BOUILLÉ, FRANÇOIS CLAUDE AMOUR, Marquis de (1739-1800), French general. He served in the Seven Years’ War, and as governor in the Antilles conducted operations against the English in the War of American Independence. On his return to France he was named governor of the Three Bishoprics, of Alsace and of Franche-Comté. Hostile to the Revolution, he had continual quarrels with the municipality of Metz, and brutally suppressed the military insurrections at Metz and Nancy, which had been provoked by the harsh conduct of certain noble officers. Then he proposed to Louis XVI. to take refuge in a frontier town where an appeal could be made to other nations against the revolutionists. When this project failed as a result of Louis XVI.’s arrest at Varennes, Bouillé went to Russia to induce Catherine II. to intervene in favour of the king, and then to England, where he died in 1800, after serving in various royalist attempts on France. He left Mémoires sur la Révolution française depuis son origine jusqu’à la retraite du duc de Brunswick (Paris, 1801).
BOUILLON, formerly the seat of a dukedom in the Ardennes, now a small town in the Belgian province of Luxemburg. Pop. (1904) 2721. It is most picturesquely situated in the valley under the rocky ridge on which are still the very well preserved remains of the castle of Godfrey of Bouillon (q.v.), the leader of the first crusade. The town, 690 ft. above the sea, but lying in a basin, skirts both banks of the river Semois which is crossed by two bridges. The stream forms a loop round and almost encircles the castle, from which there are beautiful views of the sinuous valley and the opposite well-wooded heights. The whole effect of the grim castle, the silvery stream and the verdant woods makes one of the most striking scenes in Belgium. In the 8th and 9th centuries Bouillon was one of the castles of the counts of Ardenne and Bouillon. In the 10th and 11th centuries the family took the higher titles of dukes of Lower Lorraine and Bouillon. These dukes all bore the name of Godfrey (Godefroy) and the fifth of them was the great crusader. He was the son of Eustace, count of Boulogne, which has led many commentators into the error of saying that Godfrey of Bouillon was born at the French port, whereas he was really born in the castle of Baisy near Genappe and Waterloo. His mother was Ida d’Ardenne, sister of the fourth Godfrey (“the Hunchback”), and the successful defence of the castle when a mere youth of seventeen on her behalf was the first feat of arms of the future conqueror of Jerusalem. This medieval fortress, strong by art as well as position before the invention of modern artillery, has since undergone numerous sieges. In order to undertake the crusade Godfrey sold the castle of Bouillon to the prince bishop of Liége, and the title of duke of Bouillon remained the appendage of the bishopric till 1678, or for 580 years. The bishops appointed “châtelains,” one of whom was the celebrated “Wild Boar of the Ardennes,” William de la Marck. His descendants made themselves quasi-independent and called themselves princes of Sedan and dukes of Bouillon, and they were even recognized by the king of France. The possession of Bouillon thenceforward became a constant cause of strife until in 1678 Louis XIV. garrisoned it under the treaty of Nijmwegen. From 1594 to 1641 the duchy remained vested in the French family of La Tour d’Auvergne, one of whom (Henry, viscount of Turenne and marshal of France) had married in 1591 Charlotte de la Marck, the last of her race. In 1676 the duke of Créquy seized it in the name of Louis XIV., who in 1678 gave it to Godefroy Marie de La Tour d’Auvergne, whose descendants continued in possession till 1795. Bouillon remained French till 1814, and Vauban called it “the key of the Ardennes.” In 1760 the elder Rousseau established here the famous press of the Encyclopaedists. In 1814-1815, before the decrees of the Vienna Congress were known, an extraordinary attempt was made by Philippe d’Auvergne of the British navy, the cousin and adopted son of the last duke, to revive the ancient duchy of Bouillon. The people of Bouillon freely recognized him, and Louis XVIII. was well pleased with the arrangement, but the congress assigned Bouillon to the Netherlands. Napoleon III. on his way to Germany after Sedan slept one night in the little town, which is a convenient centre for visiting that battlefield.
BOUILLOTTE, a French game of cards, very popular during the Revolution, and again for some years from 1830. Five, four or three persons may play; a piquet pack is used, from which, in case five play, the sevens, when four the knaves, and when three the queens also, are omitted. Counters or chips, as in poker, are used. Before the deal each player “antes” one counter, after which each, the “age” passing, may “raise” the pot; those not “seeing the raise” being obliged to drop out. Three cards are dealt to each player, and a thirteenth, called the retourne, when four play, turned up. Each player must then bet, call, raise or drop out. When a call is made the hands are shown and the best hand wins. The hands rank as follows: brélan carré, four of a kind, one being the retourne; simple brélan, three of a kind, ace being high; brélan favori, three of a kind, one being the retourne. When no player holds a brélan the hand holding the greatest number of pips wins, ace counting 11, and court cards 10.
BOUILLY, JEAN NICOLAS (1763-1842), French author, was born near Tours on the 24th of January 1763. At the outbreak of the Revolution he held office under the new government, and had a considerable share in the organization of primary education. In 1799 he retired from public life to devote himself to literature. His numerous works include the musical comedy, Pierre le Grand (1790), for Grétry’s music, and the opera, Les Deux Journées (1800), music by Cherubini; also L’Abbé de l’épée (1800), and some other plays; and Causeries d’un vieillard (1807), Contes à ma fille (1809), and Les Adieux du vieux conteur (1835). His Léonore (1798) formed the basis of the libretto of the Fidelio of Beethoven. Bouilly died in Paris on the 14th of April 1842.
See Bouilly, Mes récapitulations (3 vols., 1836-1837); E. Legouvé, Soixante ans de souvenir (lère partie, 1886).