Talleyrand in 1808, painted by François Gérard As promised, in today’s post I want to delve a little deeper into the life of one of the Regency era’s most prominent figures, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord. I touched on him briefly in my recent post on the Congress of Vienna , where he skillfully negotiated favorable terms with the Allies for the restoration of the monarchy in France, following the defeat of Napoleon. Talleyrand was born into the aristocracy in 1754 under France’s old monarchical system or ancien règime – the one that came to a bloody end during the French Revolution. An early childhood accident left him with a limp that remained with him all his life. Disinherited by his father in favor of his brother, Talleyrand went int o the clergy and was made a bishop in 1789. But in what became his signature move, Talleyrand abandoned the Church and was defrocked as a result of his support of the French Revolution. He also helped the revolutionary gov
. . . where the past is mirrored in the present