Hero of Two Worlds

A hero of the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolution was the Marquis de La Fayette, whose real name was Gilbert du Motier. His name was later Americanised by Hamilton, to Lafayette.

He was a French aristocrat, honorary American citizen, and military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War. He commanded American troops in several battles, including the siege of Yorktown. After returning to France, even if an aristocrat, he was a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830. 

Lafayette was a contemporary of George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte, and knew both men. In his time, monarchies ruled the world. Even if an aristocrat, he aligned with Washington on the creation of a democratic nation-state in the USA, involving the violent overthrow of British colonial rule. Later, he supported the French revolution and opposed the autocracy of Napoleon, who sought a reversal to monarchic rule in his own name.

Lafayette's legacy as a national hero survives to this day in both countries.

From an astrological perspective, the history of this man, involving significant progress from a young age, suggests a horoscope with a powerful personality, including ample natal strength of planets to explain the propitious periods in the early life. At the same time, setbacks to the life, such as his 5 year imprisonment in a foreign country, and loss of his beloved wife in middle age, should be explained by the otherwise auspicious chart.

LAFAYETTE'S GLORIUS HISTORY

Hero of the American Revolutionary War

Lafayette was born in 1857 into a wealthy land-owning family in south central France. 

Raised by his grandmother until the age of 11, he moved in 1868 to Paris to live with his widowed mother. He followed the family's martial tradition and was commissioned an officer at the young age of 13. 

At 14, it was arranged that he betroth a young aristocratic woman, Adrienne, that later resulted in them falling in love and marrying. The couple had four children, including a son, Georges Washington de La Fayette. They remained married until her death in 1807, at the age of 48. 

Only 18 years old in 1775, Lafayette became convinced that the American revolutionary cause was noble.

Two years later, after much opposition, he traveled to the New World seeking glory in the war. Likely, fighting the British was not anathema to the French in the late 18th century, or to him, as his father had been killed by a cannonball while fighting a British-led coalition in Westphalia, during the Seven Years' War, when Gilbert was only 2 years old. 

War hero and saviour

Unlike many French military men who traveled to America, Lafayette's membership in the enlightenment-inspired order of the Masons helped him make his way into the top leadership at the time. However, while being made a major general, he was initially not given American troops to command. Lafayette was wounded during the Battle of Brandywine but still managed to organize an orderly retreat, and he served with distinction in the Battle of Rhode Island.

Americans have kept Lafayette's memory alive

In the middle of the war, he departed for home to lobby for an increase in French support. He returned to America in 1780 and was given senior positions in the Continental Army. 

In 1781, troops under his command in Virginia blocked forces led by Cornwallis until other American and French forces could position themselves for the decisive siege of Yorktown. 

A little known fact is that the troops he brought from France amounted to half the fighting force at Yorktown. Lafayette's instrumental role in the positive outcome of this momentous fight is therefore all the more impressive. It is little wonder why American's have a fond memory of his contribution to the Republic, issuing a stamp in his honour at his bicentennial in 1957. General George Washington was so enamoured with Lafayette, 25 years his junior, that he effectively adopted him into his family at Mt. Vernon.

A hero's welcome

Lafayette's rousing reception in Philadelphia in 1824

At the invitation of President James Monroe, Lafayette arrived in the United States on July 13, 1824 as the nation's guest, where he visited all 24 states in the union and met a rapturous reception. He departed for France on on September 7, 1825, having been showered with untold honours, including citizenship, honorary degrees and a land grant in his name in Florida. 

One sign of Lafayette's immortal greatness was his early advocacy for the end of slavery, in keeping with the philosophy of natural rights. In this way he transcended even Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, who also advocated the new philosophy and led the fight for America's liberty and democracy, but retained their ownership of hundreds of black slaves.

