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Prytanée national militaire

January 01, 1970

47°42′2″N 0°4′33″W / 47.70056°N 0.07583°W / 47.70056; -0.07583

Prytanée national militaire
The entrance gate of the Prytanée national militaire
Location
La Flèche
,
Sarthe (72)

France
Information
Former nameCollège royal Henri-le-Grand,
TypeMilitary education
Established1604; 420 years ago (1604)
Websiteprytanee-national-militaire.fr

The Prytanée national militaire is a French military school managed by the French military, offering regular secondary education as well as special preparatory classes, equivalent in level to the first years of university, for students who wish to enter French military academies. The school is located in western France in the city of La Flèche.

At first founded in 1604 by the king Henri IV, the school was given to the Jesuits in the aim to "instruct the young people and make it fall in love with sciences, honour and virtue, in order to be able to serve". It then became the "Prytanée" wanted by Napoleon in 1800.

History edit

From the Château-Neuf to the creation of the royal college edit

Françoise d'Alençon, who had become a widow in 1537, decided to retire in her land of La Flèche, which she had received as a gift from her husband Charles de Bourbon.[1] The old feodal castle, actually Château des Carmes, was too old and with no comfort, Françoise d'Alençon ordered the construction of a new building. The "Château-Neuf" (New Castle) was erected between 1539 and 1541 outside of the city, in the place of the Prytanée Militaire and following the plans of the architect Jean Delespine.[1][2] Some recent new elements give a better idea of the original castle and garden.[3]

In 1550, after her death, her son Antoine of Navarre inherits of her possessions. With his wife Jeanne d'Albret, inheritor of the Kingdom of Navarre, he stays in La Flèche multiple times, as in February 1552 and then in May 1553, a few months before their son's birth, the future king Henri IV.

On 3 December 1603, by letters patent sent from Rouen, Henri IV authorised the return of the Jesuits, who had been banned by the parliament of Paris in 1594 after the failed attack against the King made by one of their latter pupils, Jean Châtel. The King allows them to live in the places where they were before their departure and in other cities. Henri IV recommends them to particularly stay in his house of La Flèche in order to establish their college.[4]

The first Jesuits priests arrive to La Flèche in the beginning of November 1603,[5] led by Pierre Barny, named rector of the college.[6] In January 1604, the college welcomes its first students. From its first year, the college knows a success and counts around 1 000 pupils. Their number grows fast in the following years.[7]

The Jesuit College (1604–1762) edit

 
The castle of La Flèche

The first Jesuits left Pont-à-Mousson on 16 October 1603, and reached La Flèche on 2 January 1604. They started to teach grammar, rhetorics, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, philosophy, mathematics, and theology. A foundation edict was issued at Fontainebleau in May 1607, in which the building started to take its present shape.

 
Graduation registry for Descartes at the Collège Royal Henry-Le-Grand, 1616

René Descartes was one of the first and most illustrious students of the school from 1607 to 1615, and introduced the school in his Discourse on Method under the phrase "I was studying in one of the most celebrated schools in Europe".[8]

The College continued to expand, and, upon the death of Henry IV, a vast church was built, in which the hearts of Henry IV and his wife queen Marie de Medicis were enshrined.

Missions to China and the Americas edit

Main articles: Jesuit China missions and Jesuit missions in North America

Many of the Jesuit missionaries who went to the China during the 17th century had been trained at the College.[9] Among them were Énemond Massé, who became an early missionary to Canada and became Minister of the College upon his return in 1614. When he went back to Canada, he was accompanied by Charles Lalemant, another alumnus of the school.[9] Paul Le Jeune, also a student of the College, is considered as the "father of the Jesuit missions in New France", and was the Superior of the Jesuits in Quebec from 1632 to 1639.[10] Others were Erard Bille, Jacques Buteux, Nicolas Adam, Barthélemy Vimont, Paul Ragueneau, Claude de Quentin, Isaac Jogues.[10]

In China also, numerous students of the College became active participants in the missions. Three of the five Jesuits sent by Louis XIV to China were from the Collège: Jean de Fontaney, the Superior of the mission, who had been a professor of mathematics there and became rector of the school until 1710 after his return from China; Joachim Bouvet, who was a philosophy student in 1676, became a teacher to the Kangxi Emperor; Claude Visdelou, who was a repetitor and a teacher at the school from 1676 to 1678.[10] Others included Guillaume le Couteux, Pierre Foureau, Charles de Broissia, Emeric de Chavagnac, Jean-François Fouquet, and Joseph Labbe.

