Pierre Victor, baron de Besenval de Brünstatt

Pierre Victor de Besenval de Brunstatt
Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt
Pierre Victor de Besenval in armour, portrayed by Jean-Marc Nattier in 1766, after having received the Order of Saint Louis. Today, this portrait is part of the collections of the Hermitage Museum. A copy of this portrait hangs in the Salon de la tapisserie at the Hôtel de Besenval.
Born14 October 1721
Schloss Waldegg, Switzerland
Died2 June 1791(1791-06-02) (aged 69)
Hôtel de Besenval, France
Noble familyHouse of Besenval
IssueJoseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur (illegitimate)
FatherJean Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt
MotherKatarzyna, Baronne de Besenval de Brunstatt, née Bielińska (1684–1761)

Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt, also Bezenval or Beuzeval and Bronstatt, Brünstatt or Brunnstatt, born Peter Joseph Viktor von Besenval von Brunstatt (1721–1791), was a Swiss military officer in French service. He was usually just referred to as Baron de Besenval (the suffix Brunstatt refers to the former barony). Over time and depending on the language, the family name was adapted according to the international careers and marriages of the family members and the different spellings were adopted by chroniclers, historians and journalists.[1][2]

Pierre Victor de Besenval was the most famous person accused of the crime of lèse-nation during the French Revolution. 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.[3][4]

Biography

Family and relatives

Pierre Victor de Besenval was born near Solothurn, Switzerland, to Jean Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt and Katarzyna, Baronne de Besenval de Brunstatt, née Bielińska (1684–1761), at the family's country estate, Schloss Waldegg. His father was a colonel of the regiment of the Swiss Guards in the pay of France. Through his mother, Pierre Victor de Besenval was the grandson of the Polish politician Kazimierz Ludwik Bieliński. In 1726, when he was five years old, his mother brought him to France, where his parents already lived.[1]

Théodora Élisabeth Catherine, Marquise de Broglie, née de Besenval de Brunstatt (1718–1777), was Pierre Victor de Besenval's sister. His maternal aunt was the diplomatically influential Marianna Denhoff, also known as Maria Magdalena, Gräfin von Dönhoff, née Bielińska.[5][6][7][8]

Accumulation of power: State affair in Solothurn

Pierre Victor de Besenval's country estate near Solothurn, the Schloss Waldegg, where he was born.

Although Pierre Victor de Besenval spent the vast majority of his life in Paris, he still represented his family in the political bodies of the city of Solothurn, partially represented by his cousins during his absence.

The family de Besenval was extremely powerful due to their wealth. Between 1707 and 1723, the family ruled the city of Solothurn almost single-handedly. The family's wealth came primarily from the salt trade and the mercenary business with France. The family's concentration of power was therefore viewed with mixed feelings in Solothurn. And when, in 1763, it was proposed that Pierre Victor de Besenval, who had held a seat in the Grand Council (parliament) since 1743, should be made a Conseiller Honoraire in recognition of his services to the reform of the army, this caused a state affair, whereupon Pierre Victor de Besenval was expelled from the Grand Council between 1764 and 1769.[1]

A model military career of a Swiss patrician in French service

La Gazette de France (excerpt): The announcement of the appointment of Pierre Victor de Besenval as brigadier by King Louis XV on 25 March 1747.

In 1731, Pierre Victor de Besenval joined the Swiss Guards as a cadet. He was promoted to ensign in 1733 and became the commander of the regiment's Company de Besenval in 1738. In the French army, he was promoted to brigadier in 1747, maréchal de camp in 1758 and lieutenant-Général in 1762. In the same year he was appointed Inspecteur général of the Swiss Guards and the Grisons Troops in French service. The young baron served at first as aide-de-camp to Victor-François de Broglie during the campaign of 1748 in Bohemia, then as aide-de-camp to the Duc d'Orléans during the Seven Years' War.[1]

Pierre Victor de Besenval was not only friends with the family of the Maréchal Victor-François, Duc de Broglie, but also related to them through his sister's husband, Charles Guillaume Louis, Marquis de Broglie (1716–1786).[9]

In the early 1760s, the Baron de Besenval played a key role in the Duc de Choiseul's reform of the army. After being appointed military governor of Haguenau in 1766, he was made Lieutenant-Colonel of the Swiss Guards in 1767. Furthermore, in 1781, he was promoted to Commandant en chef of the troops and garrisons in the interior of France. [1]

The queen's favourite, Swiss diplomat and the purchase of the Hôtel de Besenval

The Hôtel de Besenval, which Pierre Victor de Besenval acquired in 1767.

