#d'aguesseau

[nordleuchten]

I have a question! I’ve seen on here that Adrienne is apparently Lafayettes cousin? Is that true? I’ve been struggling to find a source for that…some help would be great! 😭❤️

Dear Anon,

That is a very interesting question; the short answer is no, the longer answer is probably. Allow me to elaborate:

Pedigree and one’s heritage was very important for the aristocracy of the 18th century in French. Part of the reason why La Fayette was considered as such a good match for Adrienne was his family name. If we have a look at this family tree, we see that Adrienne and La Fayette were not directly related, they were not first cousins.

La Fayette’s mother was an only child (I believe her father was as well?) and his father had two sisters, one never married and the other one married, had a daughter and was widowed young. That daughter and La Fayette had a very close relationship, and she was like a sister to him. She died in childbed while he served in America, and he deeply regretted not being able to see her again before her death.

That was the short answer, as to the longer answer; cousins are not all created equal. While we established that Adrienne and La Fayette were not first cousins, they could still be cousins of a different degree. The books and research I have read so far are not particular detailed when it comes to the extended family on both sides and I have never done too much research on my own into the ancestry of the de Noailles family – I am with John Adams on this point, the family tree of the de Noailles is just too convoluted and too interconnected.

But here is where it gets tricky. La Fayette was most likely a cousin to his father-in-law (in some shape or form). In her book, Laura Auricchio calls La Fayette the duc d’Ayens “cousin-turned-son-in-law”.

The Duc d’Ayen also had a cousin (the oldest son of his father’s younger brother), Louis Marie de Noailles, Vicomte de Noailles. Louis was also a cousin of La Fayette’s (again, please do not ask me how exactly they were related). But more so, he was also La Fayette’s brother-in-law for Louis married Louise, the older sister of La Fayette wife Adrienne.

Now, to top it all off, Louis and La Fayette both had a close friend, Louis-Phillipe, comte de Ségur. He married Antoinette Élisabeth d'Aguesseau. Antoinette was the younger sister of Adrienne’s and Louise’s mother – Ségur was therefore technically his two best friends’ uncle by marriage.

As you can see, there is a lot going on and there certainly was some sort of familial connection between the de La Fayette’s and the de Noailles’, but it was not a very close one for all that I know (and I am quite firm in the families history for three to four generations). But chances are high that I will take a deep dive into the French archives next year and might look more detailed into the de Noailles family.

Until such time, (or until someone else has more information about the topic) I hope this answer could clear some things up and that you have/had a wonderful day!

[carloskaplan]

Élisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun: Retrato Madame de d'Aguesseau de Fresnes (1789)

[lanoblesseoblige]

Portrait of Mme D'Aguesseau | pt. Elisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun | c. 1770

[quo-usque-tandem]

Madame d’Aguesseau de Fresnes by Elisabeth Louise Vigee LeBrun

[thephantomofthelibrary]

Both Adrienne and her mother, the duchesse d'Ayen, joined Lafayette’s crusade for equal rights for Protestants. “My mother shared his beliefs,” said Adrienne’s daughter Virginie, “and received with great warmth the Protestant ministers that came to our door because of his work. My mother’s tolerance was based on the basic principles of her own religion. She believed it a heinous crime to interfere with liberties that God granted to all men.

Harlow Giles Unger, Lafayette, (2002) p.212

[professorpski]

Turbans & Vigee Le Brun

This painting of Madame d’Aguesseau de Fresnes from 1789 marked the last year that Elizabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun worked in Paris for many years as the French Revolution broke out and all the aristocrats that she had been painting feared for their lives. This one wears a turban of cream and gold which sports a braid of hair as well, and then ringlets frame her sweet face and large pearl adorn her ears. The turban harmonizes with her dress which has a similar gold border, and her full skirt of silk with gold dots woven into it. The little purple, velvet  jacket fits tightly under her bustline, but then the dress is belted too and the curator at the National Gallery in DC, where this painting hangs, tells us that the cameo and sash that make up the belt are Wedgwood, so British in design. So a turban from the Middle East, a neo-classical dress of silk which would have come from China, pearls from some far away ocean, and then a British cameo--and we think we live in a global age!

