(1754-1838)
Born February 2, 1754 in Paris. He studied at the College d'Harcourt in Paris, entered the seminary Sv.Sulpitsiya, where in 1770-1773 he studied theology at the Sorbonne and in 1778 became a licentiate of theology. In 1779 received the priesthood.
Abbe de
Talleyrand became a regular at salons, where his passion for playing cards and love affairs are not considered incompatible with the high spiritual rank of. Nourish uncle helped his election in May 1780 the representative of the French spiritual assembly. During the next five years,
Talleyrand, along with his colleague, Raymond de Buazhelonom, Archbishop Ahenskim, responsible for asset management and financial Gallican (French) Church. In 1788,
Talleyrand was appointed Bishop of Otensky.
Revolution. Even before 1789
Talleyrand was inclined to the liberal positions of the aristocracy, which sought to transform the undivided power of the Bourbons in a limited constitutional monarchy on the British model. He was a member of the Committee of Thirty. In April 1789
Talleyrand was elected to the first class in the States-General. This body held a moderate position, but soon moved to more radical positions. June 26, 1789 late joined the majority of the deputies of the first class on the key issue - for a joint vote with the representatives of the Third Estate.
Talleyrand made a proposal to abolish the restrictive instructions to delegates who sought to free themselves from control by the clergy to elect their. A week later he was elected to the Constitutional Committee of the National Assembly. Promoted the adoption of the Declaration of Human Rights and Citizen. He announced that the management of church lands should be carried out by the State. This statement, 'edited' the Comte de Mirabeau, was the basis for the decree, adopted November 2, 1789, alleging that church lands should be the 'heritage of the nation'.
In July 1790
Talleyrand was one of the few French bishops, sworn by decree of the new civil status of the clergy. He was elected administrator of the department, which included Paris, resigned from his post as bishop Otensky. Despite this, in 1791 agreed to hold a ceremony of dedication to the rank of the newly elected 'constitutional' bishops Kamper, Soissons and Paris. As a result, the papacy found it the chief culprit of religious division and in 1792 excommunicated from the church.
In January 1792, when France was on the brink of war with Austria,
Talleyrand appeared in London as an unofficial mediator in the talks, whose purpose was to keep Britain from joining the coalition against France. In May 1792 the British government reaffirmed its neutrality, but
Talleyrand did not succeed in reaching the Anglo-French alliance, which sought lifelong.
In February 1793, Britain and France were embroiled in war, and in 1794,
Talleyrand was expelled from England under the terms of the Act on Foreigners.
Talleyrand emigrated to the United States, where a hurry to return, and 4 September, he was allowed to return to France. In September 1796
Talleyrand arrived in Paris, and July 18, 1797 due to the influence of his friend Madame de Stael was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs.
As minister entered into secret negotiations with Lord Malmsberi to achieve a separate peace with Britain. Formal negotiations were interrupted by the coup antiroyalistskogo Directory September 4, 1797.
Board of Napoleon. The post of Foreign Minister
Talleyrand pursued an independent policy towards Italy. Supported dream of Napoleon's conquests in the East and the plan of the Egyptian expedition. In July 1799, anticipating the familiar collapse of the Directory, left his post in November helped Bonaparte. After returning from Egypt, the general introduced him to the abbot Sieyesom, Comte de Barras persuaded to give up membership in the Directory. After the coup d'etat on November 9
Talleyrand received Minister of Foreign Affairs.
While supporting the desire of Napoleon to the supreme power,
Talleyrand hoped to put an end to the revolution and the war outside of France. It seemed that peace with Austria in 1801 (Luneville) with Britain in 1802 (Amiens) provides a strong basis for the agreement with France's two major powers. The achievement of internal stability in all three countries
Talleyrand considered a prerequisite for maintaining a diplomatic balance in Europe. No doubt his participation in the arrest and execution of the Duc d'Enghien, a prince from the dynasty of the Bourbons, on trumped-up charges of plotting to attack on the First Consul.
After 1805
Talleyrand convinced that the unrestrained ambitions of Napoleon, his dynastic foreign policy, as well as the ever-increasing megalomania involve France in the ongoing war. In August 1807, came out openly against the resumption of a 1805-1806 war with Austria, Prussia and Russia, left his post as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Restoration.
