Acte de Notoriété Après le Décés de M. Le Chevalier Pierre Robillard May 8, 1812, (Detail) Notaire,  Delacour, MC/ET/XIX 940 (Archives Nationales (France)

Théodore Géricault – 1812

What follows is the second part of our re-examination of Théodore Géricault’s life in Paris in 1812. Readers who have yet to read part one: 1812 Pierre Robillard Duel, may wish to read that article before proceeding. We began part one with a brief account of Théodore Géricault activities in 1812 according to standard Géricault scholarship. We then presented a Paris police report dated April 10, 1812, which describes the unusual death of Pierre Robillard, Théodore Géricault’s cousin, on April 8, 1812. We then focused on the impact of the deaths of important members of Théodore’s family in  Paris on Gericault and othe family members during the years 1808 to 1812.

As we discussed in the linked article above, the death of Pierre Robillard on April 8, 1812; that of Louise Thérèze, Théodore’s maternal grandmother days later; the death of Amédée Selim Robillard, Pierre’s younger brother in February, 1808, and of Marie Jeanne Louise Caruel, Théodore’s mother five weeks later; had a profound emotional impact on Géricault’s maternal family. The loss, grief, and disappointment transformed the lives of many family members during this period. To better understand these transformations and the their impact on Théodore Géricault, and those close to the artist, we turn now to two more archival documents which together make up the Acte de Notoriété après le décès de M. Le Chevalier Pierre Robillard of May 8, 1812.

Acte de Notoriété Après le Décès de Piérre Robillard – May 8, 1812, Paris.

The Acte de Notoriété après le décès de M. Le Chevalier Pierre Robillard consists of two single-page documents – the Acte de décès (death certificate) of Pierre Robillard, prepared in Neuilly on April 9, 1812, which legally identifies the deceased, and the time and place of death; and the Acte de Notoriété, which legally identifies the heirs of the deceased Pierre Robillard’s, prepared in Paris weeks later.  When the two individual documents had been reviewed by the signatories and registered with the authorities in Paris as the Acte de Notoriété après le décès de M. Le Chevalier Pierre Robillard, the the disposition of Pierre Robillard’s estate could proceed. Each individual document of the Acte de Notoriété après le décès de M. Le Chevalier Pierre Robillard presents us with new information about the death of Pierre Robillard and about the inner workings of Géricault’s extended family in Paris early in 1812. We present each document individually with commentary.

Acte de Décès de Pierre Robillard – April 9, 1812, Neuilly.

Acte de Décès de M. Chevalier Pierre Robillard (Detail) of April 9, 1812, in the Acte de Notoriété Après le Décés de M. Le Chevalier Pierre Robillard May 8, 1812, (Detail) Notaire,  Delacour, MC/ET/XIX 940 (Archives Nationales (France)

“Extract of the Register of Death Certificates of the Commune of Neuilly, arrondissement of St. Denis, Department of the Seine for 1812. – The year one thousand, eight hundred twelve, the ninth of the month of April, two o’clock du soir (14:00). Death certificate of Pierre Robillard deceased at Neuilly, Department of the Seine, the eighth of the present month of April at one o’clock du soir (13:00), at the age of twenty six, Born in Paris and residing on the street and division of Mont Blanc, n° 22, Married to Bonne Emilie de Nanteuil de Lanorville, son of Mr. Jacques Florent, Baron of the Empire and of Lady Angelique Louise Morize, his spouse… according to the testimony of Messieurs Alexandre Toussaint Delacour, Imperial Notary, resident of Paris, rue des petits Champs n° 77 and Jean Gaspard Ignace Delaroque, honorary Canon of Paris, residing at n°. 22 rue du Mont Blanc… Signed by Delacour, I. Delaroque hon. can. of paris and Delabordere …. (April 18, 1812)”

The death certificate (Acte de décès) of Pierre Robillard, above, confirms the time and place of death of the deceased: in Neuilly just outside Paris at 1:00 pm on (Wednesday) April 8, 1812. The acte also confirms the identity, rank, place of residence, and family details of the deceased on the testimony of Alexandre Toussaint Delacour, an imperial notary, and Jean Gaspard Ignace Delaroque, honorary Canon of Paris. Worth noting is the fact that Canon Delaroque’s stated place of residence at n° 22 rue de Mont Blanc is identical to that of Pierre Robillard; Pierre’s wife Bonne Emilie de Nanteuil de Lanorville, we assume, and of Pierre’s parents the Baron and Baronness Robillard.