You can find this painting and more by Vigee Le Brun at the National Gallery in Washington and in their online collection: https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.32694.html

[books0977]

Madame d'Aguesseau de Fresnes (1789). Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (French, 1755-1842). Oil on wood. NGA.

This woman's turban and jacket recall a Turkish harem outfit. The allusions to the exotic Orient signal an escape from the present as well as an Enlightenment acceptance of non-western ideas. Her flowing white gown recalls the costumes of ancient Greece and Rome, meant to inspire republican virtues. The prominent Wedgwood cameo at her sash is English.

[widvile-blog]

Henriette Anne Louise d’Aguesseau, Duchess of Noailles (12 February 1737 - 22 July 1794)

[venicepearl]

Marie Adrienne Françoise de Noailles, Marquise de La Fayette (2 November 1759 – 25 December 1807), was a French marchioness. She was the daughter of Jean de Noailles and Henriette Anne Louise d'Aguesseau, and married Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.

[marquisdelaughingette]

The execution of Adrienne’s grandmother, mother and sister - one of the few reasonably detailed contemporary accounts we have of executions during the Terror.  

[echo-bleu]

Picpus Cemetery

I took advantage of the nice weather today to go somewhere I’ve been wanting to visit for a while.

Lafayette and his wife Adrienne are both buried here, as well as a number of their descendants. The plaques are all from Americans, mostly from various societies (and one from Henry Knox himself). Lafayette’s casket is apparently covered with soil he brought back from Brandywine.

The Picpus cemetery’s history is itself directly linked to Adrienne. It was the garden of a former convent (the nuns had been chased away by the Revolution) where in 1784 during the Terror, they started digging mass graves for the people who were guillotined in the nearby Place du Trône Renversé (now Place de la Nation). On July 22, Adrienne’s mother, grandmother and oldest sister were executed and buried there, among 1,306 people. Adrienne barely escaped the guillotine herself before the Terror ended.

The lot was sold and the location basically lost until Amélie de Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen found and bought part of it in 1796 because her brother was among the people buried there. Since most of those people were former nobles, it was dangerous to inquire after them. Then in 1802, Adrienne’s sister Pauline de Montaigu, Adrienne herself and a few others started a subscription to buy the entire lot and the former convent.

Adrienne chose to be buried there, and was in 1807. Lafayette joined her when he died in 1834. Some of their descendants are also buried there.

Here: Virginie's second daughter Mélanie and her husband, their two children, Virginie's youngest daughter Octavie, her son Adrien (who was Lafayette's aide-de-camp) and his wife.

The location of the mass grave where Adrienne's mother, grandmother and sister are buried, and a gravestone put up in their name:

In the chapel, there are two huge plaques with the names of the 1,306 people who were put in the mass graves. I didn't think I'd find the names I was looking for (the chapel is really dark and the plaques are like 10f high), but I got lucky, they were at eye level.

Here we have Catherine de Cossé-Brissac, maréchale de Noailles, Adrienne's paternal grandmother, Henriette d'Aguesseau, duchesse d'Ayen, Adrienne's mother, and Louise de Noailles, vicomtesse de Noailles (she married her cousin, the vicomte de Noailles, who came to America with Lafayette on his second trip and fought at Yorktown. He later fled to New York during the French Revolution), Adrienne's older sister. They were executed on the same day, just a few days before the end of the Terror.

The cemetery's park is quite a nice place :)

Tagging @nordleuchten and @acrossthewavesoftime my history pals

[troquets]

Café Comptoir Jean, rue Cavenne et rue d'Aguesseau, Lyon, Rhône.

[justineportraits]

Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun    Portrait of Antoinette d'Aguesseau, comtesse de Ségur  1785

[grandmaster-anne]

Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, leave the British Embassy in Paris on May 16, 1948 to attend a religious service at the Anglican Church in Rue d'Aguesseau, during their four-day official visit in Paris. - Three years after the end of the Second World War, the twenty-two-year-old Princess, accompanied by her husband and pregnant with the future Prince Charles, made a four-day official visit to Paris, her first trip outside the Commonwealth.

