Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes, 1817, by Jacques-Louis David

Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès (May 3, 1748 – June 20, 1836) was a French abbé and statesman, one of the chief theorists of the revolutionary and Napoleonic era. May 3 is the 123rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (124th in leap years). ... Events April 24 - A congress assembles at Aix-la-Chapelle with the intent to conclude the struggle known as the War of Austrian Succession - at October 18 - The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle is signed to end the war Adam Smith begins to deliver public lectures in Edinburgh Building of... June 20 is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 194 days remaining. ... Events January - Book by Maria Monk claims that she was sexually exploited in a Canadian convent February 3 - United States Whig Party holds its first convention in Albany, New York. ... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ... The period of the French Revolution in the history of France covers the years between 1789 and 1799, in which democrats and republicans overthrew the absolute monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church was forced to undergo radical restructuring. ... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ...

He was born at Fréjus in the south of France, and was educated for the church at the Sorbonne. While there, he eagerly imbibed the teachings of John Locke, Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, and other political thinkers, in preference to theology. Nevertheless he entered the church, and his learning and subtlety earned him rapid promotion to vicar-general and chancellor of the diocese of Chartres. In 1788 the proposed convocation of the Estates-General of France after the interval of more than a century and a half, and the invitation of Jacques Necker to writers to state their views as to the constitution of the Estates, enabled Sieyès to publish his celebrated pamphlet, "Qu’est-ce que le tiers état?" ("What is the Third Estate?") He begins his answer: "Everything. What has it been hitherto in the political order? Nothing. What does it desire? To be something." For this mot he is said to have been indebted to Chamfort. The pamphlet was very successful, and its author, despite doubts about his clerical vocation, was elected as the last (the twentieth) of the deputies of Paris to the States General. The Sorbonne, Paris, in a 17th century engraving The Sorbonne today, from the same point of view The historic University of Paris (French: Université de Paris) first appeared in the second half of the 12th century, but was in 1970 reorganized as 13 autonomous universities (University of Paris I–XIII). ... For other people by this name see John Locke (disambiguation) John Locke John Locke (August 29, 1632 — October 28, 1704) was a 17th century philosopher concerned primarily with society and epistemology. ... Etienne Bonnot de Condillac. ... Theology is literally rational discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, rational discourse). By extension, it also refers to the study of other religious topics. ... Chartres is a city and commune of France, préfecture (capital) of the Eure-et-Loir département. ... 1788 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The Estates-General of 1789 was the first meeting of the French Estates-General, a general assembly consisting of representatives from all but the poorest segment of the French citizenry, since 1614. ... Jacques Necker Jacques Necker (September 30, 1732 - April 9, 1804) was a French statesman and finance minister of Louis XVI. Early life Necker was born in Geneva, Switzerland. ... In France of the ancien régime and the age of the French Revolution, the term Third Estate (tiers état) indicated the generality of people which were not part of the clergy (the First Estate) nor of the nobility (the Second Estate). ... Nicolas Chamfort (1741 - April 13, 1794), was a French writer. ... The Eiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. ...

Despite his failure as a speaker, his influence was great; he strongly advised the constitution of the Estates in one chamber as the National Assembly, but he opposed the abolition of tithes and the confiscation of church lands. Elected to the special committee on the constitution, he opposed the right of "absolute veto" for the king, which Honoré Mirabeau unsuccessfully supported. For the most part, however, he kept quiet about his opinions in the Assembly, speaking rarely and then generally with oracular brevity and ambiguity. He had considerable influence on the framing of the departmental system, but after the spring of 1790 he was eclipsed by others. Only once was he elected to the post of fortnightly president of the Constituent Assembly. During the French Revolution, the National Assembly (French: Assemblée nationale) was a transitional body between the Estates-General and the National Constituent Assembly which existed from June 17 to July 9 of 1789. ... A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a voluntary contribution or as a tax or levy, usually to support a religious organization. ... An organizations constitution defines its form, structure, activities, character, and fundamental rules. ... Portrait of Mirabeau Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Comte de Mirabeau, (often referred to simply as Mirabeau) ( March 9, 1749 - April 2, 1791) was a French writer, popular orator and statesman. ... The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France, roughly analogous to British counties and are now grouped into 22 metropolitan and four overseas régions. ... 1790 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The National Constituent Assembly (French: Assemblée nationale constituante) was formed from the National Assembly on July 9, 1789, during the first stages of the French Revolution. ...

