Jean de Forcade de Biaix,Picamilh, Tome 1, Page 421 (in French) Jean de Forcade, Marquis de Biaix,Priesdorff, Band 1, Page 114, Nr. 188 (in German)Zedlitz-Neukirch, Band 4, Page 390 (in German)> a.k.a. Jean-Quirin de Forcade de Biaix,Verlag Buschak & Irrgang (1877), p. 281 (in German) a.k.a. Jean Quérin von Forcade, Herr von Biaix,Zedlitz-Neukirch, Band 2, Page 179 (in German) a.k.a. Johann Querin de Forcade, Herr zu Biaix,Hefner (1860), p. 373 (in German) a.k.a. Johann Quirin von Forkade de BiaixKönig, Band 1, Page 429 (in German)Gieraths, Band 8, Page 79 (in German) (Kroener, Page 169 – König, Band 1, Page 430 (in German)Blažek, Part 3, Page 131 (in German) ), was a Huguenot, a descendant of the noble family of Forcade and Lieutenant General in the service of the Kingdom of Prussia. He was the Regimentschef of the 23rd Prussian Infantry Regiment, Commandant of the Royal Residence in Berlin, Gouverneur militaire of Berlin, a Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle a member of King Frederick I of Prussia's "Tobacco Collegium".Wassermann, Pages 172–173 (in German) and president of the Grand Directoire 1718–1729, the deliberative and decision-making body responsible for all Huguenot affairs in the kingdom.
Although there are references to Jean de Forcade de Biaix as the "Marquis de Biaix" in some Prussian sources published between 1788 and 1837, there is no evidence that he was ever a Marquis. The noble manor of Biaix in the city of Pau was never a marquisate, at any time in its history.
He was also never the Seigneur de Biaix, as stated in some historical Prussian sources. The title Seigneur was not hereditary. In the case of his family, his father, who purchased Biaix manor in 1659, was the Seigneur de Biaix. Following the father's death in 1684, the property and the right to enter the Order of Nobility of the Estates of Béarn were passed to the eldest son, Jean's elder brother, Isaac de Forcade de BiaixPicamihl, Tome 1, Page 421 (in French) (Seigneur de Biaix 1684–1737).
Life in France
Little is known about his early life. His parents were Protestant. Protestant church records do not exist for the period between 1617 and 1667 for the Temple in Pau. Historical records published in the 19th century related to the research of noble families in France claim that only two branchesChaix d'Est-Ange, Tome 18, Page 316 (in French) of this family descended from the parents, and that the only surviving branch was the Prussian one.Chaix d'Est-Ange, Tome 18, Page 315 (in French)O'Gilvy, Tome 3, Page 173 (in French)
Protestant baptismal records for the Temple in Pau for the period 1668–1681Pau, Culte réformé – Registre GG6 (in French) and 1673–1684,Pau, Culte réformé – Registre GG8 (in French) however, point to a large family with no fewer than 11 children, of which six sons to carry the name forward. What happened to the rest of the family is unknown.
Emigration to Prussia
Jean de Forcade de Biaix, unlike his father and eldest brother, did not abjure from Protestantism. Like many Huguenots, he left Béarn in religious exile after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by the Edict of Fontainebleau in October 1685 and went to Brandenburg, where Frederick I of Prussia, the Elector of Brandenburg, was actively encouraging Huguenot immigration.
Frederick I of Prussia, Elector of Brandenburg and future King of Prussia, saw an immediate interest in what Huguenot Refugees could represent for his country. Indeed, he was both a francophile and an admirer of the French. In October 1685, he published the Edict of Potsdam granting the Huguenots everything the Edict of Fontainebleau refused them: safe passage to Brandenburg, freedom to live and work where they chose, religious freedom and the right to worship in their native French, tax exemptions for 10 years, and more, going as far as granting them the same rights as citizens of the states of Brandenburg-Prussia. Meanwhile, his envoy to King Louis XIV of France's court at Versailles, the Count of Schwerin, dispensed subsidies and passports to all who requested them, provided, of course, that those requesting appeared to be of some benefit to his sovereign. As a result, the Kingdom of Prussia became for many Huguenots, in particular for the noblesse militaire, the ideal place of refuge,Pierre Danty, 1978, Page 269 (in French) for Jean de Forcade de Biaix.
Whereas there were only about 400 Huguenots in the Kingdom of Prussia in 1685, two years later, 20,000 French had established themselves. ·Berlin and Frankfurt on the Oder, the Kingdom of Prussia's two major cities, who each had 7,000 inhabitants in 1685, almost doubled in size within five years as a result of the French contribution and thanks to Frederick I of Prussia's generous offer of land and houses to the religious exiles.
Huguenot Noblemen and officers flocked to the military, where letters patent granted them the same rank they previously held in France, with the youngest among them granted entry ranks as ensigns or lieutenants, while in parallel new roles were created for notaries public, members of the bar and members of parliament, and lastly, businessmen and tradesmen were offered significant opportunities to start new industrial activities.
Life in Prussia By October 1686, Jean de Forcade de Biaix began a military career that would span 41 years, raise him to the highest military rank in the Prussian Army, lead him into posts in the civil administration of Prussia, and have him placed by Frederick William I of Prussia at the head of administration and decision-making for all Huguenot colonies in the kingdom from 1718 until his death in 1729.
