Charles Alexandre de Calonne

---

(b. Oct. 20, 1734, Douai, Nord, France – d. Oct. 30, 1802, Paris, Île-de-France, France )

Gender: M

Charles Alexandre de Calonne was appointed Controller-General of Finances in November 1783, by King Louis XVI of France. He found the royal treasury heavily in debt as a result of France’s involvement in the American Revolutionary War, and attempted to remedy the crisis by an ambitious plan to raise revenue and centralise the administration. His central proposal was a land tax that would fall on the aristocracy, who were otherwise exempt from tax; they unsurprisingly resisted this and his plan failed. He was blamed for the financial crisis, dismissed and exiled to Lorraine. He left for England, where he published a defence of his conduct, and spent most of the rest of his life.

---

Mentioned in 1 letters

---

---

Please note that all dates and location information are provisional, initially taken from the library and archive catalogues. As our section editors continue to work through the material we will update our database and the changes will be reflected across the edition.

Browser support: The website works best using the Chrome, Edge, and Firefox browsers on the PC, and only Chrome and Firefox on the Mac.