After the accession of King Louis XVI in 1774, Pierre Victor de Besenval became a favourite of Queen Marie Antoinette, whom he assisted on various occasions with advice and assistance, such as in the affair: An Incident at the Opera Ball on Mardi Gras in 1778.[1][10]

In the service of the Swiss Confederation

At that time, the Baron de Besenval was at the height of his power at the royal court. He was the most influential Swiss figure ever to have served at the French court. Switzerland, at the time the Confederation of the XIII cantons, capitalised on this influence, using the popular baron as its ambassador to the royal court.[11][12]

Hôtel de Besenval

It was on 5 December 1767, that Pierre Victor de Besenval bought his Parisian residence, the Hôtel Chanac de Pompadour, thereafter renamed Hôtel de Besenval, and where he kept one of the most famous paintings of its time: La Gimblette by Jean-Honoré Fragonard. The Hôtel de Besenval has housed the Embassy of the Swiss Confederation and the residence of the Swiss ambassador to France since 1938.[13][14]

French Revolution, family and last years

Vue de la cellule du Baron de Besenval à la prison du Châtelet, painted by Hubert Robert during the imprisonment of Pierre Victor de Besenval in the Grand Châtelet in 1789. The inscription on the briefcase under the window reads Le Baron de Bezenval. The painting was later owned by the baron's son Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur, before being purchased for the Louvre in 2012.[15]

As the uprisings in and around Paris intensified in the summer of 1789, the Baron de Besenval remained firmly attached to the royal court and was given command of the troops which the king had concentrated in Paris to suppress the riots which had been going on for some time. The riots culminated in the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789. In the eyes of contemporaries, the Baron de Besenval acted unluckily in the crisis. The aristocracy described the baron's actions as disastrous and decisive for the further course of events, which ultimately led to the French Revolution. When the revolutionary masses demanded his head after the Taking of the Bastille, Pierre Victor de Besenval tried to escape to his home country, Switzerland.[1]

Distrusted by the people – valued by kings and queens

Excerpt from the letter of the King of Poland, published in the Moniteur Universel on 16 May 1790, congratulating Raymond Desèze on his victory.

On 26 July 1789, Pierre Victor de Besenval was arrested while fleeing to Switzerland. On 7 November 1789, he was imprisoned in the Grand Châtelet before being accused by the tribunal of the Grand Châtelet of the crime of lèse-nation. His trial in connection with the Storming of the Bastille began on 21 November with the first judicial questioning. The prison cell of Pierre Victor de Besenval was depicted by Hubert Robert in his painting from 1789 Vue de la cellule du Baron de Besenval à la prison du Châtelet (View from the Baron de Besenval's cell in the Châtelet prison).[16][17][18][15]

On 1 March 1790, Pierre Victor de Besenval was acquitted of all charges. This was due in no small part to the fact that his compatriot Jacques Necker, the French Finance Minister, kept his protective hand over him. Following the acquittal, King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette had publicly expressed their joy that the baron had been acquitted of all charges.[17][19]

Another king, King Stanisław II August of Poland, with whom the Baron de Besenval was related on his mother's side, was also pleased by the acquittal. In a letter dated 7 April 1790, the king instructed his ambassador in Paris to congratulate the baron's lawyer, Raymond Desèze, on his victory and had the ambassador present him with a medal as a token of thanks. The letter of the King of Poland was published in the Moniteur Universel on 16 May 1790.[17][3][19]

The King of Poland wrote in his letter: "Though I am by no means without occupations, I have nevertheless reread Monsieur Desèze's plaidoyer for the Baron de Besenval. The second reading afforded me yet greater pleasure. He pleaded for my relative with greater success than Cicero in his defence of Milo, and certainly with more courage, although the danger was at least equal. Pray, ask Monsieur Desèze to accept, with the enclosed medal, a token of my esteem and gratitude. I note with especial satisfaction in his speech the justice he does to the truly good Louis XVI."[20]

