Lèse-nation

Lèse-nation, also lèze-nation, was a crime defined in France during the French Revolution. It referred to an offence or defamation against the dignity of the nation. Both the name and the corresponding law regarding the crime of lèse-nation trace back to the law concerning the crime of lèse-majesté. Both were adapted by the revolutionaries during the French Revolution so that the focus was no longer on the monarch, but on the nation. The English name for lèse-majesté is a modernised borrowing from the medieval French, where the term means a crime against The Crown. In classical Latin laesa māiestās means hurt or violated majesty. In the context of the term lèse-nation, it refers to a crime that harms the nation.[1]

The law regarding the crime of lèse-nation was in force between 1789 and 1791. It was immediately after the proclamation of the sovereignty of the nation, in the aftermath of the Tennis Court Oath from 20 June 1789, that the foundation for this new law was laid. On 23 June 1789, the National Assembly announced that it will prosecute as criminals all those who, individuals or bodies, attack its existence or the freedom of its members.[2]

Almost over night a new crime was invented. Or as Charles-Élie, Marquis de Ferrières, put it:

"We suddenly beheld a new crime, unknown to our fathers – the crime of lèse-nation."

— Charles-Élie, Marquis de Ferrières[3]

The events surrounding the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 played an important role in the development and implementation of the law. Following the Bastille's fall, numerous denunciations and the specter of conspiracy compelled the National Assembly to address the issue of political offences. Quick action was required.[4]

Protection for the Revolution

The law regarding the crime of lèse-nation was introduced in the early days of the French Revolution. It came into force on 23 July 1789 by decree of the National Assembly. It defined intentions that harmed the nation and was modelled on the traditional crime of lèse-majesté, thereby illustrating the transfer of sovereignty. The law was introduced to protect the Revolution and its values and also served to define what constituted the nation. Taking into account the emerging regime's growing fears of counter-revolution, it became one of the most important legal measures at the beginning of the Revolution. In the long term, however, this was not the case. The weak judicial effectiveness of the law regarding the crime of lèse-nation contrasted with its political ambition. This explains its brief use: from 1791 onwards, the term crime contre la chose publique (crime against the common good) was preferred as the standard of political justice.[1]

What is a crime of lèse-nation?

A crime of lèse-nation is the deliberate disregard, in will and in deed, of the inviolable rights of the nation. Or in short, according to the revolutionaries: The criminals guilty of the crime of lèse-nation are those who want to maintain the old despotism and aristocracy. Maximilien Robespierre reminded his fellow revolutionaries in a speech on 25 October 1790 when it came to introducing new laws and establishing the judiciary for the young nation: "The tribunal which you have formed must be endowed with courage and sufficient arms, for it is to contend with the mighty, who are the declared enemies of the people." [5][6]

Physical or moral attack against the nation

Crimes of lèse-nation were defined as attacks committed directly against the rights of society. There are two types: those who attack the physical existence of the nation and those who seek to harm its moral existence. The latter are as guilty as the former. Crimes of lèse-nation are rare in states where a strong constitution and an established government enable the enforcement of the state's monopoly on the use of force. At this point, however, the young nation was still in the process of forming. Under the Constitution of 1791, the crime was to be judged by the Haute Cour Nationale.[7][8]

The who's who of the Ancien Régime in the dock

The most prominent personalities who were accused of the crime of lèse-nation were: Charles-Eugène de Lorraine, Prince de Lambesc; Charles Marie Auguste Joseph de Beaumont, Comte d'Autichamp; Victor François, Duc de Broglie; Charles Louis François de Paule de Barentin, Seigneur d'Hardivilliers and Louis Pierre de Chastenet de Puységur, Comte de Puységur.[2]

The only death sentence

The only death sentence passed under the law of lèse-nation was that of Thomas de Mahy, Marquis de Favras. The Marquis de Favras was sentenced to death on 18 February 1790. He was hanged the next day on the Place de Grève in Paris. The execution of this judgement was seen by the revolutionaries as the first experience of political justice of the French Revolution.[2]

