Pierre Hector Chanut (February 22, 1601 in

Riom Riom (; Auvergnat ''Riam'') is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. History Until the French Revolution, Riom was the capital of the province of Auvergne, and the ...

– July 3, 1662 in Livry-sur-Seine) was a civil servant in the

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France. As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...

, a French ambassador in Sweden and the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

, and state counsellor.

Life

In 1626 Chanut married Marguerite Clerselier and had eight children. Charged by

Jules Mazarin Jules Mazarin (born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino or Mazarini; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), from 1641 known as Cardinal Mazarin, was an Catholic Church in Italy, Italian Catholic prelate, diplomat and politician who served as the Chief minister o ...

he resided from 1646 to 1649 at the Swedish court and in Osnabrück, where he negotiated the Peace of Westfalia. His companion Antoine de Courtin became Christina's secretary. In 1646 Chanut met and corresponded with the philosopher

René Descartes René Descartes ( , ; ; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and Modern science, science. Mathematics was paramou ...

, asking him for a copy of his ''

Meditations ''Meditations'' () is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161–180 AD, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy. Composition Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the ''Meditations'' i ...

''. Upon showing

Christina of Sweden Christina (; 18 December ld Style and New Style dates, O.S. 8 December1626 – 19 April 1689), a member of the House of Vasa, was Monarchy of Sweden, Queen of Sweden from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. Her conversion to Catholicism and ...

some of the letters, the queen became interested in beginning a correspondence with Descartes. She invited him to Sweden, but Descartes was reluctant until she asked him to organize a scientific academy. He resided with Chanut, and finished his Passions of the Soul. Chanut lived at

Västerlånggatan Västerlånggatan ("the Western Long Street") is a street in Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching southward between the squares Mynttorget and Järntorget, it follows the course of the city's now demolished 13th-century defen ...

, 450 meters from

Tre Kronor (castle) Tre Kronor ( or ) or Three Crowns Castle was a castle located in Stockholm, Sweden, on the site where Stockholm Palace is today. It is believed to have been a citadel that Birger Jarl built into a royal castle in the middle of the 13th century. ...

Gamla Stan Gamla Stan (, "The Old Town"), until 1980 officially Staden mellan broarna ("The Town between the Bridges"), is the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Gamla Stan consists primarily of the island Stadsholmen. Gamla Stan includes the surrounding islets ...

. There, Chanut and Descartes made observations with a Torricellian barometer, a tube with mercury. Chanut was criticized when he organized a private mass in his house. Descartes died of pneumonia according to Chanut. Over time there have been speculations regarding the death of the philosopher. Theodor Ebert claimed that Descartes did not meet his end by being exposed to the harsh Swedish winter climate, as philosophers have been fond of repeating, but by

arsenic poisoning Arsenic poisoning (or arsenicosis) is a medical condition that occurs due to elevated levels of arsenic in the body. If arsenic poisoning occurs over a brief period of time, symptoms may include vomiting, abdominal pain, encephalopathy, and water ...

. In 1651, during

Second Northern War The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of ...

, Chanut departed to

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

to a Congress which had to mediate peace between Sweden and Poland. Peace talks failed, however, and in 1653 Chanut returned to Stockholm. He probably invited Pierre Bourdelot and Gabriel Naudé, but departed to

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, where he was appointed as ambassador. In 1655, back in Paris, he became Conseiller d'Etat. In the summer of 1654, Christina left Sweden and settled in Rome. In August 1656 Christina traveled to Paris. In October, apartments were assigned to her at the

Palace of Fontainebleau Palace of Fontainebleau ( , ; ), located southeast of the center of Paris, in the commune of Fontainebleau, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. It served as a hunting lodge and summer residence for many of the List of French monarchs ...

, where she committed an action which stained her memory – the execution of marchese Gian Rinaldo Monaldeschi, her master of the horse. After the murder of Gian Rinaldo Monaldeschi Christina promised Chanut that Ludivico Santinelli and his two helpers would have to leave her court.Bernard Quilliet, Christine de Suède, Paris, Fayard, 2003, p. 258. His friend and brother-in-law

Claude Clerselier Claude Clerselier (1614, in Paris – 1684, in Paris) was a French editor and translator. Clerselier was a lawyer in the Parlement of Paris and resident for the King of France in Sweden. He was the brother-in-law of Pierre Chanut, and served a ...

, an editor, inherited all the manuscripts by Descartes in 1662 and published them. His ''Mémoires et Négociations'' (Memoirs and Negotiations) were published posthumously (1676); his correspondence is preserved in

Bibliothèque Nationale A library is a collection of books, and possibly other materials and media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or digital (soft copies) materials, and may be a p ...

in Paris.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chanut, Pierre 1601 births 1662 deaths 17th-century French diplomats Ambassadors of France to the Netherlands Ambassadors of France to Sweden French male non-fiction writers 17th-century French memoirists People from the Province of Auvergne