[nordleuchten]

Hello dear,

I have a question that I hope isn’t too off topic or has already been asked.

I am currently reading through Adrienne de Lafayette’s bio by André Maurois and he keeps referencing the Marquis’ friend Ségur. I recall this name from other Lafayette biographies I have read but there I encountered the same problem. Does he have a title or a first name? It appears his father was a well respected general? But I can’t seem to piece together who that family is or what their standing was. I would love to know more about him, maybe dig into some correspondence as that is my one true vice. 😆 I just thought I would ask the Oracle since I’m stumped. 🤓😁

Well my dear @aconflagrationofmyown, I think I can help you with that. :-)

Yes, this mysterious Ségur has a name and a title. The “Ségur in question” was Louis Phlippe, comte de Ségur, born on December 10, 1753 in Paris and died on August 27, 1830 in Paris. He published his Memoirs and they are really worthwhile to read - interesting stories about a young La Fayette, insights into the inner circles of the French court at the time and of course into Ségur’s personal life. Here is his description of his relationship with La Fayette:

The three Frenchmen, distinguished by their rank at court, who first offered their military services to the Americans , were the Marquis de La Fayette, the Viscount de Noailles, and myself. We had long been intimate friends, and our connexion, which was strengthened by a great conformity of opinions, was soon after confirmed by the ties of blood.: La Fayette and the Viscount de Noailles had married two daughters of the Duke de Noailles, then bearing the title of Duke d'Ayen; their mother, the Dutchess d’Ayen, was the daughter, by his first marriage, of M. d'Aguesseau, Counsellor of State; and son of the Chancellor of that name M. d'Agur esseau had, by a second wife, twenty years after, several children, one of whom was M. d'Aguesseau, now a peer of France, a daughter, married to M. de Saron, first President of the Parliament of Paris, and another daughter, to whom I was united in the spring of 1777; so that, by this alliance, I became the uncle of my two friends.

Comte de Ségur, Memoirs and Recollections of the Count Segur, Ambassador from France to the Courts of Russia and Prussia, &c. &c., Wells and Lilly, Boston, 1825, p. 84.

Ségur’s descriptions of family relations is as confusing as it could possibly be and therefor once more in simple terms. La Fayette’s wife Adrienne had an aunt, her mother’s younger sister Antoinette-Elizabeth-Marie d’Aguesseau. This sister married Louis Philippe, comte de Ségur in 1777 in Paris and the couple had four children, three sons and one daughter. Ségur therefor was La Fayette’s uncle by marriage. Here is an example of how La Fayette described Ségur and their relationship. He wrote to George Washington on April 12, 1782:

This letter, My Dear General, Is Intrusted to Count de Segur, the Eldest Son of the Marquis de Segur Minister of State and of the War Departement Which in France Has a Great Importance—Count de Segur Was Soon Going to Have a Regiment, But He Prefers Serving in America, and Under Your orders—He is one of the Most Amiable, Sensible, and Good Natured Men I Ever Saw—He is My Very Intimate friend—I Recommend Him to You, My dear General, and through You to Every Body in America Particularly in the Army.

“To George Washington from Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, 12 April 1782,” Founders Online, National Archives, [This is an Early Access document from The Papers of George Washington. It is not an authoritative final version.] (05/20/2022)

You said you have already done some digging on your own and I assume you came across Ségur’s Memoirs. I include some links just in case and for everybody else who might be interested. Ségur’s memoirs are normally split into three volumes.

Internet Archive, French original: Volume One - Volume Two - Volume Three

Internet Archive, English Translation: Volume One (they do not have any more volumes in English)

Google Books, English Translation: Volume One - Volume Two - Volume Three

Since Ségur also worked as a diplomat and historian, he authored quite a number of works. Here is a little overview of all of his freely accessible books at the Internet Archive and via Google Books.

His second-oldest son, Phillipe-Paul also wrote his memoirs: An aide-de-camp of Napoleon. Memoirs of General Count de Ségur, of the French academy, 1800-1812.