Around 1650, the College became a centre of cosmopolitan learning, as "Americans, Indians, Tartars, Russians, and even Chinese visited it"[1]. In 1751, two Chinese students were enrolled: Yang Dewang (Etienne Yang Tche-teh), and Gao Ren (Louis Kao Fen).[11]

 
Engraving of the Prytanée, 18th century
 
Le Triomphe du Prix d'Honneur, 1887, M. Crès
 
Prytanée students having lunch around 1900

Cadets school (1764–1776) edit

In 1764 following the expulsion of the Jesuits, after a lapse of two years, the school was transformed by Louis XV and Choiseul into a military institution designed to train young cadets for admission to the École Militaire, the "École de cadets ou École militaire préparatoire à l’École militaire du Champ de Mars". These efforts at creating military institutions followed military defeats in the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). The school was reserved to 250 students of noble extraction, as well as sons of officers who were wounded or died in combat, and the sons of the Chevaliers de Saint-Louis.

College (1776–1793) edit

In 1776 the Count of St Germain attempted to close the school, but it was re-established by Louis XVI, who gave its management to the "Fathers of the Christian Doctrine" (Pères de la Doctrine chrétienne). Among others, they educated the future General Bertrand, who accompanied Napoléon to Saint Helena, and the two Chappe brothers, who invented the aerial telegraph.

The College was closed in 1793 following the advent of the French Revolution. For a while, the buildings were used for a variety of purposes, such as becoming a cordonery for the Army of the Republic.

Prytanée militaire (1808–present) edit

On 24 March 1808, Napoléon renamed the school "Prytanée militaire", in a classic reference to the Greek prytaneis (literally "Presidents"), an executive body acting as the religious and political heart of ancient Greek cities. As Napoleon had moved to Fontainebleau to establish his court, he had decided to transfer the "École spéciale Militaire de Fontainebleau" to Paris, and the "Prytanée de Saint-Cyr" to La Flèche. Since then various names were adopted for the school, such as "École royale militaire" (1814–1830), Collège royal militaire (1831–1848), Collège national militaire (1848–1853), Prytanée impérial militaire (1853–1870), Prytanée militaire and Prytanée national militaire (since 1870).

During World War II in 1940, the Prytanée had to be moved for a few years successively to Billom, Valence, then Briançon.

Today edit

 
Swearing-in ceremony, for Prytanée student preparing to École de Saint-Cyr c. 1950.

Today the Prytanée provides secondary education and also has "Classes préparatoires", that is, preparatory classes to the entrance examinations of the French elite Grandes Écoles, such as École polytechnique, the Navy École navale, the Army École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, the École de l'Air and various civilian engineering or commercial graduate schools.

The school's students are nicknamed "Brutions", as a classic reference to the inhabitants of the Bruttium region of Roman Italy, who had a reputation for their roughness and fighting spirit.

Insignas edit

The school grades received by students are even today symbolized by military insignias which are worn on the traditional uniform (Uniforme de tradition), starting with "Sergent-Major" (4 golden chevrons) for the top of a class, "Sergent" (3 golden chevrons), "Caporal-Chef" (2 red and 1 golden chevrons), and finally "Caporal" (2 red chevrons). Typically, the top ten students of each class during a given quarter would receive such insignias.

Students also have colored shoulder badges for each year, attached to the daily fatigues ("Uniforme de travail"), starting with blue for the first year of high school, orange for the second, and green for the third. These badges can further be adorned with various small symbols and decorations, especially expressing the type of career to which each student is aspires.

  •  
    Sergent-Major insignas
  •  
    Colored shoulder badge, with a "Navy" anchor

Famous alumni edit

 
René Descartes (1596–1650).
 
Claude Chappe (1763–1805).
 
Gallieni (1849–1916).
 
Patrick Baudry (1946–).
 
Jean-François Clervoy (1958–).

The Prytanée has trained various military and non-military celebrities. In chronological order:

Famous professors edit

See also edit

Notes edit

^ On vit arriver au Collège "des Américains, des Indiens, des Tartares, des Russes et même des Chinois", Marchant de Burbure (1803)

