Edme-Bonaventure Courtois (born 15 July 1754 in Troyes, France - died on 6 December 1816 in Brussels) was a deputy of the National Convention. He found the will of

Marie-Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child ...

in the collection of papers of Robespierre hidden under his bed.

Life

Courtois was the son of a baker. He met

Danton Georges Jacques Danton (; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a French lawyer and a leading figure in the French Revolution. He became a deputy to the Paris Commune, presided in the Cordeliers district, and visited the Jacobin club. In August ...

at the College of Juilly, where he finished his brilliant studies. He was a manufacturer of sabots at Arcis-sur-Aube. In 1787 his wife died. He was elected to the

Legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

as deputy of the

Aube Aube () is a French department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),Montagnards Montagnard (''of the mountain'' or ''mountain dweller'') may refer to: * Montagnard (French Revolution), members of The Mountain (''La Montagne''), a political group during the French Revolution (1790s) ** Montagnard (1848 revolution), members of t ...

. In 1791 he helped Danton to hide. Courtois, who compared Robespierre with

Catiline Lucius Sergius Catilina ( 108 BC – January 62 BC), known in English as Catiline (), was a Roman politician and soldier. He is best known for instigating the Catilinarian conspiracy, a failed attempt to violently seize control of the ...

, was involved in the coup that led to the fall of Robespierre, together with Laurent Lecointre, the instigator. Lecointre contacted Robert Lindet on the 6th, and Vadier on the 7th Thermidor. The other members were: Fréron, Barras, Tallien, Thuriot, Rovère, Garnier de l’Aube and Guffroy ( Fouché was not involved). They decided that

Hanriot Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by René Hanriot in 1910 as ''The Monoplans Hanriot Company Ltd.'' the company survived in differen ...

, Dumas and the family Duplay had to be arrested first, so Robespierre would be without support. After the 9 Thermidor, he was a member of the commission in charge of the inventory of the papers owned by Robespierre, including the will of Marie-Antoinette written in the

Conciergerie The Conciergerie () ( en, Lodge) is a former courthouse and prison in Paris, France, located on the west of the Île de la Cité, below the Palais de Justice. It was originally part of the former royal palace, the Palais de la Cité, which als ...

on her last day 16 October 1793. He published the famous report «Papiers inédits trouvés chez Robespierre, Saint-Just etc.» in February 1795. It is possible he added, and left papers out. From 15 October 1795 – 26 December 1799 he was a member of the Conseil des Anciens. In 1796 he produced: "Rapport fait au nom des comités de Salut public et de Sûreté générale sur les événements du 9 thermidor an II..." He purchased one of the finest hotels in the faubourg Saint-Honoré, with a beautiful garden on the Champs-Élysées. He contributed to the

coup of 18 Brumaire The Coup d'état of 18 Brumaire brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power as First Consul of France. In the view of most historians, it ended the French Revolution and led to the Coronation of Napoleon as Emperor. This bloodless '' coup d'état'' ...

and was elected a member of the

Tribunat The was one of the four assemblies set up in France by the Constitution of Year VIII (the other three were the Council of State, the and the ). It was set up officially on 1 January 1800 at the same time as the . Its first president was the hi ...

, however, suspicions of misappropriation forced him to withdraw as a member of the Tribunat in 1802. He then moved to chateau Rambluzin, near

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

, between his impressive collection of classical literature. For a while he was the mayor (1812-), but on 12 January 1816 during the Bourbon Restauration, when members of the parliament who voted the death of Louis XVI in 1793 and later supported the emperor, were condemned to exile, Courtois was forced to leave the country and moved to Brussels, leaving most of his collection (3723 items) behind. On 25 January 1816, he tried to avoid the ban by writing to the councillor of State by Louis Becquey to make him aware that he had documents concerning the royal family, found in the papers of Robespierre, and that he offered to the King, including a letter written by Marie Antoinette to her sister-in-law Madame Élisabeth at the time of this ordeal, called "the testament of the Queen"; a glove that belonged to the Dauphin; a small bundle of hair from Marie-Antoinette. The collection was bought by

Richard Heber Richard Heber (5 January 1773 – 4 October 1833) was an English book-collector. Biography He was born in Westminster, as the eldest son of Reginald Heber, who succeeded his eldest brother as lord of the manors of Marton in Yorkshire and Hodne ...

. He married twice, in 1776 and in 1789. It is possible he committed suicide.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Courtois, Edme-Bonaventure 1754 births 1816 deaths