Governor of the Bastille of Acy, lord of Beu and Nesle-en-Tardenois, chamberlain of the King. He is quoted in numerous documents between 1386 and November 1404, date of his death that are now held in the department of manuscripts of the Bibliothèque nationale de France . The last governor to hold this position, the unfortunate Bernard-René de Launay, appointed in 1776, was beheaded on 14 July 1789 and replaced by a provisional governor during the demolition of the building. At the end of the Ancien Régime, the governor of the Bastille was reduced to being a subordinate of the lieutenant-general of police. He could
Marguerite de Launay, baronne de Staal of the kind has ever been. "Dans cet art enjoué de raconter", says Sainte-Beuve, "Madame de Staal est classique". Besides her "Mémoires" Mme de Staal left two excellent short comedies, performed at the court of Sceaux, and some letters, the answers to which are in some cases extant, and show, as well as the references of contemporaries, that the writer did not exaggerate her own charm. Her "Mémoires" were translated by Selina Bathurst (1877) and by Cora H. Bell (1892). See the edition (1877) of her "Mémoires" by M. de Lescure. Marguerite de Launay, baronne de Staal Marguerite Jeanne Cordier