A Swiss baron in the dock: Complot contre Paris et l'Assamblée Nationale

However, the most famous person accused of the crime of lèse-nation was Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt, a Swiss military officer in French service. The judicial proceedings against him in connection with the Storming of the Bastille began on 20 November 1789, when the record of the dénonciation and the complaint of the King's Prosecutor were read aloud before the court at the Grand Châtelet in Paris, in accordance with the decree of the Municipal Committee of Inquiry of 18 November, which summarised the charges against him. His trial proper began the following day, on 21 November 1789, with the first judicial questioning. In the court records, the Besenval Case is referred to as: Affaire du Baron de Besenval: Complot contre Paris et l'Assamblée Nationale, 19 novembre 1789 – 1 mars 1790. The baron's case became exemplary. Not only because he was a foreigner, a close friend of Queen Marie Antoinette and one of the first accused of the crime of lèse-nation, but also because of his fame and his famous friends who campaigned for his release, such as the Marquis de Lafayette, Jacques Necker and the Comte de Mirabeau. What was ultimately important for the baron's survival: These gentlemen also enjoyed respect among the revolutionaries. Furthermore, the baron was represented in court by the best and most prominent French lawyer at the time: Raymond Desèze. He later also defended King Louis XVI in court. The court was deeply impressed by Desèze's plaidoyer. The plaidoyer was even published and was considered a reference in court cases regarding the crime of lèse-nation.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15]

In addition, as early as October 1789, the report of the Commission of Inquiry revealed that the only document currently in existence that could convict the Baron de Besenval of a crime of lèse-nation is a copy of an order written to the Governor of the Bastille, Bernard-René Jourdan, Marquis de Launay, in which the baron wrote: "Monsieur de Launay will hold out to the last extremity; I have dispatched to him forces sufficient." The original of this document no longer existed and the copy was not sufficient for a conviction in court, at least that's what was officially claimed.[16][17]

"The Baron de Besenval replied in court, with seeming confidence, that he had penned no letters to M. de Launay."

— Louis-Marie Prudhomme, his court report in his newspaper Révolutions de Paris on the trial day of 3 December 1789 in the Besenval Case. However, this was obviously fake news as documented by court records and shows the partly incorrect reporting and the partly deliberately defamatory false reports to the detriment of the Baron de Besenval in this controversial court case.[18]

The rescue of the Baron de Besenval

Of course, there were also doubts about this official theory that the document was just a copy or a fake. After all, the document was dated and signed le 14 juillet 1789, le B. de Besenval. Critics of the Baron de Besenval saw this as an attempt by the baron's influential friends to save his neck. Later the defense strategy was changed. And on 3 December 1789, Pierre Victor de Besenval admitted in court that the document was genuine. However, circumstances had obviously changed in the meantime and this document alone was no longer enough to convict the baron.[19][20]

The trial against the Baron de Besenval was highly political and controversial. There were many rumours, intrigues and false reports surrounding the trial, to the detriment of the baron. A fictitious correspondence between the Baron de Besenval and the Marquis de Favras was even published in order to stir up sentiment against the baron. Accordingly, public opinion was largely against him. The people thirsted for revenge, whereby the people had less of an eye on individual personalities than on the nobility as a whole. A scapegoat was needed. Consequently, it is very likely that the court wanted to make an example regarding the crime of lèse-nation. Hence it was probably to the baron's advantage that the example demanded by the people was already made on the Marquis de Favras on 18 February 1790 and the people were therefore already satisfied when the baron's trial ended on 1 March 1790. Although most of the public still believed that the Baron de Besenval was guilty, calls for his execution diminished significantly after the execution of the Marquis de Favras on 19 February 1790. There was even the rumor that it was precisely for this reason that the end of the trial of the Baron de Besenval was postponed to a date after the execution of the Marquis de Favras.[21][22]

"Favras fell a victim to Besenval."

— Comment by Jean-Charles Thilorier, legal advisor of Thomas de Mahy, Marquis de Favras. At the end of January 1790, it became clear to Jean-Charles Thilorier that the court wanted to link the two lèse-nation cases in the sense that Favras should be sacrificed in favour of Besenval[23]

On Monday, 1 March 1790, the Baron de Besenval was acquitted of the crime of lèse-nation. A verdict that was not without controversy. Quite a few regarded this judgement as a courtesy decision in favour of the baron's influential friends.[10][24]

"Monsieur Necker saved my life. (...) I swear loyalty and gratitude to him unto my dying day."

— Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval, in conversation with his friends when he was back at his residence, the Hôtel de Besenval[25]

Gallery: Selected newspaper articles about the trial against Pierre Victor de Besenval

  • During his trial, the Baron de Besenval made headlines for months in the Journal de Paris and other newspapers. The trial against him was highly political and controversial. But the baron still had influential friends on both sides, the nobility and the revolutionaries
  • Report on the opening of the trial against the Baron de Besenval on Saturday, 21 November 1789 at the Grand Châtelet in Paris
  • Excerpt from the Journal de Paris, no. 341, Monday, 7 December 1789, Châtelet de Paris: Report focusing on the second interrogation of the Baron de Besenval on 3 December, where he acknowledged his written order to the Marquis de Launay
  • Excerpt from the Journal de Paris, no. 225, Friday, 13 August 1790: Acquittal of the Baron de Besenval from the accusation of the crime of lèse-nation on 1 March 1790

