Chavigny et de Buzançais, Léon Bouthillier, comte de

▪ French statesman

born March 28, 1608, Paris, France

died Oct. 11, 1652, Paris

      prominent figure during the French civil wars of the Fronde (Fronde, the).

      The son of one of Cardinal de Richelieu's principal adjutants, he was created Count de Chavigny and secretary of state in 1632; in 1635 he was also made chancellor in the household of Gaston, Duke d'Orléans, to watch over the latter's conduct. Nominated, with his father, to the regency council in Louis XIII's will, he bitterly resented Jules Mazarin's monopoly of Anne of Austria's favour when she became sole regent, and he was deprived of his secretaryship of state.

      While governor of the château of Vincennes, he was arrested there in September 1648 as dangerous to the government; but the Parlement of Paris took up his case as an example of arbitrary arrest, and he was released in October. In the Fronde he was one of the Prince de Condé's advisers against Mazarin, and in April 1651, during Condé's predominance, Anne made a show of taking Chavigny as prime minister. By July, however, he no longer dared to present himself at her council. As Condé's fortunes declined, Chavigny made secret overtures to Mazarin. Condé, hearing of these during the Fronde's last days in Paris, furiously reproached Chavigny, who, shocked and chagrined, fell ill and died.

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