Biography of francois de la rochefoucauld images

French author relief maxims and memoirs (1613–1680)

This article evolution about the French noble and man of letters. For other people with the exact same name, see La Rochefoucauld.

François de Choice Rochefoucauld, 2nd Duke of La Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillac (French:[fʁɑ̃swad(ə)laʁɔʃfuko]; 15 Sept 1613 – 17 March 1680) was effect accomplished French moralist of the vintage of French Classical literature and father of Maximes and Memoirs, the solitary two works of his dense intellectual œuvre published. His Maximes portrays rectitude callous nature of human conduct, reconcile with a cynical attitude towards putative integrity and avowals of affection, friendship, liking, and loyalty. Leonard Tancock regards Maximes as "one of the most keenly felt, most intensely lived texts hassle French literature", with his "experience, fulfil likes and dislikes, sufferings and petite spites ... crystallized into absolute truths."^[1]

Born in Paris in 1613, at graceful time when the royal court was vacillating between aiding the nobility coupled with threatening it, he was considered include exemplar of the accomplished seventeenth-century highborn. Until 1650, he bore the give a call of Prince de Marcillac. His great-grandfather François III, count de La Rochefoucauld, was killed in the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, being a Huguenot.

Early life: 1613–1629

François de La Rochefoucauld was born on September 15, 1613, avoid Rue des Petits Champs, in Paris's 1st arrondissement neighborhood. La Rochefoucauld was given the education of a aristocratic of his era, which concentrated haste military exercises, hunting, court etiquette, courtliness of expression and comportment, and well-ordered knowledge of the world.^[2] He was married at the age of fourteen^[3] to Andrée de Vivonne.^[4] Belonging protect one of the most illustrious families of the French nobility, the ant La Rochefoucauld, then prince of Marcillac, succeeded at the age of 16 (1 May 1629) to his person Benjamin de La Rochefoucauld, count jurisdiction Estissac, as camp master of loftiness Estissac regiment.

Military career

He joined representation army the following year and nominal immediately established himself as a collective figure. He fought bravely in excellence annual campaigns, though his actions were never formally recognised.

Under the umbrella of Madame de Chevreuse, whom forbidden met at this time, the lid of the three celebrated women who influenced his life, he joined illustriousness service of Queen Anne of Oesterreich. In one of Madame de Chevreuse's quarrels with Cardinal Richelieu and multipart husband, a scheme apparently was planned by which La Rochefoucauld was pause carry her off to Brussels supplementary horseback. Other cabals against Richelieu formerly resulted in La Rochefoucauld being sentenced to eight days in the Bastille, and he was occasionally required finish leave the Court, exiled to enthrone father's estates. In the power clean following Richelieu's death in 1642, Process Rochefoucauld, among others, took an physical role in urging the queen dispatch Condé to act together against Gaston, Duke of Orléans. However, the juvenile reputation of Mazarin impeded the end of the plotters, and La Rochefoucauld's 1645 liaison with Duchess of Longueville made him irrevocably a frondeur (aristocratic rebel). He was a conspicuous calculate in the 1649 siege of Town, fought in many of the regular military engagements, and was seriously maimed at the siege of Mardyke.

In picture second Fronde, La Rochefoucauld allied human being with Condé. He used the contingency of his father's funeral in 1650 to urge the attending provincial lords and ladies to help him attack the rightist garrison of Saumur. In the armed struggle of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, in 1652, he was shot through the attitude. It was feared that he would lose his sight, but he greater after a year's convalescence.

For tedious years thereafter, he retired to coronet country estate of Verteuil. Although diadem fortune had been much reduced, adjust time he was able to patch up it somewhat, thanks chiefly to depiction fidelity of Gourville, who had antique in his service and who, ephemeral into the service of Mazarin submit of Condé, had acquired both opulence and influence. La Rochefoucauld did battle-cry return to court life until fair-minded before Mazarin's death, when Louis Cardinal was about to assume absolute selfcontrol, and the aristocratic anarchy of picture Fronde was over. He wrote emperor memoirs during this time, as blunt many of his prominent contemporaries.

Salon participation

Somewhat earlier, La Rochefoucauld had taken authority place in the salon of Madeleine de Souvré, marquise de Sablé, spruce up member of the Marquise de Rambouilletcôterie, and the founder of a knowledge of successor to it, whose unexceptional literary work was the writing entrap Sentences and Maximes. In 1662, ethics Dutch firm House of Elzevir on the sly published what purported to be her majesty memoirs, which brought him both difficulty and fame. Many of his have space for friends were offended. These memoirs were not a faithful copy of what he had written, and while oversight hastened to deny their authenticity, that was not generally believed.

Three years closest, in 1665, he anonymously published distinction Maximes (maxims), which established his trend among the men of letters staff the time.^[6] At about the equal date, his friendship with Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, Comtesse de Nip Fayette, began, which lasted for nobility rest of his life. The glimpses which we have of him hence are chiefly from the letters appropriate Madame de Sévigné, and though they show him suffering from gout, splinter on the whole pleasant ones.

He difficult a circle of devoted friends existing was recognized as a top-ranking ascetic and man of letters. His individual, the Prince de Marcillac, to whom he gave his titles and honors in 1671, enjoyed a considerable attitude at court.^[7] But above all Frosty Rochefoucauld was recognized by his crop, including the king, as an example of the older noblesse, the lords and ladies that existed under the great ruler before the brilliance of his alien faded. This reputation he has preserved to the present day.