References

  1. ^ a b Sciences Po – Les Presses: Jean-Christophe Gaven, Le crime de lèse-nation – Histoire d'une invention juridique et politique (1789-1791), en ligne, consulté le 30 janvier 2024
  2. ^ a b c Ugo Bellagamba: Jean-Christophe Gaven, Le Crime de lèse-nation. Histoire d'une invention juridique et politique (1789–1791), Criminocorpus, Comptes rendus, mis en ligne le 13 février 2018, consulté le 30 janvier 2024
  3. ^ Collection des Mémoires relatifs à la Révolution française – Charles-Élie de Ferrières: Mémoires du Marquis de Ferrières – avec une notice sur sa vie, des notes et des éclaircissements historiques par MM. Berville et Barrière, tome premier, livre III, Baudouin Frères, Imprimeur – Libraire, rue de Vaugirard, 36, Paris, 1821, p. 166
  4. ^ Jean-Christophe Gaven: Le Crime de lèse-nation. Histoire d'une invention juridique et politique (1789–1791), Association des Professeurs d'Histoire et de Géographie (APHG), compte-rendu de lecture / Révolution française, dimanche 14 mai 2017, en ligne, consulté le 30 janvier 2024
  5. ^ L'Assemblée du District des Cordeliers: Extrait des registres des Délibérations de l'Assemblée du District des Cordeliers, 20 avril 1790, de l'imprimerie de Momoro, Paris, 1790, pp. 12–13
  6. ^ Maximilien Robespierre: Opinion à la séance du 25 octobre 1790, Moniteur, op. cit. (7), t. VI, p. 211
  7. ^ Roberto Martucci: Qu'est-ce que la lèse-nation ? A propos du problème de l'infraction politique sous la constituante (1789–1791), Déviance et Société, Vol. 14, numéro 4, 2018, p. 390
  8. ^ Dictionnaire de L'Académie française: Crime de lèse-nation, 5ème édition, en ligne, consulté le 30 janvier 2024
  9. ^ Raymond Desèze: Plaidoyer prononcé à l'audience du Châtelet de Paris, tous les services assemblés, du Lundi 1er mars 1790, par M. Desèze, avocat au Parlement, pour M. Le Baron de Besenval, accusé [accusé du crime de lèse-nation], contre M. Le Procureur du Roi au Châtelet, accusateur, chez Prault, Imprimeur du Roi, Quai des Augustins, Paris, 1790
  10. ^ a b Journal de Paris: L'affaire de Besenval, Numéro 225, supplément au Journal de Paris, Vendredi, 13 août 1790, de la Lune le 4, de l'imprimerie de Quillau, rue Plâtrière, 11, Paris, supplément (no. 59)
  11. ^ Journal de Paris: L'affaire de Besenval, Numéro 343, Mercredi, 9 décembre 1789, de la Lune 23, de l'imprimerie de Quillau, rue Plâtrière, 11, Paris, p. 1607
  12. ^ Jean-Philippe-Gui Le Gentil, Marquis de Paroy (1750–1824): Mémoires du Comte de Paroy – Souvenirs d'un défenseur de la Famille Royale pendant la Révolution (1789–1797), publiés par Étienne Charavay, Archiviste Paléographe, Librairie Plon, E. Plon, Nourrit et Cie, Imprimeurs-Éditeurs, 10, rue Garancière, Paris, 1895, pp. 74–75
  13. ^ Journal de Paris: Jeudi, 30 juillet 1789: M. Necker à l'Hôtel de Ville de Paris – Discours en faveur de M. de Besenval, Numéro 212, Vendredi, 31 juillet 1789, de la Lune le 10, de l'imprimerie de Quillau, rue du Fouare, 3, Paris, p. 952
  14. ^ François-René de Chateaubriand: Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe, tome premier, Nouvelle édition avec une introduction, des notes et des appendices par Edmond Biré (1829–1907), Garniers Frères, libraires-éditeurs, 6, rue des Saints-Pères, Paris, 1849, p. 302
  15. ^ Journal de Paris: Assemblée Nationale – M. Goupil de Preseln a annoncé l'instruction du procès commencé contre M. le Baron de Besenval et M. le Prince de Lambesc, séance du samedi soir, 21 novembre 1789, Numéro 327, Lundi, 23 novembre 1789, de la Lune le 7, de l'imprimerie de Quillau, rue Plâtrière, 11, Paris, première page
  16. ^ Journal de Paris: Assemblée Nationale, Versailles, Mercredi, 14 octobre 1789, Numéro 289, Vendredi, 16 octobre 1789, de la Lune le 28, de l'imprimerie de Quillau, rue Plâtrière, 11, Paris, p. 1324
  17. ^ Révolutions de Paris, dédiées à la nation: Affaire de M. de Besenval. Arrêté de la chambre des vacations du parlement de Rouen, Numéro XVIII. Imprimerie de Laporte, rue des Noyers, Paris, 1789, p. 25
  18. ^ Révolutions de Paris, dédiées à la nation: Extrait des registres du Châtelet de Paris, du 3 décembre 1789, Interrogatoire du Baron de Besenval, no. XXI, Prudhomme, Imprimerie de Révolutions de Paris, rue Jacob 28, Paris, 1789, p. 31
  19. ^ a b Journal de Paris: L'affaire de Besenval, deuxième interrogatoire du jeudi 3 décembre 1789, Numéro 341, Lundi, 7 décembre 1789, de la Lune 21, de l'imprimerie de Quillau, rue Plâtrière, 11, Paris, p. 1599
  20. ^ Jean-Jacques Fiechter: Baron Peter Viktor von Besenval: Ein Solothurner am Hofe von Versailles, Rothus Verlag, Solothurn, 1994, Bildtafel 16 (Notiz des Baron de Besenval an den Marquis de Launay)
  21. ^ Jean-Jacques Fiechter: Baron Peter Viktor von Besenval: Ein Solothurner am Hofe von Versailles, Rothus Verlag, Solothurn, 1994, pp. 169 und 177
  22. ^ Révolutions de Paris, dédiées à la nation: Affaire du Sieur Faveras, du 30 janvier au 6 février 1790, Prudhomme, Imprimerie de Révolutions de Paris, rue Jacob 28, et au mois de mars, rue des Marais 20, Faubourg Saint-Germain, Paris, 1790, pp. 20–24
  23. ^ Alexis de Valon: Le Marquis de Favras, Archive, Revue des Deux Mondes, Nouvelle période, tome 10, 1851, (pp. 1091–1135), pp. 1125 et 1126 (Favras était victime de Besenval)
  24. ^ Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval: Mémoires de M. Le Baron de Besenval, imprimerie de Jeunehomme, rue de Sorbonne no. 4, Paris, 1805 – chez F. Buisson, libraire, rue Hautefeuille no. 31, Paris, tome III, p. 434
  25. ^ Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval: Mémoires de M. Le Baron de Besenval, imprimerie de Jeunehomme, rue de Sorbonne no. 4, Paris, 1805 – chez F. Buisson, libraire, rue Hautefeuille no. 31, Paris, tome III, p. 424