An illegitimate heir for his treasure house in Paris

The Baron de Besenval's bureau plat from around 1720 and remodelled by the ebeniste E. J. Cuvellier around 1765, so that the bureau plat matches the cartonnier (filing cabinet), which was manufactured by Bernard III van Risenburgh about that time. Pierre Victor de Besenval probably inherited the bureau plat from his father. The bureau plat and the cartonnier were once in the possession of Gustave Samuel James, Baron de Rothschild, at the Hôtel de Marigny. The bureau plat is shown here at the Christie's sales exhibition in Paris in 2025. The bureau plat and the cartonnier were previously sold by Christie's in London in 2021 for EUR 462,500.

Pierre Victor de Besenval was considered a womaniser. Accordingly, he had several affairs. The mother of his son, Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur, was Louise-Anne-Madeleine, Marquise de Ségur, née de Vernon (1729–1778), the wife of his best friend Philippe Henri, Marquis de Ségur. However, this was no secret within the family. And this fact in no way clouded the relationship between all those involved. Quite the contrary. Pierre Victor de Besenval and the members of the family de Ségur enjoyed being together. The baron spent a lot of time at the château of the Marquis de Ségur in Romainville. They saw themselves as one big family. That may also have been the reason why the baron never married.[21][22][23]

Funeral notice of Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval, on 7 June 1791, followed by a two-page obituary by his son Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur, in the monarchist newspaper Feuille du Jour, of which the Vicomte de Ségur was co-editor. The funeral took place on 6 June in the church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris.

Pierre Victor de Besenval died in Paris on 2 June 1791 in his residence, the Hôtel de Besenval, which he bequeathed to his only child, Joseph-Alexandre Pierre de Ségur. However, more precisely, the baron's son only inherited the bare ownership of the residence on the Rue de Grenelle, as well as some other personal possessions. The baron bequeathed the usufruct of the Hôtel de Besenval to his lifelong friend Maréchal Philippe Henri, Marquis de Ségur, Baron de Romainville, Seigneur de Ponchapt et de Fougueyrolles, who was the legal father of Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur. Furthermore, Joseph-Alexandre Pierre de Ségur was not the heir to the baron's country estate in Switzerland, the Schloss Waldegg. The estate was passed down within the family de Besenval.[21][24]

"He looked like a mere shadow. His sunken, still beautiful face was deathly pale, and his eyes stared unseeing. An hour later, he lay dead in my arms."

— Victor von Gibelin, on the appearance of Pierre Victor de Besenval in the dining room of the Hôtel de Besenval on the evening of 2 June 1791. An hour later, the baron died in his arms[25]

Remembered by the personalities of his time

Gouverneur Morris, a loyal friend of Pierre Victor de Besenval, who visited him several times in prison when the baron was accused of the crime of lèse-nation.
Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur, with his grandmother Philippa Angélique, Comtesse de Ségur, née de Froissy. Portrayed by Louis Carrogis Carmontelle in 1763.

Already during his lifetime, Pierre Victor de Besenval polarised opinion, both in France and in his homeland, Switzerland. Loved by some, hated by others, or at least viewed with suspicion, he did not leave his contemporaries indifferent.

The anecdotes and stories about Pierre Victor de Besenval in the memoirs of contemporary personalities are legendary. The baron is mentioned in the memoirs and letters of, among others, the following personalities:
In alphabetical order

"The Baron de Besenval, whose very French levity made one forget he was born Swiss."

— Louis Philippe, Comte de Ségur[43]

Literary works (partial list)

The frontispiece of the first edition of the memoirs of the Baron de Besenval showing his portrait. The memoirs were published between 1805 and 1806 in four volumes.
Cover of the portfolio with six etchings for the publishing of the tales by Pierre Victor de Besenval. The pictorial compositions and etchings by Paul Avril and Ferdinand Taluet (1820–1904), published by Octave Uzanne in Paris in 1882.

