The Insult That Exiled Voltaire
In 1726 Voltaire responded, in kind, to an insult from the Chevalier de Rohan, Guy Auguste de Rohan-Chabot. Supposedly Voltaire got the upper hand and angered Chevalier de Rohan. Chevalier in turn acted by sending his servants to beat Voltaire, which they did. Voltaire was furious. So furious that Voltaire challenged Chevalier de Rohan to a duel if he did not pay for the damages inflicted upon him. Chevalier de Rohan, undaunted by Voltaire's threats, instead of dueling Voltaire obtained a royal lettre de cachet, a decree signed by Louis XV. These lettre de cachet were routinely used to dispose of troublemakers of many kinds such as drunkards, violent people, unequal marriages, and so on. This one, however, declared that Voltaire be imprisoned in the Bastille without a fair trial.Voltaire, fearing another imprisonment, suggested instead that he be exiled to Great Britain.
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Guy Auguste de Rohan-Chabot was a french nobleman whose most famous act was getting into an altercation with Voltaire. Chevalier de Rohan was the son of Louis de Rohan-Chabot. Guy Auguste married twice and had two sons. He later died in Paris, France in 1760. His son Louis Antoine succeeded Guy Auguste’s father as the Duke of Rohan.