A leader of the French revolution

Lafayette's story does not end with the American Revolutionary War. After the fighting ended, he returned to France and was appointed to the Assembly of Notables in 1787, convened in response to the fiscal crisis. He was elected a member of the Estates General of 1789, where representatives met from the three traditional orders of French society: the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners. After forming the National Constituent Assembly, he helped to write the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen with Thomas Jefferson's assistance. This document was inspired by the United States Declaration of Independence and invoked natural law to establish basic principles of the democratic nation-state.

After the storming of the Bastille, Lafayette was appointed commander-in-chief of France's National Guard and tried to steer a middle course through the years of revolution. 

Imprisonment

In a foreign jail

The French revolution is famed for killing its own. On August 14, 1792, the French revolutionary leader Danton ordered Marquis de Lafayette arrested. The reign of terror had begun, where moderate voices were quickly silenced. Upon hearing news of his impending arrest, Lafayette fled to the Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium). Lafayette was captured by Austrian troops and after he was recognised as a revolutionary figure and a threat to monarchies, Lafayette spent more than five years in foreign prisons, or until his release on September 19, 1797, at the demand of Napoleon Bonaparte. During Lafayette's imprisonment, Danton was beheaded in 1793, and a year later, Robespierre was put to the guillottine. Even if enduring the ordeal of imprisonment, Lafayette may be considered lucky to have been spared a more grim fate.

Later years

Hero of France's revolutions

Bonaparte was removed from power in the Bourbon Restoration of 1814. Upon Napoleon's return in 1815 from Elba, Lafayette refused a seat in his new government, but became a liberal member of the Chamber of Deputies, a position he held for the remainder of his life. Rather than support Napoleon after his fall, Lafayette saw fit to regret the three million French lives lost in the Napoleonic wars. Nevertheless, he arranged for his exile to the USA, but the British prevented it, and imprisoned Napoleon on the isle of St. Helene, where he died.

During France's July Revolution of 1830, he declined an offer to become the French dictator. In this he recalled Washington handing in his commission after the Revolutionary War. Instead, Lafayette supported Louis-Philippe as king. However, he turned against him when the monarch became autocratic.

Lafayette died on 20 May 1834, at the age of 76, and is buried in Picpus Cemetery in Paris, under soil from Bunker Hill sprinkled on his casket by his son, George Washington Lafayette.

John Quincy Adams gave a eulogy of Lafayette that lasted three hours, calling him "high on the list of the pure and disinterested benefactors of mankind".

The Marquis de Lafayette is known as "The Hero of the Two Worlds" for his accomplishments in the service of both France and the United States.

ASTROLOGY OF LAFAYETTE'S CHART

The time of Lafayette's birth is not known down to the hour or minute. However, there is a report that he was "born in the morning" of September 6, 1857 in Chavaniac-Lafayette in the province of Auvergne. 

Two astrologers have proposed birth times, 3:34 a.m. and 4:00 a.m., respectively, placing the sign Leo in the ascendant. This ascendant gives a ruling temperament, that seems to fit. The time 5:00 a.m., giving 18° Leo rising, however, is used here for a better fit with events in his life.

The first thing to note in this chart is his moderately strong but well placed Sun, as 1st lord in the 1st house of self, giving a royal personality. 

The second thing to notice is his powerful and well placed 9th lord of luck and general indicator of bravery in the 11th house of aspirations, aspecting also the 2nd house of status, wealth and family, the 5th house of creativity and management, and 6th house of conflict and competition. Indeed, Lafayette, had grand aspirations that he had the good fortune and wherewithal to realise. 

Third, is the strong 2nd lord Mercury in the 2nd house of wealth, status and family. Lafayette had it all, in spades. With 3rd lord Venus also well placed in the 2nd house, he would have been a master of the humorous repartee, ingratiating himself in good company. 

Georges Washington

Additionally, with 5th lord Jupiter in the 3rd house of enterprise, courage and action, he was bold and clever at the same time in pursuing any course of action. The aspect of 9th lord Mars to his 5th house, along with this good placement of Jupiter, gave Lafayette a son, he named Georges Washington, as "a tribute of respect and love for my dear friend". With such placements, Lafayette's enjoyment from his son, must have been great.