Pierre Victor de Besenval authored moral-philosophical essays, novels, tales and poetic epistles. However, he is principally known as the author of his memoires, which were published between 1805 and 1806 by Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur, in which are reported many scandalous tales of the court of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. The family de Besenval questioned the authenticity of the memoirs and distanced themselves from them.[1]

The entire literary work of Pierre Victor de Besenval was described by his publisher as: A literary, historical and political miscellany – followed by some poems.[44]

  • Le Spleen
  • Idées politiques et militaires
  • Les Amans soldats
  • Féerie
  • Socrate et Gassendi
  • Alonzo
  • Coelia
  • Réflexions sur la Comédie
  • L'Hermite
  • Réflexions sur le Ton
  • Histoire des Revenans
  • Pensées détachées
  • Nouvelle espagnole
  • Du Chagrin
  • Anecdote bretonne
  • Première Scène d'une Comédie
  • Aventure et Conversation de M. le Baron de Besenval avec une Dame de Wesel
  • Opinion des Turcs sur les femmes
  • Disgrace de Madame des Ursins et ce qui l'a occasionnée
  • De la Douleur
  • Traduction d'un ouvrage chinois sur les jardins
  • Épître à Damon
  • Épître au Comte de F…
  • A l'Abbé Allaire, mon précepteur, en lui envoyant une collection d'auteurs latins
  • Sur la mort du Comte de Frise [August Heinrich Graf von Friesen (1727–1755)], neveu du Maréchal de Saxe [ Hermann Moritz Graf von Sachsen (1696–1750)]

Gallery: Selected manuscripts by and newspaper articles and poems about Pierre Victor de Besenval

