Bible Encyclopedias
Bethune (Family)

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

Search for…

Enter query below:

or

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Prev Entry
Bethune

Next Entry
Betrothal

Resource Toolbox

Print Article

BETHUNE (FAMILY). The seigneurs of Bethune, avoues (advocati ) of the great abbey of Saint-Vaast at Arras from the I 1 th century, were the ancestors of a great French house whence sprang the dukes of Sully, Charost, Orval, and Ancenis; the marquises of Rosny, Courville and Chabris; the counts of Selles and the princes of Boisbelle and Henrichemont. Conon de Bethune, the crusader and poet, was an early forebear. The most illustrious member of the Bethune family was Maximilien, baron of Rosny, and afterwards duke of Sully, minister of Henry IV. His brother Philip, count of Selles and of Charost, was ambassador to Scotland, Rome, Savoy and Germany, and died in 1649. Hippolyte de Bethune, count of Selles and marquis of Chabris, who died in 1665, bequeathed to the king a magnificent collection of historical documents and works of art. The Charost branch of the family gave France a number of generals during the 17 th and 18th centuries.

The last duke of Charost, Armand Joseph de Bethune (1738-1800), French economist and philanthropist, served in the army during the Seven Years' War, after which he retired to his estates in Berry, where, and also in Brittany and Picardy, he sought to ameliorate the lot of his peasants by abolishing feudal dues, and introducing reforms in agriculture. During the Terror he was arrested, but was liberated after the 9th Thermidor. He was mayor of the Loth arrondissement of Paris under the Consulate, and died at Paris on the 27th of October 1800, of small-pox, contracted during a visit to a workshop for the blind which he had founded. He published essays on the way to destroy mendicancy and to improve the condition of the labourers, and also on the establishment of a fund for rural relief and the organization of rural education. His life throws light on some phases of the ancien regime which are often overlooked by historians. Louis XV. said of Charost, "Look at this man, his appearance is insignificant, but he has put new life into three of my provinces." His only son, Armand Louis de Bethune, marquis de Charost, was beheaded on the 28th of April 1794.