SULLY, MAXIMILIEN DE BETHUNE, n UC DE (156o 1641), French statesman, was born at the château of Rosny near Mantes, on Dec. 13, 1560, son of Francois de Bethune, baron de Rosny (1532-1575). Brought up in the Reformed faith, Maxi milien joined the court of Henry of Navarre in 1571. He was taken to Paris by his patron, and was studying at the college of Bourgogne at the time of the St. Bartholomew massacre, from which he escaped by discreetly carrying a book of hours under his arm. On the outbreak of civil war in 1575 he enlisted in the Huguenot army. In 1576 he accompanied the duke of Anjou on an expedition into the Netherlands in order to regain the former Rosny estates, but being unsuccessful he attached himself for a time to the prince of Orange. Later rejoining Henry of Navarre in Guienne, he displayed particular ability as an engineer. In 1583 he was Henry's special agent in Paris. In 1584 he married Anne de Courtenay, a wealthy heiress, who died, however, in 1589. On the renewal of civil war Rosny again joined Henry of Navarre, and at the battle of Ivry (1590) was seriously wounded. He counselled Henry IV.'s conversion to Roman Catholicism, but steadfastly refused himself to become a Roman Catholic.
Rosny became a member of the king's council of finance in 1596, and appears to have been sole superintendent as early as 1598. He authorized the free exportation of grain and wine, reduced legal interest from 8-A- to 64%, established a special court for trial of cases of peculation, forbade provincial governors to raise money on their own authority, and otherwise removed many abuses of tax-collecting, abolished several offices, and by his honest, rigorous conduct of the country's finances was able to save between 1600 and 1610 an average of a million livres a year. His achievements were by no means solely financial. In 1599 he was appointed grand commissioner of highways and public works, superintendent of fortifications and grand master of artil lery; in 1602 governor of Mantes and of Jargeau, captain-general of the queen's gens d'armes and governor of the Bastille; in 1604 governor of Poitou; and in 1606 duke and peer of Sully, ranking next to princes of the blood. He declined the office of constable because he would not become a Roman Catholic. Sully encour aged agriculture, urged the free circulation of produce, promoted stock-raising, forbade the destruction of the forests, drained swamps, built roads and bridges, planned a vast system of canals and actually began the canal of Briare. He strengthened the
French military establishment; under his direction Evrard began the construction of a great line of defences on the frontiers. Sully opposed the king's colonial policy as inconsistent with the French genius, and likewise showed little favour to industrial pursuits, although on the urgent solicitation of the king he established a few silk factories. He fought in company with Henry IV. in Savoy (1600-16o1) and negotiated the treaty of peace in 16o2; in 1603 he represented Henry at the court of James I. of England ; and throughout the reign he helped the king to put down insur rections of the nobles, whether Roman Catholic or Protestant. It was Sully, too, who arranged the marriage between Henry IV. and Marie de Medicis.
The political role of Sully practically ended with the assassi nation of Henry IV. on May 14, 161o. Although a member of the council of regency, his colleagues were not disposed to brook his domineering leadership, and after a stormy debate he resigned as superintendent of finances on Jan. 26, 1611, and retired to pri vate life. The baton of marshal of France was conferred on him on Sept. 18, 1634. He died at Villebon, on Dec. 22, 1641.
Sully was hated by Catholics because he was a Protestant, by Protestants because he was faithful to the king. He was an excellent man of business, inexorable in punishing malversation and opposed to the ruinous expenditure which was the bane of European monarchies. He was implicitly trusted by Henry IV., and contributed greatly to the recovery of France.
Sully left a curious collection of memoirs bearing the title, Memoires des sages et royales oeconomies d'estat, domestiques, politiques, et militaires de Henry le Grand. . . . The Memoires are very valuable for the history of the time, though they contain fictitious matter such as a mission by Sully to England in 16o1, and the "grand design" for a Christian republic. The bast edition of the original is that in J, F. Michaud and J. J. F. Poujoulat, Nouvelle collection des memoires relatifs a l'histoire de France (1854), vols. xvi.-xvii. An English translation by Charlotte Lennox appeared in 1756 and was later revised and republished (4 vols., London, 1856).
See E. Lavisse, Sully (Paris, 188o) ; G. Fagniez, Economie sociale de la France sous Henri IV. (Paris, 1897).