  • Original document by Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval, with his seal, signed and dated, Paris, 12 February 1745 (in his capacity as Captain of the Company de Besenval, his company in the Swiss Guards Regiments)
    Original document by Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval, with his seal, signed and dated, Paris, 12 February 1745 (in his capacity as Captain of the Company de Besenval, his company in the Swiss Guards Regiments)
  • Original document by Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval, signed and dated, Paris, 26 June 1789 (at the height of his military career)
    Original document by Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval, signed and dated, Paris, 26 June 1789 (at the height of his military career)
  • During his trial on charges of the crime of lèse-nation, the Baron de Besenval featured prominently for months in the Journal de Paris and other newspapers
    During his trial on charges of the crime of lèse-nation, the Baron de Besenval featured prominently for months in the Journal de Paris and other newspapers
  • The only poem ever written about Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval, and his residence, the Hôtel de Besenval. The amusingly sarcastic poem was written by the baron's friend Jean-Baptiste du Tertre, Marquis de Sancé[45]
    The only poem ever written about Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval, and his residence, the Hôtel de Besenval. The amusingly sarcastic poem was written by the baron's friend Jean-Baptiste du Tertre, Marquis de Sancé[45]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Andreas Fankhauser: "Pierre Victor Besenval de Brunnstatt" in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  2. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Chapitre: Brunstatt devient une baronnie: Le 11 août 1726, Louis XV, roi de France, élève la terre de Brunstatt, propriété de la famille de Besenval, au rang de baronnie. Société d’Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, pp. 102–103
  3. ^ a b c 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
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 208
  6. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Marriage de Jean Victor de Besenval et Katarzyna Bielińska et informations sur Kazimierz Ludwik Bieliński, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 98
  7. ^ Genealogisch-historische Nachrichten von den allerneusten Begebenheiten, welche sich an den europäischen Höfen zutragen, Bogislaus Ernestus, Graf von Dönhoff. Der 97. Theil, des Verlegers Johann Samuel Heinsius, Leipzig, 1746, S. 796 (Ergänzungen).
  8. ^ Jean-Jacques Fiechter / Benno Schubiger: L'Ambassade de Suisse à Paris, Ambassade de Suisse, 2ème édition, août 1994, p. 11
  9. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, pp. 208–209
  10. ^ 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 II, pp. 282–329
  11. ^ Jean-Jacques Fiechter / Benno Schubiger: L'Ambassade de Suisse à Paris, Ambassade de Suisse, 2ème édition, août 1994, p. 30
  12. ^ Alain-Jacques Tornare: 10 août 1792 – Les Tuileries : L'été tragique des relations franco-suisses, Collection Le savoir suisse – La série « Grandes Dates », presse polytechniques et universitaires romandes, première édition, 2012, p. 30
  13. ^ Jean-Jacques Fiechter / Benno Schubiger: L'Ambassade de Suisse à Paris, Ambassade de Suisse, 2ème édition, août 1994, p. 13
  14. ^ J. Vacquier, Secrétaire général de la Société d'Histoire et d'Archéologie du VIIe Arrondissement de Paris: Les vieux hôtels de Paris – Le Faubourg Saint-Germain, décorations extérieures et intérieures, tome I, 2ème édition, F. Contet, libraire, 101, rue de Vaugirard, Paris, 1911, p. 4
  15. ^ a b Collections Louvre: Peinture "Vue de la cellule du Baron de Besenval à la prison du Châtelet" par Hubert Robert, exécuté pendant l'incarcération de Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval, à la prison du Châtelet, Département des Peintures, salle 930, numéro d'inventaire RF 2012 22, date d'acquisition (achat en vente publique, Hôtel Drouot) 23 novembre 2012
  16. ^ Jean-Jacques Fiechter: Baron Peter Viktor von Besenval: Ein Solothurner am Hofe von Versailles, Rothus Verlag, Solothurn, 1994, p. 162
  17. ^ a b c Jean-Jacques Fiechter: Baron Peter Viktor von Besenval: Ein Solothurner am Hofe von Versailles, Rothus Verlag, Solothurn, 1994, p. 177
  18. ^ 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
  19. ^ a b Journal de Paris: L'affaire de Besenval – Acquittement de l'accusation de lèse-nation, le 1er mars 1790, 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)
  20. ^ Gazette Nationale, ou Le Moniteur Universel: Extrait d'une Lettre du Roi de Pologne à son Agent à Paris, du 7 Avril 1790, Numéro 136 (C7), Paris, Dimanche, 16 Mai 1790
  21. ^ a b Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d’Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 148–151
  22. ^ a b Gouverneur Morris: Journal de Gouverneur Morris, par E. Pariset, traduit de l'anglais, Plon-Nourrit et Cie., Imprimeurs-Éditeurs, 8, rue, Garancière, Paris, 1901, p. 8