Acte de Notoriété of Pierre Robillard – April 21, Paris.

Acte de Notoriété (Detail),  in the Acte de Notoriété Après le Décés de M. Le Chevalier Pierre Robillard May 8, 1812, Notaire Delacour, MC/ET/XIX 940 Archives Nationales (France)

“Today, …before M. Alexandre Toussaint Delacour and his fellow Imperial notaries…
Mr. Charles Biancour Proprietor residing in Paris at n.° 8 Rue de la Michodiere, in the second Municipal arrrondissement. And Mr. Charles Joseph Robillard Proprietor residing in Paris at n.° 3 Rue du Helder, in the same Municipal Arrondissement… (certify and attest as true) that M. Pierre Robillard, Chevalier of the Empire, resident in Paris at n.° 22 Rue du Montblanc, (and that) … the aforementioned Sieur Pierre Robillard died in Neuilly, Canton of St. Denis, Department of the Seine on the eighth of April last, and that his sole inheritors M. Jacques Florent Robillard Baron de l’Empire, Member of the Electoral College of the Department of the Seine, one of the Censors of the Bank of France and Deputy Judge of the Tribunal de Commerce of Paris, and Madame Anglelique Louise Morize spouse of the aforementioned Sieur Baron Robillard, his father and mother, each receive half…”

The acte de notoriéte of Pierre Robillard identifies the legal heirs of the deceased: Pierre’s father and mother, each of whom will received half his estate. In the acte de décès of April 9, above Pierre Robillard is identified clearly as the husband of Bonne Emilie de Nanteauil de La Norville. However, in the acte de notoriéte of Pierre Robillard of April 21, identifying the legal heirs of the deceased, no mention is made of Bonne Emilie de Nanteuil, Pierre’s widow.

Commentary & Conclusion

Our initial aim in 1812 Pierre Robillard Duel was to improve our understanding of Géricault family life in Paris in 1812, establish the fact of Pierre Robillard’s unusual death by pistol shot in the Bois de Boulogne on April 8, 1812, and detail the connections linking the deaths of Pierre Robillard, Amédée Selim Robillard, Louise Thérèze De Poix, and Marie Jeanne Louise Caruel. The two documents which make up the Acte de Notoriété Après le Décès de M. Le Chevalier Pierre Robillard allow us to examine Pierre Robillard’s death in a more mechanistic sense, to understand how the Robillard family, buried in grief and shock, assigned specific individuals to execute specific tasks.

Some may wonder we have not yet discussed the actual duel (suspected) which resulted in Pierre Robillard’s death, or why we do not immediately turn to the plight of Bonnie Emelie de Nanteuil, widowed and denied all rights to her husband’s estate. We will examine both important questions elsewhere, later. As we shall see, the chronology of events and who did what when, matters a lot.

Pierre Robillard’s death certificate indicates the family learned of his death sometime between 1:00 pm, April 8, and mid-day, April 9, 1812. We do not know which family members first viewed the corpse, or when, who made the intial identification, or where Pierre’s body was dispatched after he was discovered dead. We do not know now, on the available evidence, whether Pierre’s father, Jacques Florent Robillard, was even in Paris at this time. Angelique Louise Morize, Pierre’s mother, more likely was. Pierre might have been first identified by the cab driver who found his body. The composition of the Robillard household, one of the most important in Paris, was likely widely known.

However the Robillard family learned of the tragedy which upended their world on April 8, 1812, Pierre’s death certificate confirms that Alexandre Touissaint Delacour and Jean Gaspard Ignace Delaroque travelled to Neuilly the next day, on April 9, to attest to the identity of the deceased. This duty suggests Pierre’s parents had a strong level of trust and confidence in both individuals. Alexandre Toussaint Delacour is known to some Géricault scholars as the Robillard notary. Jean Gaspard Ignace Delaroque, the honorary canon of Paris, is an intriguing figure whose name has never appeared in standard Géricault scholarship. We shall discuss both men in greater detail later, here and elsewhere.