References edit

  • Li, Shenwen, 2001, Stratégies missionnaires des Jésuites Français en Nouvelle-France et en Chine au XVIIieme siècle, Les Presses de l'Université Laval, L'Harmattan, ISBN 2-7475-1123-5
  1. ^ a b Pierre Schilte, Le Château-Neuf de Françoise d'Alençon, Cahiers Fléchois no. 1, 1979.
  2. ^ Beaupère, Bernard (1985). Lavauzelle, Charles (ed.). Histoire du Prytanée national militaire (in French). Paris. ISBN 2-7025-0102-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ Baudry, Hervé (2016). Un jardin oublié: le Château-Neuf de La Flèche. Éléments pour une reconstitution (16e-18e s.)», IN: Paysages et patrimoines (in French). Tours. ISBN 978-2-86906-416-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
  4. ^ Schilte 1980, p. 76.
  5. ^ Beaupère 1985, p. 78.
  6. ^ de Rochemonteix 1889, p. 64.
  7. ^ Beaupère 1985, p. 7.
  8. ^ Discourse on the Methodof Rightly Conducting One's Reason and of Seeking Truth in the Sciences.
  9. ^ a b Shenwen Li, p.45
  10. ^ a b c Shenwen Li, p.46
  11. ^ Shenwen Li, p.37

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Prytanée national militaire.
  • "Prytanée historique" by Jacques Maillard