Excluded from the Legislative Assembly by Robespierre's self-denying ordinance, he reappeared in the third national Assembly, known as the Convention (September 1792 - September 1795). There, his self-effacement was even more remarkable; it resulted partly from disgust, partly from timidity. He even abjured his faith at the time of the installation of the goddess of reason; and afterwards he characterized his conduct during the Reign of Terror in the ironical phrase, J'ai vécu ("I lived.") He voted for the death of King Louis XVI, but not in the contemptuous terms sometimes ascribed to him. He is known to have disapproved of many of the provisions of the constitutions of the years 1791 and 1793, but did little to improve them. During the French Revolution, the Legislative Assembly was the legislature of France from 1 October 1791 to September 1792. ... Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre, (May 6, 1758–July 28, 1794), known also to his contemporaries as the Incorruptible, is one of the best known of the leaders of the French Revolution. ... This article is about a legislative body and constitutional convention during the French Revolution. ... This article was a word for word copy of an entry in the Rotten Library here ... The Reign of Terror (June 1793 - July 1794) was a period in the French Revolution characterized by brutal repression. ... Louis XVI Louis XVI (August 23, 1754 - January 21, 1793), was King of France and Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then King of the French in 1791-1792. ...

In 1795 he went on a diplomatic mission to the Hague, and was instrumental in drawing up a treaty between the French and Batavian republics. He dissented from the constitution of 1795 (that of the Directory) in some important particulars, and refused to serve as a Director of the Republic. In May 1798 he went as the plenipotentiary of France to the court of Berlin in order to try to induce Prussia to make common cause with France against the Second Coalition. His conduct was skilful, but he failed in his main object. The prestige which encircled his name led to his being elected a Director of France in place of Jean-François Rewbell in May 1799. This article is about the city in the Netherlands; there is also a region known as (the) Hague in France. ... From 1795 to 1806, the Batavian Republic (Bataafse Republiek in Dutch) designated the Netherlands as a republic modelled after the French Republic, to which it was a vassal state. ... The Directory (in French Directoire) held executive power in France from October 1795 until November 1799 - from the end of the Convention to the beginning of the Consulate. ... Berlin (pronounced: , German ) is the capital of Germany and its largest city, with 3,387,404 inhabitants (as of September 2004); down from 4. ... The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 The word Prussia ( German: Preußen or Preussen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: Prūsai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings: The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad exclave of Russia and... The name Second Coalition (1798 - 1800) designates the second major concerted effort of multiple European powers to contain revolutionary France. ...

Already he was plotting the overthrow of the Directory, and is said to have considered the advent to power at Paris of persons so unlikely as the Archduke Charles and the duke of Brunswick. He now set himself to undermine the Constitution of 1795. With that aim he caused the revived Jacobin Club to be closed, and made overtures to General Joubert for a coup d'état. The death of Joubert at the Battle of Novi, and the return of Bonaparte from Egypt marred his schemes; but ultimately he came to an understanding with the young general. After the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire, Sieyès produced the perfect constitution which he had long been planning, only to have it completely remodelled by Bonaparte, who thereby achieved a coup within the coup. Archduke Charles Archduke Charles of Austria (Erzherzog Karl) ( September 5, 1771 - April 30, 1847) was the younger brother of Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. Despite being epileptic, Charles achieved respect both as a commander and as a reformer of Austrias army. ... Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick (October 9, 1735 - November 10, 1806), German general, was born at Wolfenbüttel. ... Jacobin Club, the most famous of the political clubs of the French Revolution, had its origin in the Club Breton, which formed at Versailles shortly after the opening of the Estates General in 1789. ... Barthélemy Catherine Joubert (14 April 1769 - 15 August 1799), French general, the son of an advocate, was born at Pont de Vaux (Ain). ... A coup détat, or simply a coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government, usually done by a small group that just replaces the top power figures. ... The battle of Novi was a battle in the French Revolutionary Wars that was fought on August 15, 1799. ... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... The Arab Republic of Egypt, commonly known as Egypt, (in Arabic: مصر, romanized Miṣr or Maṣr, in Egyptian dialect) is a republic mostly located in north-eastern Africa. ... 18 Brumaire, the coup of 18 Brumaire or sometimes simply Brumaire refers to the coup détat by which General Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the government of the Directory to replace it by the Consulate. ...

Sieyès soon retired from the post of provisional consul, which he accepted after Brumaire; he now became one of the first senators, and rumour, probably rightly, connected this retirement with the acquisition of a fine estate at Crôsne. After the bomb outrage at the close of 1800 (the affair of Nivôse), Sieyès in the senate defended the arbitrary and illegal proceedings whereby Bonaparte rid himself of the leading Jacobins. During the empire he rarely emerged from his retirement, but at the time of the Bourbon restorations (1814 and 1815) he left France. After the July Revolution (1830) he returned. The Senate (in French : le Sénat) is the upper house of the Parliament of France. ... Following the ouster of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1814, the Allies restored the Bourbon Dynasty to the French throne. ... Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix commemorates the July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution, was a revolt by the middle class against Bourbon King Charles X which forced him out of office and replaced him with the Orleanist King Louis-Philippe. ...

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. Please update as needed. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica ( 1911) in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ...

The 1911 Encylopedia Britannica specifically cites A. Neton, Sieyès (1748-1836) d'après documents inédits (Paris, 1900). Other than that, it simply cites "the chief histories on the French Revolution and the Napoleonic empire."