Diplomatic Survival Across Six Successive French Regimes

Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord

A French politician, diplomat, and clergyman. He was a rare diplomat whose career spanned vastly different political regimes: the Ancien Régime, the French Revolution, the Directory, the First French Empire, the Bourbon Restoration, and the July Monarchy. Originally a Catholic clergyman who became Bishop of Autun in 1789, he supported the nationalization of church property and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution, later leaving the priesthood. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, he was involved in diplomacy including the Treaty of Lunéville and the Treaty of Amiens, supporting Napoleon's foreign policy while gradually opposing his expansionist agenda. In 1814, he spearheaded Napoleon's abdication and the Bourbon Restoration, skillfully conducting diplomacy to protect France's national interests at the Congress of Vienna. Criticized as a turncoat for switching allegiance between successive regimes, he was also evaluated as a highly capable, pragmatic diplomat, making "Talleyrand" a byword for clever and calculating diplomacy.

Timeline

Category
Element

Year	Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord
1754	Birth of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (Period: February 2, 1754, Location: Paris, France)
1760	Education at Saint-Sulpice Seminary (Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Age: 5 years old, Period: 1760s–1770s, Location: Paris, France)
1775	Attendance at the Coronation of Louis XVI (Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Age: 21 years old, Period: June 11, 1775, Location: Reims Cathedral, France)
1780	Appointment as Vicar General (Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Age: 25 years old, Period: 1780–1788, Location: Paris, France)
1788	Appointment as Bishop of Autun (Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Age: 33 years old, Period: 1788–1791, Location: Autun, France)
1789	French Revolution and Nationalization of Church Property (Age: 34 years old, Period: 1789, Location: Paris, France) Involvement in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Age: 34 years old, Period: 1789, Location: Paris, France) Participation in the Estates-General (Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Age: 35 years old, Period: April–July 1789, Location: Versailles, France)
1790	Fête de la Fédération on the Champ de Mars (Age: 36 years old, Period: July 14, 1790, Location: Paris, Champ de Mars, France)
1791	Proposal for Educational Reform (Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Age: 36 years old, Period: 1791, Location: Paris, France) Excommunication of Talleyrand (Age: 37 years old, Period: April 13, 1791, Location: Paris, France, relations with the Holy See)
1792	Diplomatic Mission to Britain (Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Age: 37 years old, Period: 1792, Location: London, Great Britain)
1794	Expulsion from Britain and Exile in the United States (Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Age: 39 years old, Period: 1794–1796, Location: Great Britain, United States)
1797	XYZ Affair (Age: 42 years old, Period: 1797–1798, Location: Paris, France, United States) Appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs (Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Age: 43 years old, Period: July 1797–July 1799, Location: Paris, France)
1798	Quasi-War (Age: 43 years old, Period: 1798–1800, Location: Caribbean, Atlantic Ocean, American coast, etc.)
1801	Reorganization of the German States and German Mediatization (Age: 46 years old, Period: 1801–1806, Location: German states, Rhine basin) Treaty of Lunéville (Age: 47 years old, Period: February 9, 1801, Location: Lunéville, France)
1802	Treaty of Amiens (Age: 48 years old, Period: March 25, 1802, Location: Amiens, France) Marriage (Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord and Catherine Noël Worlee, Age: 48 years old, Period: September 10, 1802, Location: Paris, France)
1803	Purchase of the Château de Valençay (Age: 48 years old, Period: 1803, Location: Valençay, France)
1806	Appointment as Prince and Sovereign of Benevento (Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Age: 51 years old, Period: 1806, Location: Benevento, Italy)
1807	Deterioration of Relations with Napoleon and Resignation as Foreign Minister (Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Age: 52 years old, Period: 1807–1809, Location: Paris, France) Resignation as Foreign Minister (Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Age: 53 years old, Period: August 1807, Location: Paris, France)
1808	Congress of Erfurt (Age: 54 years old, Period: September–October 1808, Location: Erfurt, Germany)
1809	Public Reprimand by Napoleon (Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Age: 54 years old, Period: January 1809, Location: Paris, Tuileries Palace, France)
1812	French Invasion of Russia and War of the Sixth Coalition (Age: 57 years old, Period: 1812–1814, Location: Russia, Germany, France, etc.)
1814	Congress of Vienna (Age: 59 years old, Period: September 1814–June 1815, Location: Vienna) Abdication of Napoleon and Formation of the Provisional Government (Age: 60 years old, Period: March–April 1814, Location: Paris, France)
1815	Napoleonic Wars and War of the Seventh Coalition (Age: 60 years old, Period: 1815, Location: France, Belgium, Waterloo, etc.) Secret Treaty of Alliance of 1815 (Age: 60 years old, Period: January 3, 1815, Location: Vienna, Austria)
1830	Appointment as Ambassador to Great Britain (Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Age: 75 years old, Period: 1830–1834, Location: London, Great Britain) July Revolution and Transition to the July Monarchy (Age: 76 years old, Period: July–September 1830, Location: Paris, France)
1834	Quadruple Alliance of France, Britain, Spain, and Portugal (Age: 80 years old, Period: April 1834, Location: London, Great Britain)
1838	Death of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (Age: 84 years old, Period: May 17, 1838, Paris, France)

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Europe World

Group	List
Napoleonic Era	Napoleon Bonaparte Lazare Carnot Joachim Murat Michel Ney Louis-Nicolas Davout Jean Lannes André Masséna Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord Joseph Fouché Jacques Necker Paul Barras
Victorian Era	Alexandrina Victoria Prince Albert Benjamin Disraeli William Gladstone Robert Peel Henry John Temple Florence Nightingale Charles Dickens Mary Ann Evans
Music	Ludwig van Beethoven Franz Schubert Hector Berlioz Frédéric Chopin Franz Liszt Wilhelm Richard Wagner Johannes Brahms Charles Gounod

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Diplomatic Survival Across Six Successive French Regimes

Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord

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