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Elizabeth Monroe, Wife of Jas. Monroe Rescued Mme. de Lafayette From Guillotine In French Revolution
Last edited Thu Aug 19, 2021, 09:54 PM - Edit history (1)
- First Lady of the U.S., Elizabeth Kortright Monroe.
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- Jan. 22, 1795: 'Elizabeth Monroe Rescues Madame De Lafayette From The Guillotine' (Applewood Books).
Life was pretty dicey during the French Revolution for anyone with an aristocratic background, even for the wife of that lover of democracy and liberty, the Marquis de Lafayette. When James Monroe was named U.S. Minister to France and arrived in Paris, his elegant wife Elizabeth plunged into the social and diplomatic life of the city, but she was shocked to find that Marie Adrienne Françoise de Noailles, Marquise de Lafayette, the wife of the Marquis de Lafayette was being held in prison and could soon face death on the guillotine, the fate which had befell her mother, her sister, and her grandmother.
A diplomatic resolution to the situation seemed unlikely, so one day, leaving her husband behind, Elizabeth Monroe commanded the American Embassy’s carriage to drive her, accompanied only by her servants, to the prison where she asked to see Madame Lafayette. Those who clung to power during these last days of the French Revolution understood that Madame de Lafayette was the wife of a great personal friend of George Washington and many other revolutionary era patriots, and France’s most prominent supporter of American independence, but still….
Elizabeth Monroe’s visit sent as clear a message as could be made unofficially by the U.S. government. Not wishing to offend their ally, the French government acknowledged Elizabeth Monroe’s “unofficial” interest in Adrienne de Lafayette, and released her on January 22, 1795. Without any official provocation, the situation was diffused and France maintained its alliance with the United States. The French took notice of Elizabeth Monroe. She was bold, a striking beauty, and she possessed a great air of self-confidence. Soon “toute de Paris” was referring to her with affectionate name of “la belle Americaine”.
- Adrienne de Lafayette.
About this time, the Boston merchant Tom Perkins showed up in Paris. He had sailed to Bordeaux with a cargo of beef and pork hoping to profit from the disruption of agriculture and the danger of famine brought about by the Reign of Terror. He soon fell in with the local American community and dined every Saturday with James and Elizabeth (“one of the finest women I ever knew”) Monroe. The Monroes introduced Tom to the newly free Adrienne Lafayette (the Marquis was still in prison in Austria). Madame Lafayette wanted desperately to get her 13-year-old son George Washington Lafayette out of the country and to the United States where she hoped that the boy’s godfather, President George Washington, would take care of the boy, and Elizabeth Monroe desperately wanted to help her new friend...
More, http://www.awb.com/dailydose/?p=1844
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- During the Reign of Terror, the Monroes also supported and sheltered American citizen Thomas Paine, arrested in Paris after opposing the execution of King Louis XVI.
- Heads of aristocrats on pikes during the Reign of Terror, French Revolution.
Reign of Terror, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reign_of_Terror____
- Georges Washington de Lafayette, July 14, 1790.
- Elizabeth Monroe, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Monroe
(Wiki).- Ambassador's wife: In 1794, James was appointed U.S. Minister to France by President George Washington. In Paris, as wife of the American Minister during the Reign of Terror, she helped secure the release of Madame La Fayette, wife of the Marquis de Lafayette, when she learned of her imprisonment and threatened death by guillotine.
> The Monroes also provided support and shelter to the American citizen Thomas Paine in Paris, after he was arrested for his opposition to the execution of Louis XVI. While in France, the Monroes' daughter Eliza became a friend of Hortense de Beauharnais, step-daughter of Napoleon, and both girls received their education in the school of Madame Jeanne Campan. James was recalled from his Ambassadorship in 1796, due to his support of France in the opposition of the Jay Treaty...
- Adrienne de la Fayette, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrienne_de_La_Fayette
- Georges Washington de Lafayette, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Washington_de_La_Fayette
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