‘A troupe of mercenary writers’: the publicists in Chancellor Maupeou’s service, 1771–1774

Abstract

Louis XV’s government led an ambitious communications campaign in 1771 to justify his power grab against the parlements. Chancellor Maupeou enlisted a propaganda office that notably included his personal secretary, Charles-François Lebrun, and François Marin, the secrétaire général of the Librairie. The minister also relied on the commitment of a group of writers. François-Marie Arouet Voltaire was the most famous of these writers, but other, less well-known authors also played a crucial part. This was notably the case with the Abbé Raymond Mary, a humble canon linked to the comtesse du Barry’s circle, who was arguably one of the most important actors in Versailles’ persuasion strategy. This article sketches a portrait of the publicists who put pen to paper in the monarchy’s service during the Maupeou revolution.