Étienne-Alexandre Bernier

Catholic and Royal Army (Vendée) Counter-revolutionary forces 1762–1806 ○ Natural causes

Priest called the “apostle of the Vendée”, power behind Stofflet’s Army of Anjou, later a Concordat negotiator and Bishop of Orléans

Born at Daon in Anjou in 1762, the son of a weaver, he became professor of theology at the University of Angers and curé of Saint-Laud. He refused the oath of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and in 1793 joined the Army of Anjou, sat on the Superior Council of the Vendéan armies and was called “the apostle of the Vendée”. After the rout at Savenay he hid, then joined Stofflet’s Army of Anjou, where he wrote the proclamations and handled correspondence abroad and became its real leader; Marigny’s execution was generally attributed to his influence. He negotiated with the Republic in 1795 and wrote a manifesto against the La Jaunaye peace. In February 1796 Stofflet was taken at a farm where Bernier had summoned him. Under the Consulate he was one of the plenipotentiaries for the Concordat of 1801 and in 1802 became Bishop of Orléans.

Also known as: Abbé Bernier · Étienne-Alexandre Jean-Baptiste Marie Bernier · Etienne-Alexandre Bernier