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Charles de Marquetel de Saint-Evremond

1 of 2 portraits of Charles de Marquetel de Saint-Evremond

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Charles de Marquetel de Saint-Evremond

by James Parmentier
oil on canvas, feigned oval, circa 1701
29 1/2 in. x 24 1/2 in. (749 mm x 622 mm)
Transferred from British Museum, 1879
Primary Collection
NPG 566

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After a distinguished and loyal career in his native France, Saint-Evremond was forced into exile on the discovery of his witty Letter to Crequi on the Peace of the Pyrenees. From 1661 until his death he lived almost entirely in England the life of a wit and courtier. He was on good terms with his fellow-exile, the Comte de Grammont, and for twenty years he put himself entirely at the service of the Duchess of Mazarin who was at Court to counteract the influence of the Duchess of Portsmouth. Much of his prose and verse were written for her instruction. This portrait of him was painted after he had been in England for about a decade; the distinctive growth on his forehead is a wen.

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Events of 1701back to top

Current affairs

Exiled James II dies in France. Various parts of his body are interred in a number of churches around the country; his corpse is buried in the English church in the Faubourg St. Jacques.
The Act of Settlement is passed, securing the throne to the Protestant Hanoverians.

Art and science

Supported by the Bishop of London, Henry Compton, The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, founded by Thomas Bray, obtains a royal charter.
Publication of The Christian Hero, the first major work by essayist Richard Steele.

International

War of the Spanish Succession ensues. William III restores the grand alliance against France determined to prevent Louis XIV from installing his grandson, Philip of Anjou, upon the Spanish throne. The grand alliance, resolute upon a Habsburg succession in Spain, wished to prevent the country's unification with France.

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