD CHARLES-MAURICE – TALMUD
He foresaw Napoleon’s downfall during the Spanish campaign and established relations with Tsar Alexander in order to prepare favorable ground for himself among those whom he saw as the future victors. He soon fell into the Emperor’s disfavor because of certain comments he made about operations in Spain, and he was also dismissed from the office of grand chamberlain (1809). Twice more, in 1812 and 1813, the Emperor offered him the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; but Napoleon had already suffered defeat in Russia and T., seeing in this confirmation of his predictions, declined the invitation. By then he had given his support to the cause of the Bourbons and was working toward that end. His skill became evident at the Congress of Vienna, where, although representing a defeated nation, he succeeded in having France admitted among the European great powers. After the flight from Elba, Napoleon sent him an emissary, to whom he had promised an annuity of 200,000 francs if he succeeded in obtaining T.’s adherence to his government, but in vain, since T. foresaw the impending catastrophe all too clearly. After the Restoration he was president of the Council, but internal opposition, supported by Louis XVIII’s hostility toward him, caused him to resign after a few months and join the liberal opposition. He returned to diplomacy in 1830 and achieved notable successes, such as England’s recognition of Louis-Philippe and the conclusion of a treaty between England, France, Spain, and Portugal, signed in 1834. In the same year he resigned, retiring to private life. A few hours before his death he returned to the bosom of the Church and retracted his work during the revolutionary period and his past actions.