Joseph Hyacinth Francois de Paule de Rigaud, Comte de Vaudreuil
Encyclopedia
Joseph Hyacinthe François de Paule de Rigaud, comte de Vaudreuil (1740–1817) was a French nobleman at the court of King Louis XVI of France
. He was the alleged lover of Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac, the favourite
of Marie Antoinette
and over whom he exerted a powerful influence.
He was a connoisseur and collector of art, and a patron of artist Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun who painted two known portraits of him in 1784.
, West Indies the son of the French governor of the island, and his aristocratic white Creole
wife, née Guiot de la Mirande. His paternal ancestor was a governor of Canada
. At the age of nineteen, he entered the army and during the Seven Years War served as staff officer under the Prince of Soubise. When the war ended, he moved to Paris.
At the French court, he attached himself to the king's youngest brother, the comte d' Artois (later Charles X of France
), and formed a strong attachment to the beautiful duchesse de Polignac, an intimate friend of Queen Marie Antoinette
and one of the leaders of high society at Versailles. The liaison with Gabrielle was viewed as sexual by many observers then and since, but some suggested that Gabrielle's nature was too essentially cold, class-conscious (given Vaudreuil's Creole ancestry) or remote to have succumbed to an affair. Many of her friends despised him, but whatever the nature of their relationship, whether it was sexual or not, she found it increasingly hard to resist his domineering demands for her attention and support. Vaudreuil, highly cultured and possessed of great charm and fascination for women, also had an extremely violent and unscrupulous character.
Capitalising on Gabrielle's indifference to what she saw as the vulgar matter of intriguing, Vaudreuil insinuated his way into her inner circle. He quickly became head of a notorious coterie of courtiers, sycophants, and relations of the Polignacs who surrounded the queen. This coterie soon turned into a cabal
which constantly sought positions, favours, and pensions for themselves and their greedy relatives. Vaudreuil made his mistake in assuming that Queen Marie-Antoinette's close friendship with Gabrielle would automatically make her amenable to his ambitious demands. However, the Queen despised the Count and she complained of him to several of her ladies-in-waiting, including Madame Campan, who recalled the Queen's fury when Vaudreuil broke one of her ivory billiard cues in a fit of temper at losing a game. Thus Vaudreuil never obtained a position at Court higher that that of royal falconer; a post which earned him 30,000 livres a year. This was not enough to satisfy the ambitious Count who dreamed of becoming minister of the king's household. The Abbé de Vermond, the Queen's confessor and spiritual adviser, shrewdly advised her not to appoint him; thereby Vermond incurred the hatred of the entire Polignac clan, with the curious exception of Gabrielle, who remained silent on the matter.
On 14 May 1780, Gabrielle gave birth to a son, Jules de Polignac whom everyone at Court whispered had been fathered by Vaudreuil and not her husband. King Louis XVI and the Queen did not believe the child was Vaudreuil's and the King took the unprecedented step of publicly visiting the new baby in a vain attempt to quash the rumours.
written by his friend, the noted liberal Pierre Beaumarchais
. He himself played the part of Almaviva in a Court performance. This was a blatant satire against the institution of monarchy, the government, and French society in general, and it proved to be highly incendiary. Louis XVI refused to yield to pressure and had the play censored.
By now, Gabrielle had apparently decided that Vaudreuil was beginning to weaken her own position as a leader of aristocratic society and her friendship with the Queen. She began to avoid him and in 1785, she abruptly left Paris
to spend time visiting friends in London
. Her visits to spas in order to take the waters in the company of the Duchess of Devonshire became more prolonged and, by 1786, she saw Vaudreuil on an extremely rare basis and almost never without other people around her.
on 14 July 1789, which marked the beginning of the French Revolution
, Vaudreuil, in the company of his old royal comrade, the comte d'Artois, left Versailles
on horseback for the Austrian Netherlands. He would spend the next twenty-five years organising a counter-revolution. Gabrielle left the country separately, settling in Switzerland
, where she made no effort to contact Vaudreuil or inquire after his whereabouts. She died in 1793, following a prolonged battle with either cancer
or consumption
. Her behaviour in the last few years is crucially cited by those historians who reject the idea that she was ever actually sexually or romantically involved with Vaudreuil, but rather tolerated his larger-than-life personality and extravagances until he became too aggressive and too much of a threat to her own position at Versailles. He did not attend her funeral in Austria
.
Later he moved to England, where in 1795 he married his cousin Louis-Philippe's daughter, Marie Joséphine de Rigaud de Vaudreuil (1774–1859). Two sons were born to them: Charles (1796–1880) and Victor (1798–1834). After the fall of the First French Empire
he returned to France where King Louis XVIII
appointed him Governor of the Tuileries.
Vaudreuil died in 1817 in Paris at the age of seventy-seven.
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....
. He was the alleged lover of Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac, the favourite
Favourite
A favourite , or favorite , was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In medieval and Early Modern Europe, among other times and places, the term is used of individuals delegated significant political power by a ruler...
of Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
and over whom he exerted a powerful influence.
He was a connoisseur and collector of art, and a patron of artist Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun who painted two known portraits of him in 1784.
