Jean-Baptiste Massieu (17 September 1743

Pontoise Pontoise () is a commune north of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise. Administration Pontoise is the official (capital) of the Val-d'Oise '' département'', although in reality the ' ...

- 8 June 1818

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) was a French bishop, politically active during the French Revolution. The son of a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

hosier, he took holy orders in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

, took up his first post as a teacher of rhetoric at Vernon and in 1768 moved to the royal college in Nancy. He may also have been a tutor to the younger Lameth brothers, and in 1782 was appointed curate of

Cergy Cergy () is a commune in the French department of Val-d'Oise, to the northwest of Paris. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise, created in the 1960s, of which it is the central and most populated commun ...

. When the Estates General were summoned, he was elected to sit for the First Estate representing

Senlis Senlis () is a commune in the northern French department of Oise, Hauts-de-France. The monarchs of the early French dynasties lived in Senlis, attracted by the proximity of the Chantilly forest. It is known for its Gothic cathedral and other ...

. In December 1789 he became secretary of the new

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

and joined the ecclesiastial committee, and in December 1790 he took the oath to the

Civil Constitution of the Clergy The Civil Constitution of the Clergy () was a law passed on 12 July 1790 during the French Revolution, that sought the Caesaropapism, complete control over the Catholic Church in France by the National Constituent Assembly (France), French gove ...

. He was elected constitutional bishop of

Oise Oise ( ; ; ) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 in 2019.< ...

on 21 February 1791. On 4 September 1792 he was elected to represent Oise in the

National Convention The National Convention () was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the ...

, receiving 315 out of 627 votes. During the

trial of Louis XVI The trial of Louis XVI—officially called "Citizen Louis Capet" since being dethroned—before the National Convention in December 1792 was a key event of the French Revolution. He was convicted of high treason and other crimes, resulting in ...

he voted against appeal to the people, for the death penalty and against reprieve. In 1793 he was sent as a representant en mission first to

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and then to Marne. He renounced his religious vows while he was away from Paris, and shortly afterward married the daughter-in-law of the mayor of

Givet Givet () (; ) is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France surrounded on three sides by the Belgian border. It lies on the river Meuse where Emperor Charles V built the fortress of Charlemont. It borders the French municipali ...

, Marie-Odile Briquelet. His main task in the North was to deal with traitors and counter-revolutionaries, and he also erected a temple to Reason in Sedan. In April 1794 he returned to the Convention, joined the public education committee, and worked on new primary school textbooks. Like many representants en mission who had made themselves unpopular outside Paris, he was denounced after the Thermidorean reaction and arrested on 9 August 1795, at the same time as

Joseph Fouché Joseph Fouché, 1st Duc d'Otrante, 1st Comte Fouché (; 21 May 1759 – 26 December 1820) was a French statesman, revolutionary, and Minister of Police under First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, who later became a subordinate of Emperor Napoleon. H ...

. However thanks to an amnesty decree he was freed again 4 Brumaire Year IV (26 October 1795). He was employed for some months as a geographer by the War Ministry and then took up a post as a school teacher in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

. In 1797 he was given a new post as archivist at the War Ministry, which he occupied until 1815, building, cataloguing and storing its collections. His work in the archive yielded more than 800 volumes of collected papers and 8,000 books added to the collection. Proscribed as a regicide in 1815, he went into exile in

, leaving his wife behind in Paris. Despite his petitions and the support of the duc de Richelieu, he was never given permission to return to France. He fell ill in 1818 and his wife obtained a passport to join him; he died in poverty on 6 June 1818.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Massieu, Jean-Baptiste 1743 births 1818 deaths Regicides of Louis XVI Représentants en mission