Reinhard moved to Bordeaux in 1787, having been employed as tutor by a Huguenot family, and soon became an acquaintance of future Girondist leaders.[1] After the Revolution broke out, he asked to be naturalized,[2] joined the Girondist club and, under the Legislative Assembly, moved to Paris, where he entered the diplomatic service.[1] He was first detached as Legation Secretary to the Kingdom of Great Britain, under Ambassador Talleyrand, who became his mentor and political ally.[1][2] With support from the Girondists, the National Convention appointed him First Secretary to the French Embassy in the Kingdom of Sicily.[1]
Reinhard's assignment to Moldavia in late 1805-early 1806[1][2] was, according to Romanian historian Neagu Djuvara, unprecedented in that Reihard had occupied the high positions before being dispatched to Iaşi.[2] Djuvara indicated that the measure was indicative of the Danubian Principalities' growth in importance at the time when Napoleon maneuvered against the Russian Empire.[2] Reportedly, Reinhard unsuccessfully protested the measure, believing it to be equivalent to a demotion, and, as a result of this, his office was added the function of Resident.[2] The latter move allegedly caused controversy in the Ottoman Empire, Moldavia's suzerain, since it seemed to imply that France gave additional recognition to Moldavia's ruler, PrinceAlexander Mourousis.[2]
After settling in Iaşi, the consul and his wife traveled extensively throughout Moldavia and into Wallachia and Austrian-ruled Transylvania.[2] Letters addressed by Madame Reihard to her mother, later gathered in a volume, provide detail on the two countries' societies: after they visited PrinceConstantine Ypsilantis in his Bucharest residence, the newly renovated Curtea Nouă, she recorded that the palace was unappealing and poorly maintained;[2] amazed that houses in Bucharest lacked writing desks, they were advised to hold writing material on their lap;[2] also according to Christine Reihard, roads in northern Wallachia presented serious challenges to travelers.[2] She left additional detail on the state of Romaslaves, claiming that, before 1806, an unnamed boyar from the Sturdza family had employed a group of Roma at a factory on his estate, but that the project was abandoned when the employees expressed suffering over not being allowed their traditional freedom of movement and trade.[2]
Upon the family's return to Paris, Charles Reinhard, made a baron of the Empire,[2] was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Westphalia, and, in May 1814, was Head of Chancellery at the French Department of Foreign Affairs (serving until Napoleon's fall and the 1814 Bourbon Restoration).[1] He kept a low profile during the Hundred Days,[1] and, after KingLouis XVIII regained his throne, was made a comte,[1][2] awarded a position in the Conseil d'État, and received the office of Minister Plenipotentiary to the German Confederation in Frankfurt (December 1815 – 1829).[1]
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvw"Reinhard, Charles-Frédéric, comte", in Nouvelle biographie générale depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours, Tome 41, Firmin Didot, Paris, 1863, p.927
._D%C3%A9claration_des_Droits_et_des_Devoirs_de_l%27Homme_et_du_Citoyen.jpg)