As noted, the most striking fact of the Acte de notoriété Après le décès de M. le Chevalier Pierre Robillard of April 21, 1812, is the exclusion of Bonne Emilie de Nanteuil de Lanorville from her husband’s estate. Setting that matter aside for the moment, we turn to the individuals attesting to the disposition of Pierre Robillard’s estate: Charles Biancour and Charles Joseph Robillard. These two individuals assert and testify that Pierre Robillard wished to leave his entire estate to his parents. Period. That’s why these two names appear in this document.

Charles Biancour was at this time a powerful figure in French society, a former partner in the Robillard-Caruel tobacco firm, and landlord to Théodore Géricault and his father, Georges Nicolas Gericault, who resided in apartments in Biancour’s house at n° 8 rue de la Michodière, Paris. Charles Joseph Robillard was Pierre Robillard’s blood cousin, the son of Charles Stanislas Robillard and Katherine Roullit. Charles Stanislas died in Saint Domingue in 1790. Charles Joseph and his mother arrived in Paris from Saint Domingue sometime before 1806, took possession of Charles Joseph Robillard’s substantial legacy (one-quarter of his grand uncle’s fortune), and set about establishing themselves in Paris society. The fact that Charles Biancour and Charles Joseph Robillard were trusted with the task of securing Pierre Robillard’s estate is testament to the position of each within the Robillard family in April of 1812.

The death of Pierre Robillard left his immensly rich parents Jacque Florent Robillard and Angelique Louise Morize without children and without posterity. That fact will have been apparent to all family members on both sides of Pierre Robillard’s family. Pierre’s mother Angelique was unlikely to produce any more children. We have yet to consider the state of Bonne Emilie de Nanteuil and her family upon learning of the death of Pierre Robillard on April 8, 1812, and her exclusion from the estate a month later. What do we make of the presence of Jean Gaspard Ignace Delaroque, priest, living at 22 rue de Mont Blanc, the same address as the Baron and Baronness Robillard de Magnanville in 1812? Alexandre Toussaint Delacour had long been Jacques Florent Robillard’s preferred notary; his name on this document and so many others suggests a level of intimacy with the family.

The most important name we might expect to find in these Robillard archival documents of April, 1812, however, is that of Jean Baptiste Caruel – cousin to Jacques Florent Robillard and partner in the Robillard tobacco concern for the entirety of the firm’s existence. Jean Baptiste Caruel’s signature can be found in Robillard family documents dating as late as November of 1809, documents we will present and discuss elsewhere. The Caruels and the Robillards had been bound by business and family ties for three generations. Jean Baptiste Caruel helped build the Robillard tobacco firm.

Théodore Géricault had come of age alongside his Robillard and Caruel relations in Paris. Several of the most important family figures died, or disappeared gradually, or suddenly, from Géricault’s life by the summer of 1812. In the years that followed, Théodore Géricault grew and matured, but perhaps never moved on from the topic of death, no matter how bright his life became. More twists and turns of consequence followed the deaths of Pierre Robillard and Louise Thérèze de Poix, in April of 1812, however, which must be explored. Our effort resumes soon.

Acte de Notoriété (Detail), Acte de Notoriété in the Acte de Notoriété Après le Décés de M. Le Chevalier Pierre Robillard May 8, 1812, (Detail) Notaire,  Delacour, MC/ET/XIX 940 (Archives Nationales (France)

* The only profile of Pierre Robillard I have found is in Romuald Szramkiewicz‘s seminal study of the Bank of France: Les Regents et censeurs de la Banque de France nommés sous le Consulat et l’Empire Geneva: Droz, 1974 (pp. 341-357).

Romuald Szramkiewicz’s study of the Robillard family in Les Regents et censeurs de la Banque de France nommés sous le Consulat et l’Empire is by far our most important secondary source on Théodore Géricault’s Robillard relations in Paris and Saint Domingue. However, Szramkiewic makes no mention of the April 8, 1812, date of Pierre Robillard’s death, despite citing the Acte de Notoriété Après la Décès of Pierre Robillard of May 8, 1812, (p. 346, n° 24) as one of his sources. Our debt to Romuald Szramkiewicz is in no way diminished by this omission.

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