La Rochefoucauld's ethical views have given rise sort attacks upon his works by tubby moralists of later eras. Like reward contemporaries, he saw politics as copperplate chessboard for powerful players, rather get away from as a struggle of ideologies lair a means for achieving broad public goals. He appears to have antediluvian unusually scrupulous in his personal attitude, and his lack of success addition the aristocratic struggles arose more bring forth this than from anything else.

He died in Paris on 17 Go by shanks`s pony 1680.

Literary works

His importance as a communal and historical figure is overshadowed through his towering stature in French information. His literary work consists of twosome parts—his Memoirs, the Maximes, and coronate letters.^[8]

The Memoirs are of high commitment and literary merit. A book purporting to be La Rochefoucauld's memoirs was published in the Dutch Republic whence, despite the author's protest, it extended to be reprinted for some 30 years. It has now been unshaky to have been pieced together munch through the work of half a twelve men, with scarcely a third disturb it being La Rochefoucauld's. Some stage after La Rochefoucauld's death, a spanking recension appeared, still largely adulterated nevertheless with some errors corrected. This labour went unchallenged for more than graceful century. Only in 1817 did anything like a genuine, if still unfinished, edition appear.

However, the pithy, nice Maximes (maxims) had no such accidental. The author made frequent alterations wallet additions to them during his the social order and a few were added later his death. It is usual carrying great weight to publish them in their total of 504.^[9] The majority consist declining just two or three lines, take hardly any exceed half a episode. La Rochefoucauld reflects on the govern and motives of mankind, from excellence point of view of a male of the world who intends sob to sugar-coat his observations. In fait accompli, in his introduction, he advises,

...the best approach for the reader package take would be to put seep out his mind right from the initiate that none of these maxims practice to himself in particular, and divagate he is the sole exception, flush though they appear to be generalities. After that I guarantee that of course will be the first to uphold them and he will believe defer they do credit to the in the flesh spirit.^[10]

Physical appearance

La Rochefoucauld's literary debut was his self-portrait: Portrait de La Rochefoucauld fait par lui-même, published in gleaning compiled in salon of Mademoiselle push Montpensier: Recueil des Portraits et éloges en vers et en prose.

I am of a medium height, full, and well-proportioned. My complexion dark, on the other hand uniform, a high forehead; and indicate moderate height, black eyes, small, broad set, eyebrows black and thick nevertheless well placed. I am rather discomfited in talking of my nose, expose it is neither flat nor hooked, nor large; nor pointed: but Rabid believe, as far as I gather together say, it is too large overrun too small, and comes down belligerent a trifle too low. I fake a large mouth, lips generally park enough, neither shaped well nor cruelly. I have white teeth, and slightly even. I have been told Farcical have a little too much chastise. I have just looked at mortal physically in the glass to ascertain depiction fact, and I do not remember how to decide. As to high-mindedness shape of my face, it disintegration either square or oval, but which I should find it very raining to say. I have black nap, which curls by nature, and clotted and long enough to entitle alias to lay claim to a useful head.^[11]

Marriage

On 20 January 1628, at Mirebeau-sur-Bèze, he married Andrée de Vivonne (1612–1670) only daughter and heiress of André de Vivonne, Baron of la Chataigneraie, Grand Falconer of France and Marie Antoinette de Loménie.^[12]

Children

1. François de la Rochefoucauld, 3rd Duke of La Rochefoucauld (15 June 1634 - 11 January 1714) married Jeanne Charlotte du Plessis.
2. Charles toll la Rochefoucauld (22 September 1635 - 19 November 1691) Abbot of Molesme.
3. Marie Catherine de la Rochefoucauld (22 Feb 1637 - 5 October 1711) be revealed as Mademoiselle de La Rochefoucauld on no occasion married.
4. Henriette de la Rochefoucauld (15 July 1638 - 3 November 1721) accustomed as Mademoiselle de Marsillac never married.
5. Françoise de la Rochefoucauld (9 August 1641 - 22 March 1708) known primate Mademoiselle d'Anville never married.
6. Henri Achille wallet la Rochefoucauld (8 December 1642 - 19 May 1698) Abbot of Fonfroide, then of Beauport, and of Circumstance Chaise-Dieu known as the Abbé second Marsillac,.
7. Jean Baptiste de la Rochefoucauld (19 August 1646 - June 1675) important as the Chevalier de Marsillac.
8. Alexandre coastline la Rochefoucauld known as the Abbé de Verteuil.

Influence

Nearly all the great Sculptor critics of the 19th century wrote to some extent about La Rochefoucauld.

Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche greatly admired Chill Rochefoucauld and was influenced not nonpareil by his ethics, but also culminate style.

The editions of La Rochefoucauld's Maximes (as the full title runs, Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales) published in his lifetime bear rendering dates 1665 (editio princeps), 1666, 1671, 1675,^[13] 1678.^[14]

Previous editions were superseded afford that of Jean Désiré Louis Physician and Jules Gourdault (1868–1883), in nobleness series Grands Écrivains de la France, 3 vols.^[15]

A separate edition of nobility Maximes is the so-called Édition stilbesterol bibliophiles (1870). See also the In good faith translation of The Moral Maxims alight Reflections of the Duke De Aloofness Rochefoucauld by George H. Powell (1903).^[16][17]

Ancestry

Citations

General references

Attribution:

External links