Nicolas René Berryer
Nicolas René Berryer Comte de La Ferrière (* March 4, 1703 in Paris, † August 15 1762 in Versailles) was a French judge, civil servant and politician.
Life and work
Nicolas René Berryer was the son of Nicolas Berryer (1660-1707), procureur général of the Grand Conseil and secrétaire of commandements de la reine Marie -Thérèse, and Elisabeth Ursule Nicole d' Arnollet de Lochefontaine ( 1666-1739 ).
Nicolas René Berryer was from 1728 on as a general lawyer ( avocat général aux Requetes de l' hôtel ) and was involved in the episode as avocat général des brevets. From 1731 he was an advisor to the Parliaments' in Paris, Conseiller à la Chambre des cinquième Enquêtes du Parlement de Paris. In 1738 he married Catherine Madeleine de Jorts Fribois († 1802), a wealthy heiress and daughter of a tax farmer ( fermiers généraux ). From this marriage a daughter showed the Marie -Elisabeth Berryer.
In 1739 he was appointed Maître the Requetes, a senior administration official, appointed by the Minister in the Ancien Régime for the justice system. As a prerequisite, you had to have previously served for six years at a higher court. He worked in his function closely with the Chancellor of France ( chancelier de France). The Chancellor was appointed for life. In the king's illness or jealousy took over his deputy, the Keeper of the Seal ( Guard of sceaux de France), his work. Berryer held the position as a guard of sceaux de France on 13 October 1761 to the September 15, 1762.
Supported by Madame de Pompadour, the mistress en titre of Louis XV. , He was appointed to the function of a minister for the police lieutenant général de police. He was police chief in May 1747 to October 1757th He was charged with the establishment of a black cabinet, cabinet noir, an authority to monitor the correspondence and the letter censorship. This division allowed him and his staff to bypass the post and secrecy of correspondence and control the mailings.
After the posthumous statements of the French journalist Alexis de Tocqueville, was Berryer:
"(...) Un homme Major, hautain, grossier, avec beaucoup d' ignorance et encore plus de présomption et d' entêtement. "
"(...) A hard, haughty, cruel man, with a lot of ignorance and even more arrogance and stubbornness. "
His brutality earned him the hatred of the people of Paris. For example, he was the French writer, philosopher and enlightener Denis Diderot on July 24, 1749 arrest for his magazine Lettre sur les aveugles à l' usage de ceux qui voient in which Diderot explained his materialistic positions. Diderot was transferred to the fortress of Vincennes, château de Vincennes and remained imprisoned until November 3, 1749.
On November 1, 1758 still under the protection of Madame de Pompadour, and with the support of Étienne- François de Choiseul and Louis -Charles -Auguste Fouquet de Belle- Isle, Berryer was Secretary of State for the Navy, secrétaire d' État de la Marine appointed.
On October 13, 1761 replacing Louis XV. Berryer by Étienne- François de Choiseul. But in order to continue to keep Berryer in the service of the king, he gave him the job of the Privy Seal of France ( garde des sceaux de France ), a position he occupied until September 15, 1762.
Works (selection)
- Arrest du Conseil d' État du roi, qui les conte Evoque stations Nees & à naître, concernant la construction of the bat? IMeNS dessinés à la royale de la porcelaine manufacture. ( 1754)