André-Hercule de Fleury

French cardinal and statesman

• Born: June 22, 1653
• Birthplace: Lodève, France
• Died: January 29, 1743
• Place of death: Paris, France

As prime minister of France from 1726 to 1743, Fleury restored economic prosperity and stability to the country, and he maintained peace both domestically and internationally. Using his power and experience as both statesman and clergyman, he quieted the outbreak of Jansenist unrest and brought accord between the Crown and the French judiciary.

Early Life

André-Hercule de Fleury (ahn-dray ehr-kewl duh flew-ree) was born into a well-connected family that had ties to the Church, the Crown, the legal profession, and the provincial landed gentry. He received an excellent education, attending the Collège de Navarre, the Collège Louis le Grand, and the Collège d’Harcourt. From birth, Fleury was destined to the priesthood. In 1668, he became canon of Montpellier. In 1675, he became the queen’s chaplain. The next year, 1676, he received his degree of theology. In 1678, he was appointed as one of the eight chaplains of King Louis XIV, and in 1680 he became a deputy to the assembly of the clergy.

In 1699, Louis XIV appointed Fleury to the diocese of Fréjus, and he spent the next fifteen years as bishop of Fréjus. During this time, he was very involved in his religious duties. He looked after the needs of the poor and paid special attention to the education of the children of his diocese. However, Fleury missed Paris and life at court. Early in 1715, he resigned his position as bishop, and in July he left Fréjus and returned to Paris.

Life’s Work

Fleury’s career had seemed to come to a standstill at Fréjus. When he returned to Paris, he was sixty-two years old and probably believed that he was approaching the end of his career, but it was at this somewhat late time in his life that his most important work began. During Fleury’s earlier sojourn at the court, Louis XIV had found him too worldly. In spite of this earlier opinion, shortly before the king died, he chose Fleury as the future tutor of his heir apparent, who would become Louis XV. Madame de Maintenon, the former Françoise d’Aubigné and wife of Louis XIV at the time, is credited with strongly influencing her husband in this decision.

It was not until 1717 that Fleury actually began his work as tutor to the young Louis XV. Fleury concentrated on instilling in his pupil religious piety and respect for the Church, concern for the happiness of his subjects, and a distaste for wars of expansion. Louis developed an extraordinary amount of confidence in Fleury and consistently followed his advice about most affairs of state. It was at Fleury’s suggestion that, upon the death of the duc d’Orléans in 1723, the duc de Bourbon became prime minister. It was also Fleury who saw to it that Bourbon was disgraced in 1726. In June of 1726, Louis XV appointed Fleury prime minister of France. Fleury now officially exercised the duties and power that had already been his for years. In the same year, he was also made a cardinal of the Church.

During Fleury’s ministry, France enjoyed domestic economic prosperity and freedom from war abroad. As a result of the extravagant spending of Louis XIV and the disastrous financial scheme of John Law during the Regency, France was in serious economic difficulty when Fleury came to power. To remedy the situation, Fleury returned to the practices employed by Jean-Baptiste Colbert. During the middle years of the previous reign, Colbert, in a process that came to be called Colbertisme, had succeeded in stabilizing the budget and in expanding commerce in spite of the extravagances of the king. Fleury wisely availed himself of experienced ministers such as Philibert Orry and Jean Frédéric Phélypeaux, comte de Maurepas, to implement his programs.

The problem of Jansenism had never been settled in France. Although it had been declared heretical in the papal bull Unigenitus, that bull had never been officially registered in France. The French clergy’s aversion to bowing to the dictates of Rome was responsible for this situation. Consequently, there were still many Jansenists among the clergy, as well as in the secular world, especially in the judicial class. Throughout his clerical career, Fleury had been opposed to the sect. In 1726, he had taken control of the feuille de bénéfice, which made appointments within the Church. He routinely excluded Jansenists from promotion. Though not fanatical in his opposition to Jansenism, he wished to purge the church in France of Jansenists.

In 1730, Fleury brought about the declaration of the bull Unigenitus as law in France. The Parisian parliamentarians immediately took issue with this stratagem and protested vehemently. Fleury exiled them from Paris. In August, 1731, the Parisian lawyers went on strike. In 1732, Louis XV promulgated a law denying the reiteration of remonstrance to Parlement and forbade strikes by lawyers. Toward the end of 1732, an agreement was reached between the Crown and the Parlement. Fleury permitted its members to return to Paris; they submitted to the will of the state, and the decree of 1732 was suspended. Thus, using a policy that was firm but moderate in the severity of action taken, Fleury silenced the Jansenist quarrel.

In international affairs, Fleury believed in the benefits of the peaceful coexistence of nations. However, he was still able to expand French territory. Through negotiation, he acquired the duchy of Lorraine by first obtaining it for Louis XV’s father-in-law, Stanisław I Leszczyński, the dethroned king of Poland. Stanisław was to enjoy sovereignty in Lorraine until his death, at which time the duchy would lose its independence and become a part of France.

During the last years of his life, Fleury saw France drawn into the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748). Against Fleury’s advice, Louis XV decided to align himself with Prussia in opposition to Maria Theresa, who had the support of England. The war brought France many more problems than benefits, but Fleury did not live to lament over this situation. He died January 29, 1743.

Significance

André-Hercule de Fleury was an exceptional statesman. He succeeded in quelling the Jansenist unrest and subduing the Parlement. He accomplished these aims with a minimum of force when the legal community rose up in opposition to the bull Unigenitus as law and thus in opposition to the king.

Fleury understood the importance of centralization and unity to the existence of an absolute monarchy. Such a monarchy had to function on the principle of “one king, one will, one religion.” Any schism in the scheme would erode the absolute power of the king.

War was, in Fleury’s opinion, detrimental to a country. It strained finances and placed an enormous tax burden on the people. Fleury came from a family whose members had been engaged in the collection of both ecclesiastical and secular taxes. His father was a receveur de tailles royales (royal tax collector). War also shifted attention outward, away from the domestic needs of the country.

Fleury wisely delegated authority to experts who were able to achieve the ends that he sought. He also availed himself of policies that had been successful in the past. By implementing Colbert’s methods, he stabilized the French economy during his ministry.

Fleury inspired confidence. Louis XV relied upon him to set policy and essentially govern France for seventeen years. Even the years before he appointed Fleury prime minister, he relied upon his former tutor’s advice in matters of state.

Bibliography

Campbell, Peter R. Power and Politics in Old Regime France, 1720-1745. Rutgers, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1996. Based on thorough archival research. Comprehensive treatment of the ministry of Fleury, with discussion of the Jansenism crisis.

Jones, Colin. The Great Nation: France from Louis XV to Napoleon. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003. Looks at the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI as periods of effective royal power, military achievement, and cultural prestige. Chapters 2 and 3 cover Fleury’s role in the reign of Louis XV.

McManners, John. The Clerical Establishment and Its Ramifications. Vol. 1 in Church and Society in Eighteenth Century France. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Along with volume 2, presents every aspect of religious life in eighteenth century France.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. The Religion of the People and the Politics of Religion. Vol. 2 in Church and Society in Eighteenth Century France. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Discussion of Jesuit-Jansenist struggle.

Roche, Daniel. France in the Enlightenment. Translated by Arthur Goldmann. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2000. Detailed cultural history, examining the lives of all classes: the king, nobility, bourgeoisie, and peasants. Looks at the period as important in its own right and not just a prelude to the French Revolution.

Wilson, Arthur McCandless. French Foreign Policy During the Administration of Cardinal Fleury, 1726-1743. Reprint. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1972. A study in Fleury’s expertise in diplomacy and commercial development.