In October 1686, lieutenant in the Elector of Brandenburg's militia in Frankfurt (Oder).Pierre Danty, 1978, Page 270 (in French) 1688, captain in the Elector's Bodyguards in Frankfurt (Oder). 1692, captain in the Prussian Guard in Crossen (Oder). 1699, captain in the Elector's Bodyguards in Berlin.Béringuier, Page 11 (in German and French)
He remained in the rank of captain for nearly fifteen years, humbly performing his occupation as a soldier.
But two events enabled him to rise out of subordinate functions. In 1697, he married the Baroness Juliane von Honstedt from an old Württembergian family, who also had the advantage of being the daughter of a major general in the service of Prussia. At the same time, the Electors of Brandenburg become the Kings of Prussia in 1701, and Frederick William I of Prussia, the future King of Prussia, befriended him. Jean de Forcade de Biaix pleased him and his career began to show it.
Frederick William I of Prussia, known as the "Soldier King", who would later become the organizer of the Prussian Army, particularly appreciated three things: tobacco (Potsdam's Tabagies became famous); soldiers, especially if they were very tall; and lastly, thrift (he was known for a selfish greed). Concerning this latter, he especially appreciated French Huguenots, and is said to have admiringly exclaimed: "These are the only French who are satisfied with a single frog per day!"Pierre Danty, 1978, Page 271 (in French) He found all three qualities Jean de Forcade de Biaix.
On 12 September 1702, promoted to major in the Prussian White Fusilier Guards (later the 1st Prussian Infantry Regiment). Promoted on 12 August 1705 to lieutenant colonel. 1711, promoted to colonel. 1713, a colonel in General Field Marshall Count von Wartensleben's Infantry Regiment, renamed that year to the 1st Prussian Infantry Regiment,Lange, Page 91 (in German) appointed as Gouverneur militaire of Berlin, a.k.a. Commandant of Berlin.
In this latter position, he reigned over his garrison with discipline and gained a reputation as one of the most severe military governors of Berlin. He is thought to be the founder of the famous "Prussian Drill" that would become the admiration of numerous generations of military to follow. Each night during the fifteen years of his governorship, he would send a letter to King Frederick William I of Prussia in which he recounted in detail the events of the day, allegedly without ever forgetting a single one.
In February 1716, as a colonel, given the command of the 23rd Prussian Infantry Regiment, then garrisoned in Berlin
Jean de Forcade de Biaix was an avid and active member of the Tobacco Collegium (), the aeropagus before which, at the Royal Court in Berlin, the affairs of domestic and foreign policy were discussed. Smoking was mandatory. The smoking lounge () was set up based on the Dutch model, like a Great Hall. Every evening at six o'clock the Tobacco Collegium came together and remained until ten o'clock or longer. Other members included: Friedrich Wilhelm von Grumbkow, Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, affectionately referred to as "the old Dessauer", Count Alexander von Dönhoff, Colonel von Derschau, the Generals von Gerstorf and von Sydow, General Peter von Blankensee, affectionately called "Blitzpeter" at court, Caspar Otto von Glasenapp, Christoph Adam von Flanz, Dubislav Gneomar von Natzmer, Heinrich Karl von der Marwitz, Friedrich Wilhelm von Rochow, Wilhelm Dietrich von Buddenbrock, Arnold Christoph von Waldow, Johann Christoph Friedrich von Haake and the occasional invited minister and ambassador, on a case-by-case basis.
Following the death of Lieutenant General Count Otto Magnus von Dönhoff on 14 December 1717, who had hitherto been the Prussian minister responsible for all Huguenot colonies in Prussia, Frederick William I, then just five years into his reign, assembled the French in Berlin and gave them the freedom to choose from his ministers the one in whom they had the greatest confidence as his replacement.Mauvillon (1756), pp. 200–204 (in French) This was accepted with great joy, but at the same time (3 January 1718), the King asked that whoever the colony chose as the new minister be considered as the most appropriate choice. To ensure the choice was appropriate, he handed the matter over to the then Commandant of Berlin, Colonel von Forcade, who historians recounting the event described as "…a brave soldier, but scientifically speaking, quite uneducated."Stenzel (1841), Band 3, Buch VI, 2nd Subchapter, p. 404 (in German)Faßmann I – S . 206
Despite his educational handicap, Colonel von Forcade has been called "one of the most important figures in the reformed emigration,"Savine (1909), p. 48 (in French) and he enjoyed the full confidence of King Frederick William I. Following the death Count von Dönhoff, it was in von Forcade's house in Berlin on 3 January 1718 that the petition from the representatives of the colony to the King was written and signed to thank him for having left the choice of a new protector to them.
"…We are persuaded, there is not one of your Majesty's Ministers, who is not equally disposed to treat us with the same Goodness, the late Count Denhoff (sic) used to have for us; however, SIRE, if one of them must absolutely be chosen, who can do it better than your Majesty, whose Penetration nothing escapes, and who has condescended to show such an Attention, to every Thing, which is for our good, and for our Advantage? 'Tis this makes us take the Liberty of most humbly intreating your Majesty, that you will yourself please to name that Person of your Ministers, whom you shall judge most proper to fulfil (sic) your Intentions to us. Your Majesty's Choice is much more certain than ours, because it is guided and enlightened by your paternal Goodness…"Mauvillon (1741), pp. 326–330 (in French)
Promoted on 31 May 1718 to major general.