45+ Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord Quotes
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord was born in 1754 and was the first Prince of Benevento and then the Prince of Talleyrand.
He was a clergyman and leading diplomat from France. In 1780, he became the Agent-General of the Clergy after finishing his theology studies.
Just before the French Revolution in 1789, he also became the Bishop of Autun. He worked mostly as the foreign minister of many French governments or in some other diplomatic capacity in the government.
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord's career saw him during the regimes of Louis XVI, Napoleon, the years of the French Revolution, Louis XVIII, and Louis-Philippe. Napoleon found him extremely helpful and useful, unlike most other Talleyrand that served. The word Talleyrand has become another term for crafty, cynical diplomacy.
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord was the chief diplomat for Napoleon when victories by the French military brought European states one after another under France's hegemony. He, however, mostly worked for peace.
He even succeeded in making peace with Austria and Britain. In 1807, he resigned as the foreign minister but was trusted by Napoleon. He often polarized scholarly opinion.
It is believed that Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord was one of the most skilled, versatile, and influential diplomats in history. However, some believed he was a traitor who betrayed the French Revolution, the Ancien Regime, Napoleon, and the Restoration.
He was a French statesman and diplomat who held great positions during the Napoleon era, French Revolution, and under King Louis-Philippe - the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy. He was a foreign minister whose name later became a synonym for cynical diplomacy.
Read some of the inspiring quotes by this foreign minister and close aide of Napoleon during the French revolution.
