129 - ARNAULD D'ANDILLY (Robert), 1589–1674.

ARNAULD D'ANDILLY (Robert), 1589–1674. Autograph letter, “Arnauld d’Andilly,” Paris, April 27, 1636, 1 page and 1/3 folio, in brown ink, slightly trimmed, to Marshal de Brézé. After informing him of the dispatch of a speech delivered by one of his nephews in Parliament, he congratulated Marshal de Brézé on his own eloquence: like Caesar, he added the role of orator to that of army general. He also mentions Chapelain. Robert Arnauld d’Andilly (1589–1674), a French statesman, writer, and translator, was one of the leading figures of Port-Royal. The son of the lawyer Antoine Arnauld and brother of Mother Angélique and the theologian Antoine Arnauld, he initially pursued a brilliant career at the court of Louis XIII, notably as a Councilor of State and an expert in financial affairs. Close to Saint-Cyran, he gradually withdrew from public life and retired in 1645 to Port-Royal-des-Champs, where he became one of the famous “Solitaires.” There he divided his time between arboriculture and literary and religious works, notably producing important translations of Saint Augustine’s “Confessions,” the works of Saint Teresa of Ávila, and the “Lives of the Desert Fathers.” His “Memoirs,” written toward the end of his life, also provide a valuable account of society during the reign of Louis XIII. Urbain de Maillé, Marquis de Brézé (1597–1650), brother-in-law of Cardinal Richelieu, was one of the leading military figures of Louis XIII’s reign. Appointed Marshal of France in 1632, he fought notably against the Spanish before becoming governor of Anjou and then viceroy of Catalonia. After Richelieu’s death, he retired from public life and died in 1650.