  23. ^ Jean-Jacques Fiechter / Benno Schubiger: L'Ambassade de Suisse à Paris, Ambassade de Suisse, 2ème édition, août 1994, p. 17
  24. ^ Jean-Jacques Fiechter / Benno Schubiger: L'Ambassade de Suisse à Paris, Ambassade de Suisse, 2ème édition, août 1994, p. 24
  25. ^ Jakob Amiet: Chevalier Victor von Gibelin, Originalbericht des Gardeoffiziers Victor von Gibelin, letzter Offizier der Schweizergarde unter König Ludwig XVI., deutsche Ausgabe, Haller'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Bern, 1866, p. 19
  26. ^ Jacques Peuchet: Mémoires de Mademoiselle Bertin – sur la Reine Marie-Antoinette, Bossange Frères, Libraires, Paris et Leipzig, 1823, p. 47
  27. ^ Gabriel de Broglie: Ségur sans cérémonie (1757–1805) ou la gaieté libertine, Librairie Académique Perrin, Paris, 1977, p. 23
  28. ^ Jacques Silvestre de Sacy: Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, 1739–1813, sa vie – son oeuvre, Éditions d'histoire et d'art, Librairie Plon, Paris, 1940, p. 62 [Lettre inédite. Archives privées de Louis de Launay (1860–1938)]
  29. ^ Henriette Campan: Mémoires sur la vie privée de Marie-Antoinette, Reine de France et de Navarre, suivis de souvenirs et anecdotes historiques sur les règnes de Louis XIV, Louis XV et de Louis XVI, par Madame Campan, Lectrice de Mesdames et Première Femme de Chambre de la Reine, Baudouin Frères, Libraires, 36, rue de Vaugirard, tome premier, chapitre VI, deuxième édition, Paris, 1823, p. 145
  30. ^ 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
  31. ^ Emmanuel, Duc de Croÿ: Journal inédit du Duc de Croÿ (1718–1784), Ernest Flammarion, éditeur, 26, Rue Racine, Paris, 1906, tome premier, p. 141
  32. ^ Jean-François Barrière: Bibliothèque des Mémoires relatifs à l'histoire de France pendant le 18ème siecle – Mémoires du Baron de Besenval, tome IV, Librairie de Firmin Didot Frères, rue Jacob 56, Paris, 1846, p. 5
  33. ^ Louis Courajod: Le livre-journal de Lazare Duvaux, Paris, 1873, chapitre « Besenval », p. ccxxxi
  34. ^ Ludwig von Flüe, Bericht von der Eroberung der Bastille, Eigenhändiger Bericht des Offiziers Ludwig von Flüe an den Verleger der Zeitschrift Mercure de France. Publiziert in Thalia, Herausgeber Friedrich Schiller, dritter Band, welcher das IX. bis XII. Heft enthält, Verlagsbuchhandlung Georg Joachim Göschen, Leipzig, 1790–1791, pp. 40–48
  35. ^ Jakob Amiet: Chevalier Victor von Gibelin, Originalbericht des Gardeoffiziers Victor von Gibelin, letzter Offizier der Schweizergarde unter König Ludwig XVI., deutsche Ausgabe, Haller'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Bern, 1866, p. 19
  36. ^ François-Emmanuel Guignard, Comte de Saint-Priest: Mémoires – Règnes de Louis XV et de Louis XVI, chapitre VII (1788–1789), publié par Baron de Barante, Nouvelle Collection Historique, Calmann-Lévy Éditeurs, 3, rue Auber, Paris, 1929, pp. 233–234
  37. ^ Antoine de Rivarol: Au commencement de la Révolution – Mémoires, Éditions du Trident, La Librairie Française, Paris, 1988, p. 46
  38. ^ Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve: Causeries du lundi: Le baron de Besenval – le Suisse le plus français qui ait jamais été, (lundi 5 janvier 1857), Editions Garnier, tome XII, 1870, p. 492
  39. ^ a b Louis Philippe, Comte de Ségur: Mémoires ou Souvenirs et Anecdotes, Alexis Eymery, Libraire-Éditeur, rue Mazarine no. 30, Paris, 1827, tome I, p. 50
  40. ^ Luc-Vincent Thiéry: ''Guide des amateurs et des étrangers voyageurs à Paris, ou Description raisonnée de cette Ville, de sa Banlieue, et de tout ce qu'elles contiennent de remarquable, tome I, Libraire Hardouin & Gattey, Paris, 1787, Avertissement, p. X
  41. ^ Luc-Vincent Thiéry: Guide des amateurs et des étrangers voyageurs à Paris, ou Description raisonnée de cette Ville, de sa Banlieue, et de tout ce qu'elles contiennent de remarquable, tome II, chapitre 'Hôtel de M. le Baron de Besenval,' Libraire Hardouin & Gattey, Paris, 1787, pp. 574–580
  42. ^ Joseph Hyacinthe François de Paule de Rigaud, Comte de Vaudreuil: Correspondance intime du Comte de Vaudreuil et du Comte d'Artois pendant l'émigration (1789–1815), tome premier, Librairie Plon, 10, Rue Garancière, Paris, 1889, p. VIII
  43. ^ Louis Philippe, Comte de Ségur: Mémoires ou Souvenirs et Anecdotes, Alexis Eymery, Libraire-Éditeur, rue Mazarine no. 30, Paris, 1827, tome I, p. 50
  44. ^ Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval: Mémoires de M. Le Baron de Besenval, imprimerie de Jeunehomme, rue de Sorbonne no. 4, Paris, 1806 – chez F. Buisson, libraire, rue Hautefeuille no. 31, Paris, tome IV, frontispiece
  45. ^ Friedrich Melchior Grimm / Denis Diderot: Correspondance littéraire, philosophique et critique – Adressé à un Souverain d'Allemagne, par Le Baron de Grimm et par Diderot, depuis 1753 jusqu'en 1769, Première Partie, Tome quatrième, chapitre 'M. le Marquis de Sancé [Jean-Baptiste du Tertre, Marquis de Sancé (* 27 ou 29 mai 1730 à Château-Gontier)] ayant cherché M. le Baron de Besenval – 1er octobre 1764 [1766],' Longchamps, Libraire, Rue du Cimetière – S. – André, No. 3, et F. Buisson, Libraire, Rue Gilles-Cœur, No. 10. L'imprimerie de L. G. Michaud, Rue des Bons-Enfants, No. 34, Paris, 1813, p. 224

