Claude Antoine de Valdec de Lessart
Encyclopedia
Antoine Claude Nicolas Valdec de Lessart (25 January 1741, Château de Mongenan, Portets
, near Bordeaux
) 9 September 1792, Versailles
) was a French politician. He was the illegitimate son of the Baron de Gasq, Président of the Parlement de Guyenne
.
. Louis XVI of France
made him one of the commissaries charged with reconciling the three orders of the Estates General
.
and the Girondins preyed on his management of the post, whilst at the interior ministry Camille Desmoulins
, Louis-Marie Stanislas Fréron
and Jean-Paul Marat
reproached his sympathies for the refractory clergy. During the Varennes affair, he revealed himself as a docile executor of the orders of the Legislative Assembly
. He was then made interim Naval Minister in September 1791 and interim minister of foreign affairs that October.
Unpopular and unable to arrest the march to war desired by Jacques Pierre Brissot
, he was indicted under Girondin pressure on 10 March 1792. He was transferred to the High Court at Orléans
and after 10 August 1792 the trial of prisoners by the Revolutionary Tribunal
of Paris was decided upon. Claude Fournier-L'Héritier was charged with bringing them as far as Paris, but instead stopped at Versailles and massacred 44 of the 52 prisoners entrusted to him, including Louis Hercule Timoléon de Cossé-Brissac
, Claude Antoine de Valdec de Lessart and Charles-Xavier Franqueville d'Abancourt.
Portets
Portets is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:-See also:*Château de Mongenan, a chateau and botanical garden*Communes of the Gironde department-External links:*...
, near Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
) 9 September 1792, Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
) was a French politician. He was the illegitimate son of the Baron de Gasq, Président of the Parlement de Guyenne
Guyenne
Guyenne or Guienne , , ; Occitan Guiana ) is a vaguely defined historic region of south-western France. The Province of Guyenne, sometimes called the Province of Guyenne and Gascony, was a large province of pre-revolutionary France....
.
Before 1790
A director of the Compagnie des Indes, he became Maître des requêtes in 1767 then in October 1788 one of the three commissaries charged with discussing and examining everything on the financial administration. Claude Antoine Valdec de Lessart was one of the intimates of Jacques NeckerJacques Necker
Jacques Necker was a French statesman of Swiss birth and finance minister of Louis XVI, a post he held in the lead-up to the French Revolution in 1789.-Early life:...
. Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
made him one of the commissaries charged with reconciling the three orders of the Estates General
French States-General
In France under the Old Regime, the States-General or Estates-General , was a legislative assembly of the different classes of French subjects. It had a separate assembly for each of the three estates, which were called and dismissed by the king...
.
Revolution
On 4 December 1790, he was summoned to the Contrôle général des finances, then on 25 January 1791 moved to the Interior Minister, all the while holding onto the finance portfolio. At the Financial ministry, Étienne ClavièreÉtienne Clavière
Étienne Clavière was a Swiss-born French financier and politician of the French Revolution.-Geneva and London:...
and the Girondins preyed on his management of the post, whilst at the interior ministry Camille Desmoulins
Camille Desmoulins
Lucie Simplice Camille Benoît Desmoulins was a journalist and politician who played an important role in the French Revolution. He was a childhood friend of Maximilien Robespierre and a close friend and political ally of Georges Danton, who were influential figures in the French Revolution.-Early...
, Louis-Marie Stanislas Fréron
Louis-Marie Stanislas Fréron
Louis-Marie Stanislas Fréron was a French politician, journalist, representative to the National Assembly, and a representative on mission during the French Revolution.-Background:...
and Jean-Paul Marat
Jean-Paul Marat
Jean-Paul Marat , born in the Principality of Neuchâtel, was a physician, political theorist, and scientist best known for his career in France as a radical journalist and politician during the French Revolution...
reproached his sympathies for the refractory clergy. During the Varennes affair, he revealed himself as a docile executor of the orders of the Legislative Assembly
Legislative Assembly (France)
During the French Revolution, the Legislative Assembly was the legislature of France from 1 October 1791 to September 1792. It provided the focus of political debate and revolutionary law-making between the periods of the National Constituent Assembly and of the National Convention.The Legislative...
. He was then made interim Naval Minister in September 1791 and interim minister of foreign affairs that October.
Unpopular and unable to arrest the march to war desired by Jacques Pierre Brissot
Jacques Pierre Brissot
Jacques Pierre Brissot , who assumed the name of de Warville, was a leading member of the Girondist movement during the French Revolution. Some sources give his name as Jean Pierre Brissot.-Biography:...
, he was indicted under Girondin pressure on 10 March 1792. He was transferred to the High Court at Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
and after 10 August 1792 the trial of prisoners by the Revolutionary Tribunal
Revolutionary Tribunal
The Revolutionary Tribunal was a court which was instituted in Paris by the Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders, and eventually became one of the most powerful engines of the Reign of Terror....
of Paris was decided upon. Claude Fournier-L'Héritier was charged with bringing them as far as Paris, but instead stopped at Versailles and massacred 44 of the 52 prisoners entrusted to him, including Louis Hercule Timoléon de Cossé-Brissac
Louis Hercule Timoléon de Cossé-Brissac
Louis Hercule Timoléon de Cossé-Brissac, duc de Brissac was a French politician and peer of France. He was grand panetier de France, governor of Paris, capitaine colonel of the cent Suisses of the garde du roi, and a knight in various orders...
, Claude Antoine de Valdec de Lessart and Charles-Xavier Franqueville d'Abancourt.