January 01, 1970
prytanée, national, militaire, 70056, 07583, 70056, 07583, entrance, gate, locationla, flèche, sarthe, franceinformationformer, namecollège, royal, henri, grand, typemilitary, educationestablished1604, years, 1604, websiteprytanee, national, militaire, french,. 47 42 2 N 0 4 33 W 47 70056 N 0 07583 W 47 70056 0 07583 Prytanee national militaireThe entrance gate of the Prytanee national militaireLocationLa Fleche Sarthe 72 FranceInformationFormer nameCollege royal Henri le Grand TypeMilitary educationEstablished1604 420 years ago 1604 Websiteprytanee national militaire fr The Prytanee national militaire is a French military school managed by the French military offering regular secondary education as well as special preparatory classes equivalent in level to the first years of university for students who wish to enter French military academies The school is located in western France in the city of La Fleche At first founded in 1604 by the king Henri IV the school was given to the Jesuits in the aim to instruct the young people and make it fall in love with sciences honour and virtue in order to be able to serve It then became the Prytanee wanted by Napoleon in 1800 Contents 1 History 1 1 From the Chateau Neuf to the creation of the royal college 1 2 The Jesuit College 1604 1762 1 2 1 Missions to China and the Americas 1 3 Cadets school 1764 1776 1 4 College 1776 1793 1 5 Prytanee militaire 1808 present 2 Today 2 1 Insignas 3 Famous alumni 4 Famous professors 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 External linksHistory editFrom the Chateau Neuf to the creation of the royal college edit Francoise d Alencon who had become a widow in 1537 decided to retire in her land of La Fleche which she had received as a gift from her husband Charles de Bourbon 1 The old feodal castle actually Chateau des Carmes was too old and with no comfort Francoise d Alencon ordered the construction of a new building The Chateau Neuf New Castle was erected between 1539 and 1541 outside of the city in the place of the Prytanee Militaire and following the plans of the architect Jean Delespine 1 2 Some recent new elements give a better idea of the original castle and garden 3 In 1550 after her death her son Antoine of Navarre inherits of her possessions With his wife Jeanne d Albret inheritor of the Kingdom of Navarre he stays in La Fleche multiple times as in February 1552 and then in May 1553 a few months before their son s birth the future king Henri IV On 3 December 1603 by letters patent sent from Rouen Henri IV authorised the return of the Jesuits who had been banned by the parliament of Paris in 1594 after the failed attack against the King made by one of their latter pupils Jean Chatel The King allows them to live in the places where they were before their departure and in other cities Henri IV recommends them to particularly stay in his house of La Fleche in order to establish their college 4 The first Jesuits priests arrive to La Fleche in the beginning of November 1603 5 led by Pierre Barny named rector of the college 6 In January 1604 the college welcomes its first students From its first year the college knows a success and counts around 1 000 pupils Their number grows fast in the following years 7 The Jesuit College 1604 1762 edit nbsp The castle of La Fleche The first Jesuits left Pont a Mousson on 16 October 1603 and reached La Fleche on 2 January 1604 They started to teach grammar rhetorics Latin Greek Hebrew philosophy mathematics and theology A foundation edict was issued at Fontainebleau in May 1607 in which the building started to take its present shape nbsp Graduation registry for Descartes at the College Royal Henry Le Grand 1616 Rene Descartes was one of the first and most illustrious students of the school from 1607 to 1615 and introduced the school in his Discourse on Method under the phrase I was studying in one of the most celebrated schools in Europe 8 The College continued to expand and upon the death of Henry IV a vast church was built in which the hearts of Henry IV and his wife queen Marie de Medicis were enshrined Missions to China and the Americas edit Main articles Jesuit China missions and Jesuit missions in North America Many of the Jesuit missionaries who went to the China during the 17th century had been trained at the College 9 Among them were Enemond Masse who became an early missionary to Canada and became Minister of the College upon his return in 1614 When he went back to Canada he was accompanied by Charles Lalemant another alumnus of the school 9 Paul Le Jeune also a student of the College is considered as the father of the Jesuit missions in New France and was the Superior of the Jesuits in Quebec from 1632 to 1639 10 Others were Erard Bille Jacques Buteux Nicolas Adam Barthelemy Vimont Paul Ragueneau Claude de Quentin Isaac Jogues 10 In China also numerous students of the College became active participants in the missions Three of the five Jesuits sent by Louis XIV to China were from the College Jean de Fontaney the Superior of the mission who had been a professor of mathematics there and became rector of the school until 1710 after his return from China Joachim Bouvet who was a philosophy student in 1676 became a teacher to the Kangxi Emperor Claude Visdelou who was a repetitor and a teacher at the school from 1676 to 1678 10 Others included Guillaume le Couteux Pierre Foureau Charles de Broissia Emeric de Chavagnac Jean Francois Fouquet and Joseph Labbe Around 1650 the College became a centre of cosmopolitan learning as Americans Indians Tartars Russians and even Chinese visited it 1 In 1751 two Chinese students were enrolled Yang Dewang Etienne Yang Tche teh and Gao Ren Louis Kao Fen 11 nbsp Engraving of the Prytanee 18th century nbsp Le Triomphe du Prix d Honneur 1887 M Cres nbsp Prytanee students having lunch around 1900 Cadets school 1764 1776 edit In 1764 following the expulsion of the Jesuits after a lapse of two years the school was transformed by Louis XV and Choiseul into a military institution designed to train young cadets for admission to the Ecole Militaire the Ecole de cadets ou Ecole militaire preparatoire a l Ecole militaire du Champ de Mars These efforts at creating military institutions followed military defeats in the Seven Years War 1756 1763 The school was reserved to 250 students of noble extraction as well as sons of officers who were wounded or died in combat and the sons of the Chevaliers de Saint Louis College 1776 1793 edit In 1776 the Count of St Germain attempted to close the school but it was re established by Louis XVI who gave its management to the Fathers of the Christian Doctrine Peres de la Doctrine chretienne Among others they educated the future General Bertrand who accompanied Napoleon to Saint Helena and the two Chappe brothers who