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Gustave Rouland
Gustave Rouland (3 February 1806 – 12 December 1878) was a French lawyer and politician. During the Second French Empire he was Minister of Education and Religious Affairs from 1856 to 1863. In this role he undertook reforms to curb the influence of the church. He was later President of the Conseil d'Etat and then governor of the Banque de France from 1864 to 1878, with one short interruption.
Gustave Rouland was born in Yvetot, Seine-Inférieure, France, on 3 December 1806. He was the grandson of a farmer and son of an attorney. He attended Rouen College, where he was an exceptional student, and then studied law at the Faculty of Law of Paris. He was admitted to the bar in 1827, and entered the judiciary as a magistrate in the court of Les Andelys. In 1828 in Dieppe he married Julie Félicité Cappon (born 1804), daughter of a clerk of Dieppe.
Rouland had a brilliant judicial career under the July Monarchy. He became in turn deputy prosecutor in Louviers (1828) and Évreux (1 June 1831) and prosecutor in Dieppe (1 October 1831). In 1832 he was noted by the deputy Hély d'Oissel as one of the most remarkable young men at the royal court of Rouen, with wide knowledge of the law, easy and brilliant elocution and excellent judgement. In 1835, in an article in the Revue de Rouen, Rouland criticized the complacency and irrelevance of academies such as that of Rouen that ignored the new advances in science, industry and literature. In Rouen he was appointed deputy prosecutor, deputy crown prosecutor-general (17 January 1835) and advocate-general (1 November 1838). He became attorney general in Douai (April 28, 1843).
Rouland was elected on 1 August 1846 as deputy for Dieppe in the Seine-Inférieure department. He sat with the majority, spoke on legislative issues, and on 23 May 1847 was appointed Advocate General at the Court of cassation. He had to run for reelection before he could take this office, and was returned without difficulty. Rouland resigned his position as magistrate in the February Revolution of 1848. He was reinstated on 10 July 1849 and was appointed Attorney General at the Court of Appeals of Paris on 10 February 1853.
On the death of Hippolyte Fortoul, the emperor made Rouland Minister of Education and Religious Affairs. The emperor had at first wanted to appoint Paul Séverin Abbatucci as minister. He was a Corsican, hostile both to priests and to supporters of the former monarchy. However, Abbatucci declined due to his age and instead suggested Rouland.
Rouland was a sincere Catholic, but was Gallican in his leanings. He made it his goal to strengthen the role of the state in religious affairs. His choice as minister indicated that the emperor was opposed to the growing power of the clergy and to ultramontanism. Rouland was Minister from 13 August 1856 to 24 June 1863. He was made a senator on 14 November 1857.
At first Rouland followed a moderate policy to avoid upsetting the Empress Eugénie and Walewski. However, from 1860 the struggle for Italian unification caused the clergy to become increasingly open in their opposition to imperial policy, and Rouland took more positive steps. Rouland was particularly hostile to female religious orders. On 1 December 1861 he published a memorandum in which he criticized the willingness of these congregations to admit minors without obtaining the permission of their parents or guardians, and said that in future this would result in formal legal prosecution. He initiated an inquiry into female religious houses following a number of reported cases of young girls being hidden from their parents under false names, becoming insane through religious ecstasies and being sexually abused.
Rouland tried to restrict the growth of religious orders. He blocked donations and bequests to schools if they specified that the school must remain religious. He reduced the number of permits for new women's establishments, and refused to accept any unauthorized new male orders, such as the Jesuits or Capuchins. After 1860 few new female congregations were allowed and no male ones. He also tried to appoint more Gallican bishops, and increasingly came into conflict with the Pope, who refused to institute them. He continued negotiations over recognition by the Pope of state-run theological faculties, but no agreement could be reached over the division of rights between the church and the state. Rouland also pushed for open civil law trials of clergy, where before justice had been managed through discreet agreements with bishops.
