Jean-Baptiste Colbert facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Lord of Vandières and Cernay
|
|
|---|---|
Portrait de Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1655)
by Philippe de Champaigne |
|
| First Minister of State | |
| In office 9 March 1661 – 6 September 1683 |
|
| Monarch | Louis XIV |
| Preceded by | Jules Raymond Mazarin |
| Succeeded by | The Marquis of Louvois |
| Secretary of State of the Navy | |
| In office 7 March 1669 – 6 September 1683 |
|
| Monarch | Louis XIV |
| Preceded by | The Marquis of Fresnes |
| Succeeded by | The Marquis of Seignelay |
| Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi | |
| In office 16 February 1669 – 6 September 1683 |
|
| Monarch | Louis XIV |
| Preceded by | Antoine de Ratabon |
| Succeeded by | The Marquis of Louvois |
| Controller-General of Finances | |
| In office 12 December 1665 – 6 September 1683 |
|
| Monarch | Louis XIV |
| Preceded by | Louis Le Tonnelier |
| Succeeded by | Claude Le Peletier |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 29 August 1619 Reims, France |
| Died | 6 September 1683 (aged 64) Paris, France |
| Resting place | Saint-Eustache, Paris |
| Spouse |
Marie Charron
(m. 1648–1683) |
| Children |
|
| Nicknames | Le Grand Colbert (The Great Colbert) |
| Academic career | |
| Institution |
|
| Field | |
| School or tradition |
Mercantilism |
| Influences |
|
| Contributions | Colbertism |
| Awards | Order of the Holy Spirit |
| Signature | |
 |
|
Jean-Baptiste Colbert (born August 29, 1619 – died September 6, 1683) was a very important French statesman. He served as the First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683. He worked under King Louis XIV, one of France's most famous kings.
Colbert had a huge impact on how France was run, especially its economy. His ideas and policies are known as Colbertism. This was a type of mercantilism, which is an economic idea where a country tries to get rich by exporting more goods than it imports. Because of his great work, people called him le Grand Colbert, meaning "the Great Colbert."
He was born in Reims, France. In 1661, he became the Controller-General of Finances, which meant he was in charge of the country's money. He took over after the previous finance minister, Nicolas Fouquet, was arrested. Colbert worked hard to make France's economy stronger. He did this by raising taxes on imported goods (called tariffs) and starting big public works projects.
Colbert also wanted French companies, like the French East India Company, to trade more overseas. He wanted them to get important goods like coffee, cotton, and sugar. He aimed to create a good balance of trade, meaning France would sell more than it bought from other countries. He also wanted France to have more colonies around the world. He helped create France's merchant navy, which are ships used for trade. In 1669, he became the Secretary of State of the Navy.
Colbert made many changes to improve French industries. For example, he started the Manufacture royale de glaces de miroirs in 1665. This factory made mirrors, so France didn't have to buy them from Venice anymore. He also supported textile (cloth) making and famous tapestry workshops like those at Gobelins. He created many rules to control different guilds (groups of skilled workers). He also helped found the Académie des sciences in 1666. His son, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquis de Seignelay, later took over his role as Navy Secretary.
Contents
Colbert's Life Story
Early Years and Family
Colbert's family were merchants in Reims, France, where he was born. There's a common belief that he studied at a Jesuit college and worked for a banker in Paris when he was young.
Before he was 20, Colbert got a job in the war office. This was likely because his uncle married the sister of the Secretary of War, Michel le Tellier. Colbert worked as an inspector of troops and then became Le Tellier's personal secretary. In 1649, he became a councilor of state, which is a political minister. In 1657, he bought the land of Seignelay.
How Colbert Gained Power
Colbert was introduced to King Louis XIV by Cardinal Mazarin, a powerful minister. When Mazarin was away from France, Louis XIV started to trust Colbert more and more. In 1652, Colbert was asked to manage Mazarin's affairs. Even though Colbert didn't always agree with Mazarin, he was very loyal to him.
Colbert noticed that a lot of the taxes paid by the people weren't reaching the King. He wrote a report to Mazarin about this, which also criticized the finance minister, Nicolas Fouquet. This led to a disagreement, but Mazarin tried to calm things down.
In 1661, Mazarin died. Colbert helped the King find some of Mazarin's hidden money, which made the King trust him even more. Colbert quickly gained many important positions:
- In 1664, he became the Superintendent of buildings.
- In 1665, he became Controller-General of Finances.
- In 1669, he became Secretary of State of the Navy.
He also became minister for trade, colonies, and the royal palace. This meant Colbert had power over almost every part of the government, except for war.
Colbert's first big task was to fix France's money problems. Many rich people and nobles didn't pay taxes, so the poor country people carried most of the tax burden. With the King's support, Colbert went after officials who were stealing royal money, especially Fouquet. Fouquet's downfall helped Colbert rise even higher.
Making the Economy Stronger
After getting rid of the old finance offices, Colbert put the control of finances under a royal council. The King was the head of this council, but Colbert was the real leader. He had a lot of power given to him by the King.
Colbert was very strict in punishing officials who were found guilty of stealing. He also dealt with people who had cheated the government with fake loans. He canceled some public loans and reduced the amount paid on others.