Moreover, as 7th lord Saturn is in the 6th house, there is conflict involving others seen. Indeed, Lafayette defied not only the wishes of the King of France to join the American Revolutionary War, but he also turned down the offer of Napoleon, then Emperor of France, to join his ill-fated cabinet. As such, he showed great loyalty to his principles, but managed to please Napoleon anyway, by joining the elected assembly.

Finally, the difficult placements are seen in Rahu being placed in the MEP of the 12th house of losses and conjugal bliss, with 12th lord Moon placed in the 11th house of aspirations, while Ketu is in the 6th house of conflict and competition. It is these planets that brought Lafayette, the early loss of father, danger abroad, imprisonment in a foreign country, exile abroad, and loss of his wife in middle age. 

Loss of father

On July 9, 1759, his father, Michel Louis Christophe Roch Gilbert Motier, Marquis de La Fayette, a colonel in the French Grenadiers, was killed. 

The Mars-Moon period was operating. Mars as 9th lord rules the father, along with the Sun. Moon is 12th lord of losses, and is placed in the 11th house of income, aspirations and older brothers. At the time of death, transit Rahu was stationary in the most effective point (MEP) of the 11th house, while transit Ketu was stationary conjunct transit 12th lord Moon in the 5th house MEP, from where it also afflicted the 9th house of father. Transit 1st lord Sun, general indicator of father, was in the transit afflicted 11th house. 

Indeed, while his Mars has full strength in this house, his father passed out of the world at that time, leaving him in the hands of a noble family to oversee his education. Moreover, with his father gone, he was now the Marquis, freeing him up with ample resources from a young age to pursue his ideals and goals. Even the king, while formally trying to restrain his adventurous ambitions, felt compelled to applaud his accomplishments after the fact.

Danton issues arrest warrant

In August 1792, Jacques Danton issued an arrest warrant for Lafayette, resulting his capture by Austrian royalists who held him in captivity for five years. He was running Jupiter-Rahu and Saturn-Saturn periods. Rahu is in his 12th house of imprisonment and Saturn is in his 6th house of enmity, where it is conjunct Ketu, the lord of isolation.

 Lafayette walked out of prison in September 1797, when his strong sub-period of Mercury had begun. His status, seen by Napoleon's threat, compelled his captors to release him.

Loss of wife

His beloved wife, Adrienne, Marquise de Lafayette, died on December 24, 1807, when Gilbert, Marquis de Lafayette, was 50 years old. There had been long separations in their marriage, but it was believed to be a happy one. 

The separations are explained by 7th lord Saturn being in the 6th house where it is conjunct Ketu, which aspects his 2nd house of family and 10th house of career. Rahu is also in the 12th house, aspecting his 8th house of marital tie and 4th house of home, hearth and happiness. Indeed, the captivity imposed a great burden on Lafayette. He was running Saturn-Rahu period when his wife passed.

Conclusion

The ruling disposition of Lafayette's Leo ascendant, with the strong placements in his chart show an ability, resourcefulness and principle to leave a great mark on the world. 

At the same time, his life was burdened by losses of freedom and loved ones. 

The late 17th century saw great personalities on the world stage, when the Enlightenment ideals were implemented against fierce resistance by the privileged classes.

Such examples speak to our time, when the world is yet again faced with the privileges of the few and the needs of the many. 

As ever, there is scope for solutions, where freedom and equity are balanced, to bring positive change. It may involve pushing the existential envelope of humanity a bit, as was the case back then.

Strong personalities, have emerged and will emerge, that seek to lead society in enacting changes that improve the lives of multitudes. 

It is up to all of us, as citizens of democratic states in a globalising and spatially expanding world, to ensure that the right solutions are identified and enacted, that bring greater freedom and opportunity for all.