The vicomte de Martignac, as French premier,…
1829 CE
The vicomte de Martignac, as French premier, is exposed to attack from both the extreme left and the extreme right, and when in April 1829 a coalition of these groups defeats him in the chamber, King Charles, who has never believed in the policy he represents, replaces him, together with his moderate cabinet, by Jules Auguste Armand Marie, prince de Polignac, and his reactionary crew.
This fuels the developing state crisis in France.
Polignac, an ultra-royalist who believes that the power in France should be given back to the monarch and the noble classes, sees this as his divine mission and claims to have seen visions of the Virgin Mary promising success.
As a Catholic he does not mind the church's increase in power—he had received from the pope his title of "prince" in 1820—but he does think that God is on his side rather than the Pope's.
Upon the accession of the Prince de Polignac as premier, Chateaubriand resigns his ambassadorial post in November.