Further reading

In alphabetical order

  • Andreas Affolter / Guillaume Poisson: Pierre-Victor de Besenval (1721–1791) – Une vie au service du roi de France, Société d'Histoire de la Suisse Romande (Fonds Butticaz) / Schloss Waldegg, 2024
  • Jean-François Barrière: Bibliothèque des Mémoires relatifs à l'histoire de France pendant le 18ème siecle – Mémoires du Baron de Besenval, tome IV, Librairie de Firmin Didot Frères, rue Jacob 56, Paris, 1846
  • Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt: Contes de M. Le Baron de Besenval, Lieutenant Général des Armées du Roi, avec une notice bio-bibliographique par Octave Uzanne, A. Quantin, imprimeur-éditeur, tirage à petit nombre, 7, rue Saint-Benoît, Paris, 1881
  • Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt: Mémoires de M. Le Baron de Besenval, écrits par lui-même, imprimés sur son manuscrit original et publiés par son exécuteur testamentaire M. A. J. de Ségur, imprimerie de Jeunehomme, rue de Sorbonne no. 4, Paris, 1805 – chez F. Buisson, libraire, rue Hautefeuille no. 31, Paris
  • Gabriel de Broglie: Ségur sans cérémonie (1757–1805) ou la gaieté libertine, Librairie Académique Perrin, Paris, 1977
  • 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
  • Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015
  • Jean-Jacques de Dardel: L'hôtel de Besenval – siège de l'ambassade de Suisse en France, Labor et Fides, Genève, 2013
  • Jean-Jacques Fiechter: Le Baron Pierre-Victor de Besenval, Delachaux et Niestlé, Lausanne – Paris, 1993
  • Jean-Jacques Fiechter: Baron Peter Viktor von Besenval: Ein Solothurner am Hofe von Versailles, Rothus Verlag, Solothurn, 1994
  • Jean-Jacques Fiechter / Benno Schubiger: L'Ambassade de Suisse à Paris, Ambassade de Suisse, 2ème édition, août 1994
  • Paul Gallois: Baron de Besenval's eclectic eye, The Furniture History Society, London, Newsletter 221, February 2021, pp. 1–12
  • Philippe Rogger / André Holenstein: Officers, Entrepreneurs, Career Migrants and Diplomats – Military Entrepreneurs in the Early Modern World, Brill, Leiden, 2024
  • Jean-Pierre Samoyault: L'Hôtel de Besenval – Ambassade de Suisse en France, Editions internationales du Patrimoine, Paris, 2017
  • Louis Philippe, Comte de Ségur: Mémoires ou Souvenirs et Anecdotes, Alexis Eymery, Libraire-Éditeur, rue Mazarine no. 30, Paris, 1827 (3 volumes)
  • Pierre-Marie-Maurice-Henri, Marquis de Ségur: Le Maréchal de Ségur (1724–1801), E. Plon, Nourrit et Cie, Imprimeurs-Éditeurs, rue Garancière no. 10, Paris, 1895
  • 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
  • Alain Stella: Historic Houses of Paris – Residences of the Ambassadors, Flammarion, Paris, 2010
  • Luc-Vincent Thiéry: Guide des amateurs et des étrangers voyageurs à Paris, ou Description raisonnée de cette Ville, de sa Banlieue, et de tout ce qu'elles contiennent de remarquable, tome II, chapitre 'Hôtel de M. le Baron de Besenval,' pp. 574–580, Libraire Hardouin & Gattey, Paris, 1787
  • J. Vacquier: Les vieux hôtels de Paris – Le Faubourg Saint-Germain, décorations extérieures et intérieures, tome I, F. Contet, Paris, 1911
allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Victor_Besenval_de_Bronstatt