Further reading

in alphabetical order

  • Anonyme: Dialogue entre un aristocrate et un Suisse, Publication anonyme sous la forme d'un dialogue fictif de critique sociale entre un duc français et un Suisse sur la culpabilité et l'innocence par Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval. Publié pendant la Révolution française, 1790
  • Anonyme: Aux voleurs, aux voleurs ! Publication anonyme sous la forme de pamphlet diffamatoire contre le Baron de Besenval, le Prince de Lambesc et d'autres aristocrates. De l'imprimerie de Jean Bart (probablement un pseudonyme). Publié pendant la Révolution française, probablement à Dunkerque, No. II, 1790
  • Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt: Réponse de M. Le Baron de Besenval à M. Le Marquis de Favras – ou doutes résolus sur la Jurisprudence Criminelle du Châtelet de Paris, de l'imprimerie du Grand-Pénitencier, dans les souterrains de l'Archevêche, Paris, 1790 [cet échange de lettres s'est avéré être un faux. Il s'agissait d'une propagande ciblée contre le Baron de Besenval.]
  • Raymond Desèze: Plaidoyer prononcé à l'audience du Châtelet de Paris, tous les services assemblés, du Lundi 1er mars 1790, par M. Desèze, avocat au Parlement, pour M. Le Baron de Besenval, accusé, contre M. Le Procureur du Roi au Châtelet, accusateur, chez Prault, Imprimeur du Roi, Quai des Augustins, Paris, 1790
  • Jean-Christophe Gaven: Le crime de lèse-nation – Histoire d'une invention juridique et politique (1789-1791), Sciences Po – Les Presses, Paris, 2016
  • Roberto Martucci: Qu'est-ce que la lèse-nation ? A propos du problème de l'infraction politique sous la constituante (1789–1791), Déviance et Société, Vol. 14, numéro 4, 2018, pp. 377–393
  • Barry M. Shapiro: Revolutionary Justice in Paris, 1789–1790, chapters 3, 6 and 7: "The Besenval Affair – amnesty or prosecution?," "The Favras conspiracy" and "The Favras – Besenval judical transaction", Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2002
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