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Pierre Victor, baron de Besenval de Brünstatt
Swiss military officer in French service From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt, also Bezenval or Beuzeval and Bronstatt, Brünstatt or Brunnstatt, born Peter Joseph Viktor von Besenval von Brunstatt (1721–1791), was a Swiss military officer in French service. He was usually just referred to as Baron de Besenval (the suffix Brunstatt refers to the former barony). Over time and depending on the language, the family name was adapted according to the international careers and marriages of the family members and the different spellings were adopted by chroniclers, historians and journalists.[1][2]
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Biography
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Family and relatives
Pierre Victor de Besenval was born in Solothurn, Switzerland, to Jean Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt and Katarzyna, Baronne de Besenval de Brunstatt, née Bielińska (1684–1761). His father was a colonel of the regiment of the Swiss Guards in the pay of France. Through his mother, Pierre Victor de Besenval was the grandson of the Polish politician Kazimierz Ludwik Bieliński. In 1726, when he was five years old, his mother brought him to France, where his parents already lived.[1]
Théodora Élisabeth Catherine, Marquise de Broglie, née de Besenval de Brunstatt (1718–1777), was Pierre Victor de Besenval's sister. His maternal aunt was the diplomatically influential Marianna Denhoff, also Maria Magdalena, Gräfin von Dönhoff, née Bielińska.[3][4][5][6]
A model military career of a Swiss patrician in French service
In 1731, Pierre Victor de Besenval joined the Swiss Guards as a cadet. He was promoted to ensign in 1733 and became the commander of the regiment's Besenval company in 1738. In the French army, he was promoted to brigadier in 1747, Maréchal de camp in 1758 and Lieutenant-Général in 1762. In the same year he was appointed Inspecteur général of the Swiss Guards and the Grisons Troops in French service. Besenval served at first as aide-de-camp to Victor-François de Broglie during the campaign of 1748 in Bohemia, then as aide-de-camp to the Duc d'Orléans during the Seven Years' War.[1]
Pierre Victor de Besenval was not only friends with the family of the Maréchal Victor-François, Duc de Broglie, but also related to them through his sister's husband, Charles Guillaume Louis, Marquis de Broglie (1716–1786).[7]
At the peak of his career: The queen's favourite and the purchase of the Hôtel de Besenval
In the early 1760s, the Baron de Besenval played a key role in the Duc de Choiseul's reform of the army. After being appointed military governor of Haguenau in 1766, he was made Lieutenant-Colonel of the Swiss Guards in 1767.[1]
Furthermore, in 1781, he was promoted to Commandant en chef of the troops and garrisons in the interior of France. After the accession of King Louis XVI, Pierre Victor de Besenval became a favorite of Queen Marie Antoinette, whom he assisted on various occasions with advice and assistance, such as in the affair: An Incident at the Opera Ball on Mardi Gras in 1778.[1][8]
It was on 5 December 1767, that Pierre Victor de Besenval bought his Parisian residence, the Hôtel Chanac de Pompadour, thereafter renamed Hôtel de Besenval. It has housed the Embassy of the Swiss Confederation and the residence of the Swiss ambassador to France since 1938.[9][10]
"The Baron de Besenval, whose very French lightness made us forget that he was born Swiss."
French Revolution, family and last years
When the French Revolution broke out, the Baron de Besenval remained firmly attached to the royal court and was given command of the troops which the king had concentrated in Paris to suppress the riots which had been going on for some time. The riots culminated in the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789. In the eyes of contemporaries, the Baron de Besenval acted unluckily in the crisis. When the revolutionary masses demanded his head after the Taking of the Bastille, the baron tried to escape to his home country, Switzerland.[1]
Suspected by the people and valued by kings and queens
Pierre Victor de Besenval was arrested while fleeing to Switzerland. In November 1789, he was accused by the tribunal of the Grand Châtelet of the crime of lèse-nation. However, on 1 March 1790, he was acquitted of all charges. Following the acquittal, King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette had publicly expressed their joy that the baron had been acquitted of all charges. Another king, King Stanisław II August of Poland, with whom the Baron de Besenval was related on his mother's side, was also pleased by the acquittal. In a letter dated 7 April 1790, the king instructed his ambassador in Paris to congratulate the baron's lawyer, Raymond Desèze, on his victory and had the ambassador present him with a medal as a token of thanks. The letter of the King of Poland was published in the Moniteur Universel on 16 May 1790.[12][13][14]
An illegitimate heir for his treasure house in Paris
Pierre Victor de Besenval was considered a womaniser. Accordingly, he had several affairs. The mother of his only son, Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur, was Louise-Anne-Madeleine, Marquise de Ségur, née de Vernon (1729–1778), the wife of his best friend Philippe Henri, Marquis de Ségur. However, this was no secret within the family. Besenval never married. He died in Paris on 2 June 1791 in his residence, the Hôtel de Besenval, which he left to his only child, Joseph-Alexandre Pierre de Ségur.[15][16][17]
"He looked like a real shadow. His sunken, otherwise beautiful face was deathly pale, and his eyes were fixed. An hour later he lay dead in my arms."
— Victor von Gibelin, on the appearance of Pierre Victor de Besenval in the dining room of the Hôtel de Besenval on the evening of 2 June 1791. An hour later, the baron died in his arms[18]
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Literary works
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Pierre Victor de Besenval authored moral-philosophical essays, novels, tales and poetic epistles. However, he is principally known as the author of his memoires, which were published between 1805 and 1806 by Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur, in which are reported many scandalous tales of the court of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. The family de Besenval questioned the authenticity of the memoirs and distanced themselves from them.[1]
Bibliography (partial list)
The entire literary work of Pierre Victor de Besenval was described by his publisher as: A literary, historical and political miscellany – followed by some poems.[19]
- Le Spleen
- Idées politiques et militaires
- Les Amans soldats
- Féerie
- Socrate et Gassendi
- Alonzo
- Coelia
- Réflexions sur la Comédie
- L'Hermite
- Réflexions sur le Ton
- Histoire des Revenans
- Pensées détachées
- Nouvelle espagnole
- Du Chagrin
- Anecdote bretonne
- Première Scène d'une Comédie
- Aventure et Conversation de M. le Baron de Besenval avec une Dame de Wesel
- Opinion des Turcs sur les femmes
- Disgrace de Madame des Ursins et ce qui l'a occasionnée
- De la Douleur
- Traduction d'un ouvrage chinois sur les jardins
- Épître à Damon
- Épître au Comte de F…
- A l'Abbé Allaire, mon précepteur, en lui envoyant une collection d'auteurs latins
- Sur la mort du Comte de Frise, neveu du Maréchal de Saxe
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References
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