Her father, the comte de La Rivière, owned lucrative estates in Brittany. Louis, and who remained a fixture of the French military establishment. Julie’s grandfather was a legendary colonel once awarded the Cross of St. Wealthier and more respectable than the Lafayettes, the Rivières made their home in the center of Paris rather the peripheral outskirts of the kingdom. His wife, Julie de La Rivière, now styled the marquise de Lafayette, came from a family of Breton nobles who traced their lineage to the great medieval king Louis IX. Gilbert du Motier married up in the world. It was only thanks to a cascade of sonless deaths in the main branch of the family a century earlier that the title “marquis de Lafayette” landed on the shoulders of their obscure Motier cousins. But despite these ancient claims, the Motier branch of the family descended from the younger sons of younger sons. The Lafayettes claimed an ancient noble lineage stretching back to the year 1000, which included a maréchal de France who fought alongside Joan of Arc a knight who participated in the Crusades and most recently, the celebrated novelist Madame de Lafayette. In the late summer of 1757, Château de Chavaniac was the home of Gilbert du Motier, the marquis de Lafayette. There was no need to show off, for there was no one to show off to. But the château in Chavaniac was a product of its environment-simple and sturdy, bereft of adornment, splendor, or ornamentation. They rebuilt their homes in the latest and most expensive styles. Isolated in the vast empty space of south central France, Chavaniac was little more than a few dozen poor houses huddled together around the château for protection.Įlsewhere in the Kingdom of France, noble families embraced the Renaissance, the scientific revolution, and the Enlightenment. Pastures, fields, and ancient primordial forests sprawled in all directions. It was beautiful and natural, with huge outcroppings of volcanic rock erupting from the rich soil. Then, as now, Auvergne was rustic and sparsely populated-far from the modern world. N ESTLED IN THE HILLY COUNTRY OF PROVINCIAL A UVERGNE sat an unremarkable château in the unremarkable village of Chavaniac. Read ExcerptĬHAPTER ONE THE ORPHAN MARQUIS His remarkable life is the story of where we come from, and an inspiration to defend the ideals he held dear. Finally, as a revered elder statesman, he was instrumental in the overthrow of the Bourbon Dynasty in the Revolution of 1830.įrom enthusiastic youth to world-weary old age, from the pinnacle of glory to the depths of despair, Lafayette never stopped fighting for the rights of all mankind.
After his release, Lafayette sparred with Napoleon, joined an underground conspiracy to overthrow King Louis XVIII, and became an international symbol of liberty. Returning home a national hero, he helped launch the French Revolution, eventually spending five years locked in dungeon prisons. He was a soldier, statesman, idealist, philanthropist, and abolitionist.Īs a teenager, Lafayette ran away from France to join the American Revolution. Over fifty incredible years at the heart of the Age of Revolution, he fought courageously on both sides of the Atlantic.
From the bestselling author of The Storm Before the Storm and host of the Revolutions podcast comes the thrilling story of the Marquis de Lafayette’s lifelong quest to defend the principles of liberty and equalityĪ #1 ABA INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE BESTSELLERįew in history can match the revolutionary career of the Marquis de Lafayette.
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