Un tricentenaire : 1688 -1988 ; Abraham Duquesne (1610-1688) et la marine de son temps

[fre] Résumé Abraham Duquesne (1610-1688), chef d'esca- dre (1647) puis lieutenant général des armées navales (1669) est mort à Paris le 1er février 1688. A l'occasion du tricentenaire de la mort du grand marin demeuré calviniste après la révocation de l'Édit de Nantes, Michel Verjjjé-Franceschi retrace dans son exposé la vie et la carrière de l'illustre dieppois, tout en insistant sur les points qui demeurent obscurs dans la biographie du vainqueur de Ruyter. Duquesne nous y apparaît comme le fils d'un marchand de Blangy — au comté d'Eu — anobli par le service de mer ; comme un matelot élevé sous la férule paternelle, passé ensuite au service de la marine suédoise, avant de mener en France une exceptionnelle carrière d'officier général victorieux, embarqué jusqu'à l'âge de 74 ans. Au fil des campagnes — Agosta, Palerme, Stromboli - ou des bombardements — Alger, Gênes — on découvre un officier compétent, au caractère difficile, conscient de sa valeur, de son unicité ; un Normand procédurier, très « intéressé », chicaneur en famille, dur en affaires ; un protestant sincère, animé d'une foi profonde qui le prive de la vice-amirauté du Levant que ses services - pourtant - lui méritaient et que le Roi, habituellement si juste, s'efforça de ne pas lui donner pour le pousser — mais en vain — à l'abjuration. Différents jugements portés sur Duquesne, par ses contemporains — Tour- ville, Colbert, Seignelay, Colbert du Terron, officiers et intendants des ports — complètent le portrait de ce marin qui fut l'un des plus grands hommes de mer de son temps. [eng] Abstract Abraham Duquesne (1610-1688), fleet commander (1647), then « lieutenant général » of the naval armies (1669), died in Paris on February 1 st 1688. Three hundred years after the death of Duquesne, who remained a Calvinist after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, Michel Vergé-Franceschi describes in his paper the life and career of the famous officer, born in Dieppe, and emphasizes points that are still obscure in the biography of the man who defeated Ruyter. Duquesne was the son of a Blangy merchant — in the county of Eu — who had been ennobled for his services in the navy. He was trained as a seaman under Ms father's authority, then went to the service of Sweden. He was later to lead in France an outstanding career as a victorious officer general and sail until the age of 74. Through the campaigns (Agosta, Palermo, Stromboli) and the bombardments (Algiers, Genoa) he took part in, he emerges as a competent officer as well as a proud bad-tempered man who had no doubts about his exceptional qualities. He was a pettifogging self-interested Norman, wrangling with his family about money matters and a ruthless businessman. A sincere Protestant, his profond faith cost him the vice- admiralty of the Levant which he deserved but which the King, who was quite fair as a rule, did not eventually grant him to incite him (in vain) to abjuratioa A series of judgments about him by some contemporaries — TourviUe, Colbert, Seignelay, Colbert du Terron, various officers and port administrators — complete the portrait of Duquesne, one of the most prominent seamen of his age.