Versailles
The comte de Vaudreuil was born in Santo DomingoSanto Domingo
Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...
, West Indies the son of the French governor of the island, and his aristocratic white Creole
Creole peoples
The term Creole and its cognates in other languages — such as crioulo, criollo, créole, kriolu, criol, kreyol, kreol, kriulo, kriol, krio, etc. — have been applied to people in different countries and epochs, with rather different meanings...
wife, née Guiot de la Mirande. His paternal ancestor was a governor of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. At the age of nineteen, he entered the army and during the Seven Years War served as staff officer under the Prince of Soubise. When the war ended, he moved to Paris.
At the French court, he attached himself to the king's youngest brother, the comte d' Artois (later Charles X of France
Charles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
), and formed a strong attachment to the beautiful duchesse de Polignac, an intimate friend of Queen Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
and one of the leaders of high society at Versailles. The liaison with Gabrielle was viewed as sexual by many observers then and since, but some suggested that Gabrielle's nature was too essentially cold, class-conscious (given Vaudreuil's Creole ancestry) or remote to have succumbed to an affair. Many of her friends despised him, but whatever the nature of their relationship, whether it was sexual or not, she found it increasingly hard to resist his domineering demands for her attention and support. Vaudreuil, highly cultured and possessed of great charm and fascination for women, also had an extremely violent and unscrupulous character.
Capitalising on Gabrielle's indifference to what she saw as the vulgar matter of intriguing, Vaudreuil insinuated his way into her inner circle. He quickly became head of a notorious coterie of courtiers, sycophants, and relations of the Polignacs who surrounded the queen. This coterie soon turned into a cabal
Cabal
A cabal is a group of people united in some close design together, usually to promote their private views and/or interests in a church, state, or other community, often by intrigue...
which constantly sought positions, favours, and pensions for themselves and their greedy relatives. Vaudreuil made his mistake in assuming that Queen Marie-Antoinette's close friendship with Gabrielle would automatically make her amenable to his ambitious demands. However, the Queen despised the Count and she complained of him to several of her ladies-in-waiting, including Madame Campan, who recalled the Queen's fury when Vaudreuil broke one of her ivory billiard cues in a fit of temper at losing a game. Thus Vaudreuil never obtained a position at Court higher that that of royal falconer; a post which earned him 30,000 livres a year. This was not enough to satisfy the ambitious Count who dreamed of becoming minister of the king's household. The Abbé de Vermond, the Queen's confessor and spiritual adviser, shrewdly advised her not to appoint him; thereby Vermond incurred the hatred of the entire Polignac clan, with the curious exception of Gabrielle, who remained silent on the matter.
On 14 May 1780, Gabrielle gave birth to a son, Jules de Polignac whom everyone at Court whispered had been fathered by Vaudreuil and not her husband. King Louis XVI and the Queen did not believe the child was Vaudreuil's and the King took the unprecedented step of publicly visiting the new baby in a vain attempt to quash the rumours.
The Marriage of Figaro
In July of 1783, Vaudreuil, a talented amateur actor, encouraged the Queen to allow the public performance of The Marriage of FigaroThe Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
written by his friend, the noted liberal Pierre Beaumarchais
Pierre Beaumarchais
Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais was a French playwright, watchmaker, inventor, musician, diplomat, fugitive, spy, publisher, arms dealer, satirist, financier, and revolutionary ....
. He himself played the part of Almaviva in a Court performance. This was a blatant satire against the institution of monarchy, the government, and French society in general, and it proved to be highly incendiary. Louis XVI refused to yield to pressure and had the play censored.
By now, Gabrielle had apparently decided that Vaudreuil was beginning to weaken her own position as a leader of aristocratic society and her friendship with the Queen. She began to avoid him and in 1785, she abruptly left Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to spend time visiting friends in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Her visits to spas in order to take the waters in the company of the Duchess of Devonshire became more prolonged and, by 1786, she saw Vaudreuil on an extremely rare basis and almost never without other people around her.
Departure
Following the storming of the BastilleStorming of the Bastille
The storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris on the morning of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. While the prison only contained seven inmates at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint...
on 14 July 1789, which marked the beginning of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, Vaudreuil, in the company of his old royal comrade, the comte d'Artois, left Versailles
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
on horseback for the Austrian Netherlands. He would spend the next twenty-five years organising a counter-revolution. Gabrielle left the country separately, settling in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, where she made no effort to contact Vaudreuil or inquire after his whereabouts. She died in 1793, following a prolonged battle with either cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
or consumption
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
. Her behaviour in the last few years is crucially cited by those historians who reject the idea that she was ever actually sexually or romantically involved with Vaudreuil, but rather tolerated his larger-than-life personality and extravagances until he became too aggressive and too much of a threat to her own position at Versailles. He did not attend her funeral in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
Later he moved to England, where in 1795 he married his cousin Louis-Philippe's daughter, Marie Joséphine de Rigaud de Vaudreuil (1774–1859). Two sons were born to them: Charles (1796–1880) and Victor (1798–1834). After the fall of the First French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
he returned to France where King Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
appointed him Governor of the Tuileries.
Vaudreuil died in 1817 in Paris at the age of seventy-seven.