Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand summary

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, prince de Bénévent.

Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, (born Feb. 2, 1754, Paris, France—died May 17, 1838, Paris), French statesman. Ordained a priest, he became bishop of Autun in 1788. Elected to represent the clergy at the Estates-General (1789), he became the “bishop of the Revolution” by calling for confiscation of church property to fund the new government and supporting the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Excommunicated by the pope in 1790, he was sent to England as an envoy in 1792. He was expelled from France during the Reign of Terror, lived in the U.S. (1794–96), then returned to serve in the Directory as foreign minister (1797–99). He was forced to resign briefly for involvement in bribery scandals, including the XYZ Affair. Adept at political survival, he supported Napoleon and again became foreign minister (1799–1807) and later grand chamberlain (1804–07). He resigned in opposition to Napoleon’s policy toward Russia but continued to advise him, arranging his marriage with Marie-Louise of Austria. As Napoleon faced defeat, Talleyrand secretly worked to restore the monarchy; in 1814 he was appointed foreign minister to Louis XVIII and represented France at the Congress of Vienna. Forced by ultraroyalists to resign (1815), he later became involved in the July Revolution of 1830 and served as ambassador to Britain (1830–34).

Estates-General Summary

Estates-General, in France of the pre-Revolution monarchy, the representative assembly of the three “estates,” or orders of the realm: the clergy (First Estate) and nobility (Second Estate)—which were privileged minorities—and the Third Estate, which represented the majority of the people. The

Congress of Vienna Summary

Congress of Vienna, assembly in 1814–15 that reorganized Europe after the Napoleonic Wars. It began in September 1814, five months after Napoleon I’s first abdication and completed its “Final Act” in June 1815, shortly before the Waterloo campaign and the final defeat of Napoleon. The settlement

government Summary

Government, the political system by which a country or community is administered and regulated. Most of the key words commonly used to describe governments—words such as monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy—are of Greek or Roman origin. They have been current for more than 2,000 years and have not

diplomacy Summary

Diplomacy, the established method of influencing the decisions and behaviour of foreign governments and peoples through dialogue, negotiation, and other measures short of war or violence. Modern diplomatic practices are a product of the post-Renaissance European state system. Historically,