It was hard for him to make taxes fair for everyone. He couldn't force the privileged classes to pay more, but he stopped false claims for tax exemptions. He also made direct taxes fairer by increasing indirect taxes, which everyone had to pay. He also made the way taxes were collected much better.
Colbert worked tirelessly and was very careful with money. He became known for improving French manufacturing and saving the economy from almost going bankrupt. However, some historians say that despite his efforts, France became poorer because the King spent too much money on wars.
Colbert's Economic Ideas
Colbert believed that a country's wealth came from trade. He wanted to make France rich by encouraging manufacturing. The government, guided by Colbert's policies, supported many different industries. They started new factories, protected inventors, and invited skilled workers from other countries to France. They also made it illegal for French workers to leave the country.
To make sure French goods were high quality, Colbert set strict rules for how things were made. If rules were broken, the goods could be destroyed, and the person responsible could be punished. While this helped quality, it also made it hard for new ideas or improvements to happen.
Colbert also tried to improve trade within France. He couldn't get rid of all the taxes on goods moving between different parts of France, but he tried to make them more equal. He also improved roads and canals. For example, the Canal du Midi, a famous canal, was built with Colbert's support.
He also gave special rights to companies to encourage trade with places like the Levant (Middle East), Senegal, and Guinea. However, many of these companies, like the French East India Company, were not very successful.
Supporting Arts and Sciences
Colbert was very interested in art and literature. He had a wonderful private library filled with valuable old books and writings from all over Europe and the Middle East.
He founded many important institutions:
- In 1663, the Academy of Inscriptions and Medals.
- In 1666, the Academy of Sciences and the French Academy at Rome.
- In 1667, the Paris Observatory, a famous place for studying stars. He hired Giovanni Domenico Cassini from Italy to run it.
- In 1669, the Académie d'Opéra, which later became the Royal Academy of Music.
- In 1671, the Academy of Architecture.
He also helped reorganize the Academy of Painting and Sculpture.
Colbert wanted to make France and its royal family look good. He even convinced the famous Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini to visit Paris in 1665 to design the new East Facade of the Louvre palace. This was a big deal because Bernini was the most famous artist in Europe and rarely traveled for patrons. However, Colbert and Bernini didn't get along, and Bernini's design for the Louvre was not used.
Colbert himself became a member of the Académie française, a famous French academy. He was very interested in their dictionary project. In 1673, he oversaw the first exhibition of works by living painters. He also added hundreds of paintings and statues to the Louvre museum.
He gave money to many writers and thinkers, including famous ones like Molière, Corneille, and Racine. He even supported foreign scholars. While he hoped this would bring praise to the King and himself, he truly helped literature, science, and art in France.
Colbert's Final Days
Colbert worked incredibly hard until his last moments. He believed in working constantly. Towards the end of his life, he suffered from severe stomach pains. He was so ill that he could only eat moist bread dipped in chicken broth.
He died at 64, just seven days after his birthday. Doctors found that he had been suffering from kidney stones, with a very large one in his urinary tract, which explained his pain.
Colbert and Religion
Colbert played a smaller role in the arguments between the King and the papacy (the Pope's authority) over royal rights. He seemed to agree with the idea of taking some wealth from the clergy (church officials). He disliked laziness so much that he canceled seventeen religious holidays. He also had a plan to reduce the number of people becoming priests or monks by making them older before they could take their vows.
At first, he didn't want to interfere with heresy (beliefs different from the official church). He knew that the Huguenots (French Protestants) were important for trade. But when the King decided that all of France should be Roman Catholic and canceled the Edict of Nantes (which had given Protestants rights), Colbert followed the King's orders. He urged his staff to do everything they could to encourage people to convert to Catholicism.
Colbert's Lasting Impact
Colbert had nine children, including:
- Jeanne-Marie Colbert (1650-1732)
- Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquis de Seignelay (1651-1690), who became Secretary of State of the Navy after his father.
- Jacques-Nicolas Colbert (1654-1707), who became the Archbishop of Rouen.
- Jean-Jules-Armand Colbert (1664-1704), who died in battle.
- Henriette-Louise (1657-1733)
His ideas also influenced Alexander Hamilton, the first treasury secretary of the United States.
Six ships of the French Navy have been named after him:
- A steam corvette in 1848
- A battleship in 1875
- A cargo ship in 1914
- A dundee in 1916
- A French heavy cruiser, launched 1928
- A French missile cruiser, launched 1956
In literature, the rivalry between Colbert and Fouquet is a major part of Alexandre Dumas, père's novel The Vicomte of Bragelonne. Dumas shows Colbert as a tough and determined person, but also as a patriotic visionary.
A statue of Colbert stands outside the Assemblée nationale (France's parliament). In 2020, it was damaged because of Colbert's role in writing the Code Noir, a set of laws that regulated slavery in the French colonies.
Famous Sayings
- "It is simply, and solely, the abundance of money within a state [which] makes the difference in its grandeur and power."
- "The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest [number] of feathers with the least possible amount of hissing."
See also
In Spanish: Jean-Baptiste Colbert para niños
- French West India Company
- Nicolas Fouquet
