François de Bonne, Duke of Lesdiguières

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Charles d'Albert
Succeeded byPost abolished
Personal details
Born1 April 1543
Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur, France
Died21 September 1626 (aged 83)
Valence, France
Military service
Allegiance France
Branch/serviceFrench Army
RankMarshal General
Battles/warsFrench Wars of Religion

François de Bonne, duc de Lesdiguières (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃swa də bɔn dyk də lediɡjɛʁ], 1 April 1543 – 21 September 1626) was a French soldier of the French Wars of Religion and Constable of France, and one of only six Marshals to have been promoted Marshal General of France.

Early life

He was born at

Protestant tutor, and had begun the study of law in Paris when he enlisted in the French army as an archer.[1]

Military service

He served under the lieutenant-general of his native province of

Henry II, Prince of Condé in 1580, and by Henry of Navarre in 1582.[1]

He seized Gap by a lucky night attack on 3 January 1577, re-established the reformed religion there, and fortified the town. He refused to acquiesce in the treaty of Poitiers (1578) which involved the surrender of Gap, and after two years of fighting secured better terms for the province. Nevertheless, in 1580 he was compelled to hand the place over to Mayenne and to see the fortifications dismantled.[2]

The Castle of François de Bonne, in the hamlet of Lesdiguières (Le Glaizil, France)
Bastille of Grenoble today

He took up arms for

marquessate of Saluzzo which had been seized by Charles Emmanuel.[1] After the seizing of Grenoble in December 1590, he built new walls for the city in 1606 and fortified the hill of the Bastille between 1611 and 1619.[citation needed
]

After his defeat of the Spanish allies of Savoy at Salbertrand in June 1593 there was a truce, during which Lesdiguières was occupied in maintaining the royal authority against Épernon in Provence. The war with Savoy proceeded intermittently until 1605, when Henry IV concluded peace, much to the dissatisfaction of Lesdiguières.[1]

Later life

The king regarded his lieutenant's domination in Dauphiné with some distrust, although he was counted among the best of his captains. Nevertheless, he made him a

Louis XIII, and he moderated the political claims made by his co-religionists under the terms of the Edict of Nantes. After the death of his first wife, Claudine de Berenger, he married the widow of Ennemond Matel, a Grenoble shopkeeper, who was murdered in 1617. Lesdiguières was then 73, and this lady, Marie Vignon, had long been his mistress. He had two daughters, one of whom, Françoise, married Charles de Crequy.[1]

In 1622 he formally abjured the Protestant faith, his conversion being partly due to the influence of Marie Vignon. He was already a duke and peer of France; he now became constable of France, and received the Order of the Holy Spirit. He had long since lost the confidence of the Huguenots, but he nevertheless helped the Vaudois against the duke of Savoy.[1] He led the Royal troops against the Huguenots in the Siege of Montpellier in 1622 and was key in finding a negotiated peace.[citation needed]

Lesdiguières had the qualities of a great general, but circumstances limited him to the mountain warfare of Dauphiné, Provence and Savoy. He had almost unvarying success through sixty years of fighting and Henry IV said he was "rusé comme un renard" (cunning as a fox). His last campaign, fought in alliance with Savoy to drive the Spaniards from the Valtellina, was the least successful of his enterprises.[1]

Death

Lesdiguières died of fever at Valence on 21 September 1626.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Chisholm 1911.
  2. ^ Chisholm 1911, p. 155.
  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lesdiguières, François de Bonne, Duc de". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 489.
  • C. Dufuyard, Le Connêtable de Lesdiguières, Paris, 1892.
  • Louis Videl, Histoire de la vie du connestable de Lesdiguières, Paris, 1638.
  • Comte Douglas and J. Roman (editors), Actes et correspondance du connêtable de Lesdiguières, in Documents historiques inédits pour servie a l'histoire de Dauphiné', Grenoble, 1878.
  • Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Le Carnaval de Romans, Editions Gallimard, 1979
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