Arrest of Cardinal de Rohan (1785)

Cardinal de Rohan was arrested in August 1785, bringing the Necklace Affair into public view. The incident involved false accusations against Queen Marie Antoinette regarding a diamond necklace. Rohan's arrest occurred at Versailles, not Paris, correcting legacy errors. The event contributed to the monarchy's discrediting, though the full trial is excluded from this scope.

Episodes

Background and detail

Background. The Affair of the Diamond Necklace involved King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy became Rohan's mistress in March 1785. Rohan, a former ambassador to Vienna, sought a secret interview with the queen. Jeanne claimed the queen wanted Rohan to secretly purchase an expensive necklace, leading to fraud allegations against the Crown's jewellers.

Arrest. On 15 August 1785, while the court awaited the king and queen to go to the chapel, Rohan, who was to officiate, was taken before the king, the queen, the Minister of the Court Louis Auguste Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, and the Keeper of the Seals Armand Thomas Hue de Miromesnil to explain himself. The arrest occurred in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. The controversy of the event stems from this arrest and the subsequent trial. During the trial, it was brought up that Rohan had missed that royalty signed with only the baptismal name, a mistake that prejudiced the king against Rohan, who breathed royal etiquette since birth.

Impact. The affair discredited the Bourbon monarchy four years before the French Revolution. Public opinion of Marie Antoinette shifted to near-hatred due to the scandal. The incident gave moral weight to the Revolution by tarnishing the queen's reputation through false accusations of fraud against the Crown's jewellers.

People involved

Sources

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