20-730: François, marquis de Barbé-Marbois (31 January 1745 – 12 February 1837) was a French politician. Born in Metz , where his father was director of the local mint, Barbé-Marbois tutored the children of the Marquis de Castries . In 1779, he was made secretary of the French legation to the United States. In 1780, Barbé-Marbois sent a questionnaire to the governors of all thirteen former American colonies, seeking information about each state's geography, natural resources, history, and government. Thomas Jefferson , who
40-571: Is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or widow) of a marquess is a marchioness or marquise . These titles are also used to translate equivalent Asian styles, as in Imperial China and Imperial Japan . The word marquess entered the English language from the Old French marchis ("ruler of a border area") in the late 13th or early 14th century. The French word
60-504: Is a grandee as " The Most Excellent Lord" ( Excelentísimo Señor ). Examples include the Marquess of Carpio , Grandee of Spain . In Great Britain and historically in Ireland, a marquess ranks below a duke and above an earl . A woman with the rank of a marquess, or the wife of a marquess, is a marchioness / ˌ m ɑː r ʃ ə ˈ n ɛ s / . The dignity, rank, or position of the title
80-602: Is a marquisate or marquessate. The honorific prefix " The Most Honourable " precedes the name of a marquess or marchioness of the United Kingdom . In Great Britain , and historically in Ireland , the spelling of this title is marquess . In Scotland, the French spelling marquis is sometimes used. The theoretical distinction between a marquess and other titles has, since the Middle Ages , faded into obscurity. In times past,
100-618: The 18th Fructidor (4 September) 1797, he was arrested and transported to French Guiana . Transferred to the island of Oléron in 1799, he was set free by Bonaparte after the Coup of 18 Brumaire . In 1801, under the Consulate , he became councillor of state and director of the Trésor public (Treasury), and in 1802 a senator . In 1803 he negotiated the Louisiana Purchase treaty by which Louisiana
120-695: The Duc de Richelieu (August 1815), tried unsuccessfully to gain the confidence of the Ultra-Royalists , and withdrew at the end of nine months (10 May 1816). In 1830, when the July Revolution brought Louis Philippe and the Orléans Monarchy , Barbé-Marbois went, as president of the Cour des Comptes , to compliment the new king, and was confirmed in his position. He held his office until April 1834. In 1829, he wrote
140-462: The Coronation, & he said it was quite unprecedented. I observed that there were very few Viscounts, to which he replied "There are very few Viscounts ," that they were an old sort of title & not really English; that they came from Vice-Comites; that Dukes & Barons were the only real English titles; – that Marquises were likewise not English, & that people were mere made Marquises, when it
160-580: The French Revolution and still exists today. See Belgian nobility § Marquesses in the Belgian nobility and List of noble families in Belgium § Marquesses . In Spain, the rank of Marquess/Marchioness ( Marqués / Marquesa ) still exists. One hundred forty-two of them are Spanish grandees . Normally a marqués is addressed as " The Most Illustrious Lord" ( Ilustrísimo Señor ), or if he/she
180-555: The French legation to the US Army: "D'Complot du Benedict Arnold & Sir Henri Clinton contre Eunas` States du America General George Washington", one of the first accounts of Arnold's treason, was not published until 1816. Marquess A marquess ( UK : / ˈ m ɑː ( r ) k w ɪ s / ; French : marquis [maʁki] ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent
200-608: The act of abdication of the emperor, and declared to the Cour des Comptes , with reference to the invasion of France by the Sixth Coalition : In June of that year, under the First Restoration , Barbé-Marbois was made Peer of France by King Louis XVIII , and confirmed in his office as president of the Cour des Comptes . Deprived of his positions by Napoleon during the Hundred Days , he was appointed Minister of Justice under
220-503: The book Histoire de la Louisiane et la cession de cette colonie par la France aux Etats-Unis de l'Amérique septentrionale; précédée d'un discours sur la constitution et le gouvernement des Etats-Unis ("History of Louisiana and of Its Cession to the United States of Northern America; Preceded by a Discourse on the Constitution and Government of the United States"). He published various texts, including: Written in 1780, while secretary to
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#1732858314095240-538: The daughter of William Moore , former governor of Pennsylvania . In 1785, he became intendant of the colony of Saint-Domingue under the Ancien Régime . At the close of 1789, he returned to France, and then placed his services at the disposal of the French Revolutionary government. In 1791 he was sent to Regensburg to help the Marquis de Noailles , the French ambassador . Suspected of treason , he
260-404: The distinction between a count and a marquess was that the land of a marquess, called a march , was on the border of the country, while a count's land, called a county , often was not. As a result of this, a marquess was trusted to defend and fortify against potentially hostile neighbours and was thus more important and ranked higher than a count. The title is ranked below that of a duke , which
280-555: The senate and more unpacified or vulnerable provinces were administered by the emperor. The titles " duke " and " count " were similarly distinguished as ranks in the Byzantine Empire , with dux (literally, "leader") being used for a provincial military governor and the rank of comes (literally "companion," that is, of the Emperor) given to the leader of an active army along the frontier. The title of marquess in Belgium predates
300-529: Was arrested on his return but soon freed. In 1795, he was elected to the Council of Ancients , where the general moderation of his attitude, especially in his opposition to the exclusion of nobles and the relations of émigrés from public life, brought him under suspicion of being a royalist, though he pronounced a eulogy on Napoleon Bonaparte for his success in Italy . During the anti- Royalist coup d'état of
320-668: Was ceded to the United States, and was rewarded by the First Consul with a gift of 152,000 francs . Loyal to the First Empire , he was made grand officer of the Legion of Honour and a count in 1805, and in 1808 he became president of the Cour des Comptes . His career as Head of the Treasury ended in 1806. In return for these favours, he heaped praise upon Napoleon; yet, in 1814, he helped to draw up
340-523: Was derived from marche ("frontier"), itself descended from the Middle Latin marca ("frontier") Margrave and marchese in the kingdoms of Italy , from which the modern English word march also descends. The distinction between governors of frontier territories and interior territories was made as early as the founding of the Roman Empire when some provinces were set aside for administration by
360-559: Was not wished that they should be made Dukes. Like other major Western noble titles, marquess (or marquis) is sometimes used to translate certain titles from non-Western languages with their own traditions, even though they are, as a rule, historically unrelated and thus hard to compare. However, they are considered "equivalent" in relative rank. This is the case with: Marquesses and marchionesses have occasionally appeared in works of fiction. Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis, duc de Richelieu Too Many Requests If you report this error to
380-584: Was often largely restricted to the royal family. The rank of marquess was a relatively late introduction to the British peerage: no marcher lords had the rank of marquess, though some were earls . On the evening of the Coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838, the Prime Minister Lord Melbourne explained to her why (from her journals): I spoke to [Lord Melbourne] about the numbers of Peers present at
400-734: Was then finishing his final term as Virginia's governor, responded to this query with a manuscript that later became his famous Notes on the State of Virginia . Barbé-Marbois was elected a Foreign Honorary Member to both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society in 1781. When the minister Chevalier de la Luzerne returned to France in 1783, Barbé-Marbois remained in America as chargé d'affaires in 1784. That year he married Elizabeth Moore (1765–1834),
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