Second Consul and Arch-Chancellor of the Empire who led the drafting of the Napoleonic Code
Born in Montpellier in 1753 into a family of the legal nobility, he succeeded his father in 1774 as a councillor of the court of accounts and finances. Elected to the National Convention for the Hérault in 1792, he was a moderate republican; at the trial of Louis XVI he voted the king guilty but recommended postponing the penalty. He entered the Committee of Public Safety after Thermidor, and negotiated treaties with Spain, Prussia and others in 1795. He became Minister of Justice in 1799, supported the coup of 18 Brumaire and was appointed Second Consul in December; he led the drafting of the Civil Code promulgated in 1804 as the Napoleonic Code. Under the Empire, as Arch-Chancellor, he became the de facto domestic head of government and was made Duke of Parma in 1808. He was exiled in 1816, had his civil rights restored in 1818 and died in Paris in 1824.
Activities and affiliations
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1794–1795
French First Republic state institutionsMember of the Committee of Public Safety
Government and administration -
1799
French First Republic state institutionsMinister of Justice
Law and justice -
1799–1804
Consulate and First Empire state institutions
Law and justice -
1799–1814
Consulate and First Empire state institutionsSecond Consul; Arch-Chancellor of the EmpireHeads of state and government of FranceMain
Government and administration
Career Timeline
- 1792Deputy for the Hérault in the National Convention
- 1794–1795Member of the Committee of Public Safety
- 1795–1799Member of the Council of Five Hundred
- 1799Minister of Justice
- 1799.12.25–1804.05.18Second Consul
- 1804Promulgation of the Napoleonic Code
- 1804–1814Arch-Chancellor of the Empire
- 1808Duke of Parma
- 1816–1818Exile