invented the aerial telegraph The College was closed in 1793 following the advent of the French Revolution For a while the buildings were used for a variety of purposes such as becoming a cordonery for the Army of the Republic Prytanee militaire 1808 present edit On 24 March 1808 Napoleon renamed the school Prytanee militaire in a classic reference to the Greek prytaneis literally Presidents an executive body acting as the religious and political heart of ancient Greek cities As Napoleon had moved to Fontainebleau to establish his court he had decided to transfer the Ecole speciale Militaire de Fontainebleau to Paris and the Prytanee de Saint Cyr to La Fleche Since then various names were adopted for the school such as Ecole royale militaire 1814 1830 College royal militaire 1831 1848 College national militaire 1848 1853 Prytanee imperial militaire 1853 1870 Prytanee militaire and Prytanee national militaire since 1870 During World War II in 1940 the Prytanee had to be moved for a few years successively to Billom Valence then Briancon Today edit nbsp Swearing in ceremony for Prytanee student preparing to Ecole de Saint Cyr c 1950 Today the Prytanee provides secondary education and also has Classes preparatoires that is preparatory classes to the entrance examinations of the French elite Grandes Ecoles such as Ecole polytechnique the Navy Ecole navale the Army Ecole speciale militaire de Saint Cyr the Ecole de l Air and various civilian engineering or commercial graduate schools The school s students are nicknamed Brutions as a classic reference to the inhabitants of the Bruttium region of Roman Italy who had a reputation for their roughness and fighting spirit Insignas edit The school grades received by students are even today symbolized by military insignias which are worn on the traditional uniform Uniforme de tradition starting with Sergent Major 4 golden chevrons for the top of a class Sergent 3 golden chevrons Caporal Chef 2 red and 1 golden chevrons and finally Caporal 2 red chevrons Typically the top ten students of each class during a given quarter would receive such insignias Students also have colored shoulder badges for each year attached to the daily fatigues Uniforme de travail starting with blue for the first year of high school orange for the second and green for the third These badges can further be adorned with various small symbols and decorations especially expressing the type of career to which each student is aspires nbsp Sergent Major insignas nbsp Colored shoulder badge with a Navy anchorFamous alumni edit nbsp Rene Descartes 1596 1650 nbsp Claude Chappe 1763 1805 nbsp Gallieni 1849 1916 nbsp Patrick Baudry 1946 nbsp Jean Francois Clervoy 1958 The Prytanee has trained various military and non military celebrities In chronological order Marin Mersenne 1588 1648 theologian mathematician Pierre Seguier statesman and Chancellor of France 1588 1672 Rene Descartes philosopher 1596 1650 Comte de Guebriant 1602 1643 Marshal of France La Rochefoucauld 1613 1680 writer Gabriel Calloet Kerbrat 1616 1620 1697 agriculturist and writer Francois de Laval 1623 1708 first Bishop of New France Jean Picard 1629 1682 astronomer Joseph Sauveur 1653 1716 mathematician and physicist James Fitz James 1670 1734 Duke of Berwick and Marshal of France du Petit Thouars 1760 1798 Navy officer hero of the Battle of Aboukir Bay Claude Chappe 1763 1805 inventor of the optical telegraph Bertrand 1773 1844 General follower of Napoleon at Saint Helena Auguste Davezac 1780 1851 United States Ambassador to the Netherlands Pelissier 1794 1864 Marshal of France Rene Francois Regnier 1794 1881 ecclesiastical writer Achille Baraguey d Hilliers 1795 1878 Marshal of France Antoine Brutus Menier 1795 1853 entrepreneur and founder of Chocolat Menier Antoine Francois Prevost 1797 1863 novelist Alessandro Barnabo 1801 1874 Catholic Cardinal Louis d Aurelle de Paladines 1804 1877 General Courtot de Cissey 1810 1882 General Charles Denis Bourbaki 1816 1897 General Adrien Joseph Deutsch 1818 1895 Louis Rossel 1844 1871 Minister of War in the Paris Commune Gallieni 1849 1916 Marshal of France Amedee Francois Lamy 1858 1900 French officer conqueror of Chad Georges Catroux 1877 1969 French general Gabriel Voisin 1880 1973 aeronautical pioneer Emile Mireaux 1885 1969 economist Minister of Education Prince Husain Bey 1893 1964 9 Crown Prince of Tunisia Jacques Massu 1908 2002 General Pierre Guillaumat 1909 1991 entrepreneur and statesman Minister of the Army Education Kleber Haedens 1913 1973 writer Francois Missoffe 1919 2003 statesman Jean Claude Brialy 1933 2007 actor Pierre Agostini 1941 French experimental physicist and the 2023 Nobel laureate in physics Michel Virlogeux 1946 architect of Millau Viaduct the tallest vehicular bridge in the world Patrick Baudry 1946 astronaut Antoine Compagnon 1950 writer Jean Francois Clervoy 1958 astronaut Caroline Aigle 1974 2007 first French female fighter pilot Rodolphe Belmer 1969 Canal program director generalFamous professors editPierre Laromiguiere 1756 1837 Leon Fleuriot 1923 1987 See also editList of Jesuit sitesNotes edit On vit arriver au College des Americains des Indiens des Tartares des Russes et meme des Chinois Marchant de Burbure 1803 References editLi Shenwen 2001 Strategies missionnaires des Jesuites Francais en Nouvelle France et en Chine au XVIIieme siecle Les Presses de l Universite Laval L Harmattan ISBN 2 7475 1123 5 a b Pierre Schilte Le Chateau Neuf de Francoise d Alencon Cahiers Flechois no 1 1979 Beaupere Bernard 1985 Lavauzelle Charles ed Histoire du Prytanee national militaire in French Paris ISBN 2 7025 0102 8 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Baudry Herve 2016 Un jardin oublie le Chateau Neuf de La Fleche Elements pour une reconstitution 16e 18e s IN Paysages et patrimoines in French Tours ISBN 978 2 86906 416 4 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Schilte 1980 p 76harvnb error no target CITEREFSchilte1980 help Beaupere 1985 p 78 de Rochemonteix 1889 p 64harvnb error no target CITEREFde Rochemonteix1889 help Beaupere 1985 p 7 Discourse on the Methodof Rightly Conducting One s Reason and of Seeking Truth in the Sciences a b Shenwen Li p 45 a b c Shenwen Li p 46 Shenwen Li p 37 This article has an unclear citation style The references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style of citation and footnoting January 2016 Learn how and when to remove this message External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Prytanee national militaire History and alumni of the Prytanee Cofat site Prytanee historique by Jacques Maillard Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Prytanee national militaire amp oldid 1201323654, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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