Ségur hailed from a very well situated family. His father was Philippe Henri, Marquis de Ségur, decorated general and later Secretary of State for War during the American Revolution. He was the grand-son of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, regent of the Kingdome of France, by Orléans’ illegitimate daughter Philippe Angélique de Froissy. Ségur also had a younger brother, Joseph Alexandre Pierre, vicomte de Ségur. It is rumoured that Joseph Alexandre Pierre was not the son of Phillippe Henri but had actually been fathered by his “fathers” friend, Pierre Victor, baron de Besenval de Brünstatt. To my knowledge that had never been officially proven though.

The État civil reconstitué (XVIe-1859) should technically have Ségur’s Acte de Décès but I could not find it at first glance. I did find however the corresponding Fichier in the État civil reconstitué and maybe that is of interest for you as well. It is quite interesting to observe that Ségur’s last name is given as a combination of his and his wife’s name.

Paris Archives, Fichiers de l'état civil reconstitué, Cote V3E/D 1356, p. 21. (05/20/2022)

You also mentioned that you were interested in correspondences - in fact, you said that they are your one true vice and I can absolutely understand that. Under the cut (as not to bother everybody who is just casually scrolling) I include the one fully transcribed letter by Ségur that I have. There are also a couple of letters where I only have the dates and short summaries - just let me know if you are interested in them as well.

I hope you have/had a beautiful day!

The comte de Ségur to the Marquis de La Fayette

Rochefort, July 7, 1782

I received, my dear Lafayette, your friendly letter, and I was extremely touched. I love you madly and I cannot console myself that I am not traveling with you. You are going to play a very honorable role, and one that is very difficult to play. You will have to reconcile the French and American characters, deal tactfully with opposing interests, and fill the measure of your glory to overflowing by adding the olive branch to the laurel leaves. And you will even have to act against your own inclination by helping to put a definite end to the horrible scourge to which you owe your fame. I am very sorry not to be able to talk with you freely at the moment I most desire it. But letters are not safe enough, and I haven't anything to tell you but things I would not want to be read. I foresee that you are going to be more revolted than ever at English arrogance, stupid Spanish vanity, French inconsistency, and despotic ignorance. You will see that the cabinet tries one's patience as much as a battlefield, and that as many stupid things are done in a negotiation as in a campaign. You will see especially how essentials are sacrificed to form, and you will say more than once, “If chance had not made me one of the principal actors, I should certainly not stay in the theater.” But the more obstacles you encounter, the more merit you will gain. How could you not succeed in all you desire, for you have genius and good fortune. To have that is to have half again as much as it takes to be a great man. Farewell, my friend. I expect to leave the day after tomorrow, consoling myself rather philosophically for going two thousand leagues for nothing, but not consoling myself for not finding you in a place that I find full of your name and your deeds. I shall carry out all your commissions, and I shall point out the patriotic sacrifice you are making in temporarily exchanging your sword for a pen. I request that you love my wife, hug my children, take my place with my father, and join us as soon as you can to sound the charge or beat the farewell retreat.

Idzerda Stanley J. et al., editors, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution: Selected Letters and Papers, 1776–1790, Volume 5, January 4, 1782‑December 29, 1785, Cornell University Press, 1981, p. 51.

[thephantomofthelibrary]

With the king unwilling to respond on the abolition issue, Lafayette acted on his own. He purchased a 125,000-livre sugarcane plantation, worked by slaves, in Cayenne, French Guyana, and, as he explained to Henry Knox, began “the experiment for enfranchising our Negro brethren. God grant that it may be proposed.” Lafayette sent a young engineer-social scientist to take charge of La Belle Gabrielle, as the plantation was called, and to established a program of education and gradual emancipation. He forbade the sale of any slaves, paid each slave according to his production, introduced literacy programs and schooling for the children, and applied rules and punishment equally to blacks and whites. Adrienne and her mother, the duchesse d'Ayen, both embraced the project, with Adrienne arranging for seminarians in Cayenne to educate the slaves and their children.

Harlow Giles Unger, Lafayette, (2002) p.215-216