Early career Maret was born in
Dijon, in the province of
Burgundy, as the second son of a physician and scholar at the
Academy of Dijon. Destined for a medical career by his father, he instead decided to study law, and after receiving a solid education Maret entered the legal profession, becoming a lawyer at the
King's Council in Paris. The ideas of the
French Revolution profoundly influenced him, wholly altering his career. The interest aroused by the debates of the first
National Assembly suggested to him the idea of publishing them in the ''Bulletin de l'Assemblée
. The journalist Charles-Joseph Panckoucke (1736–1798), owner of the Mercure de France and publisher of the famous Encyclopédie (1785), persuaded him to merge this in a larger paper, Le Moniteur Universel'', which gained a wide repute for correctness and impartiality. He was a member of the moderate club, the
Feuillants, but, with the overthrow of the monarchy and the
insurrection of 10 August 1792 he accepted a post in the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he sometimes exercised a steadying influence. On the withdrawal of the British
legation, Citizen Maret (as he was then known) went on a mission to London, where he had a favourable interview with
William Pitt the Younger on 22 December 1792 – all hope of an accommodation was, however, in vain. After the execution of
Bourbon King
Louis XVI (21 January 1793), the chief French diplomatic agent,
Bernard-François de Chauvelin, was ordered to leave Britain, while the
National Convention declared war (1 February 1793 –
see Campaigns of 1793 in the French Revolutionary Wars). These events limited the impact of Maret's second mission to London in January 1794.
Envoy of the Republic After a space in which he held no diplomatic post, he became Ambassador of the
French Republic to the
Kingdom of Naples; but, while negotiating with
Charles de Sémonville he was captured by the
Austrian Empire and was kept for some thirty months, until, at the close of 1795, the two were set free in return for the liberation of
Princess Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, the daughter of ex-King Louis XVI. For a time Maret returned to journalism, but he played a useful part in the negotiations for a peace with Britain which went on at
Lille during the summer of 1797, until the victory of the
Jacobin Club in Paris in the
''coup d'état'' of 18 Fructidor (September 1797) frustrated the hopes of Pitt for peace and inflicted on Maret another reverse of fortune. On
Napoleon's
return from Egypt in 1799, Maret joined the general's party which came to power with the
18 Brumaire coup (9 November–10).
Consulate and Empire Maret now became one of Napoleon's secretaries and shortly afterwards Secretary of State. An experienced politician, he rendered services of major value to the
French Consulate and
First French Empire. The
Moniteur, which became the official State Journal in 1800, was placed under his control. He sometimes succeeded in toning down the hard, abrupt language of Napoleon's communications, and in every way proved a useful intermediary. It is known that he had a share in the drawing up of the new constitutions for the
Batavian and
Italian Republics. In 1804, he became Minister; in 1807, he was created
Count; and in 1809, he was granted the title of
Duc de Bassano, one of the titles with the status of
duché grand-fief in Napoleon's
Kingdom of Italy. This was a rare hereditary honor (extinct in 1906), which gives an insight into how well respected his work was by the Emperor. He was extremely devoted to Napoleon, as shown by his work to pass into law the artifices adopted by the latter in April–May 1808 in order to make himself master of the destinies of Spain (
see Peninsular War). Maret also assisted in drawing up the
Spanish Constitution of 1808, which was rejected by almost all Spanish subjects. He accompanied Napoleon through most of his campaigns, including that of 1809 against the
Fifth Coalition, and he expressed himself in favour of the marriage alliance with the
Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria, which took place in 1810. In the spring of 1811, the Duc de Bassano replaced
Jean-Baptiste de Champagny, as
Minister of Foreign Affairs. In this capacity he showed his usual ability and devotion, concluding the treaties
between France and Austria and
between France and Prussia, which preceded the French
invasion of Russia in 1812. He was with Napoleon through the greater part of that campaign, and after the major defeat, helped to prepare the new forces with which Napoleon waged the equally unsuccessful campaign of 1813 against the
Sixth Coalition.
End of the Empire, exile, and return In November 1813 Napoleon replaced Maret with
Armand, Marquis of Caulaincourt, who was known to be devoted to the cause of peace and had a personal connection to
Tsar Alexander I of Russia. Maret, however, as private secretary of Napoleon, remained with him through the
campaign of 1814, as well as during
that of 1815 and the
Hundred Days. After the
restoration of the Bourbons, Maret was exiled. He retired to
Graz, where he occupied himself with literary work. In 1820 he was allowed to return to France. After the
July Revolution of 1830, the new
king Louis Philippe elevated him as a
Peer of France. In November 1834 Maret served a short time as Prime Minister of France. The Duc de Bassano died at Paris in 1839. == See also ==