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Gustave Rouland
Gustave Rouland (3 February 1806 – 12 December 1878) was a French lawyer and politician. During the Second French Empire he was Minister of Education and Religious Affairs from 1856 to 1863. In this role he undertook reforms to curb the influence of the church. He was later President of the Conseil d'Etat and then governor of the Banque de France from 1864 to 1878, with one short interruption.
Gustave Rouland was born in Yvetot, Seine-Inférieure, France, on 3 December 1806. He was the grandson of a farmer and son of an attorney. He attended Rouen College, where he was an exceptional student, and then studied law at the Faculty of Law of Paris. He was admitted to the bar in 1827, and entered the judiciary as a magistrate in the court of Les Andelys. In 1828 in Dieppe he married Julie Félicité Cappon (born 1804), daughter of a clerk of Dieppe.
Rouland had a brilliant judicial career under the July Monarchy. He became in turn deputy prosecutor in Louviers (1828) and Évreux (1 June 1831) and prosecutor in Dieppe (1 October 1831). In 1832 he was noted by the deputy Hély d'Oissel as one of the most remarkable young men at the royal court of Rouen, with wide knowledge of the law, easy and brilliant elocution and excellent judgement. In 1835, in an article in the Revue de Rouen, Rouland criticized the complacency and irrelevance of academies such as that of Rouen that ignored the new advances in science, industry and literature. In Rouen he was appointed deputy prosecutor, deputy crown prosecutor-general (17 January 1835) and advocate-general (1 November 1838). He became attorney general in Douai (April 28, 1843).
Rouland was elected on 1 August 1846 as deputy for Dieppe in the Seine-Inférieure department. He sat with the majority, spoke on legislative issues, and on 23 May 1847 was appointed Advocate General at the Court of cassation. He had to run for reelection before he could take this office, and was returned without difficulty. Rouland resigned his position as magistrate in the February Revolution of 1848. He was reinstated on 10 July 1849 and was appointed Attorney General at the Court of Appeals of Paris on 10 February 1853.
On the death of Hippolyte Fortoul, the emperor made Rouland Minister of Education and Religious Affairs. The emperor had at first wanted to appoint Paul Séverin Abbatucci as minister. He was a Corsican, hostile both to priests and to supporters of the former monarchy. However, Abbatucci declined due to his age and instead suggested Rouland.
Rouland was a sincere Catholic, but was Gallican in his leanings. He made it his goal to strengthen the role of the state in religious affairs. His choice as minister indicated that the emperor was opposed to the growing power of the clergy and to ultramontanism. Rouland was Minister from 13 August 1856 to 24 June 1863. He was made a senator on 14 November 1857.
At first Rouland followed a moderate policy to avoid upsetting the Empress Eugénie and Walewski. However, from 1860 the struggle for Italian unification caused the clergy to become increasingly open in their opposition to imperial policy, and Rouland took more positive steps. Rouland was particularly hostile to female religious orders. On 1 December 1861 he published a memorandum in which he criticized the willingness of these congregations to admit minors without obtaining the permission of their parents or guardians, and said that in future this would result in formal legal prosecution. He initiated an inquiry into female religious houses following a number of reported cases of young girls being hidden from their parents under false names, becoming insane through religious ecstasies and being sexually abused.
Rouland tried to restrict the growth of religious orders. He blocked donations and bequests to schools if they specified that the school must remain religious. He reduced the number of permits for new women's establishments, and refused to accept any unauthorized new male orders, such as the Jesuits or Capuchins. After 1860 few new female congregations were allowed and no male ones. He also tried to appoint more Gallican bishops, and increasingly came into conflict with the Pope, who refused to institute them. He continued negotiations over recognition by the Pope of state-run theological faculties, but no agreement could be reached over the division of rights between the church and the state. Rouland also pushed for open civil law trials of clergy, where before justice had been managed through discreet agreements with bishops.
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