Polignac, Jules Armand, prince de
Polignac, Jules Armand, prince de
(zhül ärmäN` prăNs də pôlēnyäk`), 1780–1847, French statesman. Belonging to one of the oldest families of France, he emigrated with them during the French Revolution. Under Napoleon I he was imprisoned (1804–14) for his part in the conspiracy of Georges CadoudalCadoudal, Georges, 1771–1804, French royalist conspirator. A commander of the Chouans, he led the counterrevolutionists in the Vendée. He fled to England in 1801 after the failure of an attempted assassination of Napoleon Bonaparte.
..... Click the link for more information. . In 1815, Louis XVIII named him a peer of France. He served as ambassador to England from 1823 to 1829. A champion and leader of the ultraroyalists in the reigns of Louis XVIIILouis XVIII,
1755–1824, king of France (1814–24), brother of King Louis XVI. Known as the comte de Provence, he fled (1791) to Koblenz from the French Revolution and intrigued to bring about foreign intervention against the revolutionaries.
..... Click the link for more information. and Charles XCharles X,
1757–1836, king of France (1824–30); brother of King Louis XVI and of King Louis XVIII, whom he succeeded. As comte d'Artois he headed the reactionary faction at the court of Louis XVI.
..... Click the link for more information. , Polignac was strongly clerical, even refusing to take the oath to the constitutional charter on religious grounds. He became minister of foreign affairs and premier in Aug., 1829, and by his reactionary measures precipitated the July RevolutionJuly Revolution,
revolt in France in July, 1830, against the government of King Charles X. The attempt of the ultraroyalists under Charles to return to the ancien régime provoked the opposition of the middle classes, who wanted more voice in the government.
..... Click the link for more information. of 1830. In Mar., 1830, a majority of the chamber of deputies demanded the dismissal of the Polignac ministry. Instead, the chamber was dissolved, and when the new elections again resulted in a liberal majority, Polignac issued (July 26, 1830) the July Ordinances, which dissolved the new chamber even before it met, established a new electoral law, and ended the freedom of the press. The revolution broke out immediately. Polignac was arrested and condemned by the chamber of peers to life imprisonment. Amnestied in 1836, he was banished and went to England. He returned in 1845. He wrote Considérations politiques (1832, tr. 1832), Études historiques, politiques et morales (1845), and Réponse à mes adversaires (1845).