Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754-1838), French statesman and diplomat, who flourished through the French Revolution (1789-1799) and the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815) and played a major part in the outcome of the Congress of Vienna.

Talleyrand was born in Paris and educated in theology at the seminary of Saint Sulpice. He was ordained a priest in 1779, became abbot of Saint-Denis, and in 1780 was appointed agent-general of the French clergy. In 1789 Talleyrand was named bishop of Autun. Two years later he resigned his see, after subscribing to the new civil constitution of the clergy drawn up by the national constituent assembly, and was subsequently excommunicated. In 1792 he was sent by the French government to London, where he conducted informal negotiations for a British-French alliance.

After the overthrow of the French monarchy in September 1792, Talleyrand returned to England as a private citizen. Following the outbreak of hostilities between France and Great Britain in 1793, he was listed as an émigré by the French authorities, and after being expelled from England in 1794, he went to the United States. Talleyrand was permitted to return to France in 1796, and the following year he was appointed foreign minister under the Directory. In July 1799 he resigned this office, and subsequently he was instrumental in effecting the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire that established the rule of the Consulate under the first consul Napoleon Bonaparte. Talleyrand served as Bonaparte's foreign minister from 1799 to 1807, when he resigned because of his opposition to the wars against Austria, Prussia, and Russia in 1805 and1806. Talleyrand grew fearful of Napoleon's absolute power and began to plot his downfall and the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy headed by Louis XVIII. After the fall of Napoleon, Talleyrand represented France at the Congress of Vienna from September 1814 to June 1815, where he obtained lenient terms for France from the victorious Allies, including the restoration of the boundaries of 1789.

In September 1815 while serving as president of council and foreign minister, Talleyrand was forced to resign by ultraroyalists who distrusted him because he had supported Napoleon in the past. From 1815 to 1830, Talleyrand was in retirement writing his memoirs. During the July Revolution of 1830, Talleyrand persuaded Louis Philippe, duc d'Orléans, to accept the French crown offered to him by the Paris revolutionaries. Talleyrand served as the French ambassador to Britain from 1832 to 1834 and helped bring about an era of good relations between the two nations. He also took part in the negotiations that in 1839 led to the general recognition of the independent kingdom of Belgium.