Nicolas de Basville (1648–1724) was a French over

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (, , ; ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately . History ...

in the early 18th century. Nicolas, the second son of

Guillaume de Lamoignon Guillaume de Lamoignon (1617–1677) was a French jurist. He is known for work which he did towards preparing the codification of French laws. He became in 1644 Master of Requests (France), master of requests in the Parlement. He took an active ...

, took the surname of Basville. Following his hereditary calling he filled many public offices, serving as of

Montauban Montauban (, ; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Oc ...

, of Pau, of

Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...

and of Languedoc before his retirement in 1718. His administration of Languedoc was chiefly remarkable for vigorous measures against the

Camisards Camisards were Huguenots (French Protestants) of the rugged and isolated Cévennes region and the neighbouring Vaunage in southern France. In the early 1700s, they raised a resistance against the persecutions which followed Louis XIV's Revocatio ...

and other

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, but in other directions his work in the south of France was more beneficent, as, following the example of

Jean-Baptiste Colbert Jean-Baptiste Colbert (; 29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His lasting impact on the organization of the countr ...

, he encouraged agriculture and industry generally and did something towards improving the means of communication. He wrote a , which contains much interesting information about his public work. This was published at Amsterdam in 1724. Lamoignon, who was called by Saint-Simon, "the king and tyrant of Languedoc," died in Paris on 17 May 1724. He was accused by

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

of instigating the

revocation of the Edict of Nantes The Edict of Fontainebleau (18 October 1685, published 22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to pra ...

References

* 1648 births 1724 deaths

Nicolas Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...

17th-century French politicians {{France-bio-stub