Guillaume de Joyeuse

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Guillaume de Joyeuse
Seigneur de Joyeuse
Châtillon-sur-Loing, Kingdom of France
Died1 January 1592(1592-01-01) (aged 72)
Kingdom of France
FamilyJoyeuse
Spouse(s)Marie de Batarnay
Issue
FatherJean Vicomte de Joyeuse
MotherFrançoise de Voisins, dames d'Arques

Guillaume de Joyeuse (1520–1592) was a French military commander during the

Navarre for Charles, Duke of Mayenne and the league. He died in 1592.[1]

Early life and family

The Joyeuse family had a long history of service to the French crown by the time Guillaume was born. The son of Jean, Vicomte de Joyeuse and Françoise de Voisins, dames d'Arques he was initially intended for a church career as the younger son. When his brother died he assumed leadership of the family and renounced his church career.[1]

He married Marie de Batarnay and with her had several children, among whom Anne de Joyeuse would become one of Les Mignons of Henri III, and a key favourite of the king, being made duke of Joyeuse in 1581.[2]

Reign of Francis II

Joyeuse warned the young king that he was not sure he could rely on the obedience of his subordinates in the region in the towns of

Gevaudan .[5]

Reign of Charles IX

Crisis of authority

With fear of Spanish intentions on the rise in 1561, Joyeuse was instructed by

Catherine de'Medici to ensure as lieutenant-general of Languedoc that he was ready if troops crossed the frontier.[6] As royal police became increasingly conciliatory towards the Huguenots, he wrote with exasperation to the crown in 1562 that the lack of clarity on the religious situation was making it impossible for him to enforce order in the province.[7]

In early 1562, royal commissioners were sent to Languedoc to try to bring the region back into full obedience to the king, the Catholics there complaining of the acts of the Huguenots. Michel Quelain and Jean de la Guesle reported to the crown that with Crussol absent from the province, away in Provence there was great disorder with 'new offences every day'. They hoped that with Joyeuse backing them up militarily they would be able to restore obedience of the king's edicts to the province. However civil war would erupt before they could have much impact.[8]

First civil war

When civil war broke out in 1562, Joyeuse was left to face local Protestant uprisings without the main royal army for assistance. Pope

Pius IV sent 2500 men under his nephew to support Joyeuse.[9] His men pillaged the estates of governor Crussol during their movements.[10] In early 1563, fearing a repeat of the Toulouse uprising the Parlement of Toulouse called on Blaise de Monluc and Joyeuse to a secret meeting, in which it was agreed to form a Catholic ligue for the defence of the faith against Protestantism.[11] Despite this involvement, Joyeuse generally sought to enforce the Edict of Amboise though he maintained his connections with the extremists who opposed it.[12] He received praise from the king for the zeal with which he enforced the kings will.[13]

Second civil war

Joyeuse continued his military activities during the second civil war, travelling up the

Pont St. Esprit in February. This town proved harder, and the siege was broken off. While formal peace had been declared, operations continued in the south. Joyeuse diverted his forces across the Rhône on 7 March and captured Loudun, Orsennes and Tresques before reuniting with the count of Tende for another attack on Pont St. Esprit. The local Protestants under Montbrun decided to offer battle, but were defeated on the plains of Montfran on 24 May. With Languedoc subdued he ensured all towns under his command were properly garrisoned and sought to disarm those Protestants that remained at arms. He had difficult with bringing Montauban, Castres and Montpellier to order.[14]

Third civil war

The flight south of Condé and the Huguenot nobility in late 1568 saw the viscounts of Languedoc, who had been an active force in both previous civil wars, attempt to bring juncture between their forces and those of the Protestant leadership. Joyeuse, together again with the

Brissac and Strozzi who were assembling a force at Dissay.[16] This withdrawal from the Rhône allowed the viscounts to regroup and begin their operations again.[17]

Massacre of Saint Bartholomew

As the

provinces rumours that the king wished for the death of all Protestants in France, filtered out across the country. Joyeuse refused to take advantage of these rumours to orchestrate a massacre in his locality.[18] Nevertheless he used the opportunity to send orders to Nîmes to lay down their arms, and accept a royal garrison.[19]

Fifth civil war

After the massacre, a faction of the Catholic nobility, known as the politiques began plotting a conspiracy to seize the king and queen mother and overturn the political settlement that ended the fourth civil war. The conspiracy was uncovered, and the

Damville but he was able to evade Joyeuse's agents, thus leading the Malcontents (France) during the fifth civil war.[20]

Reign of Henri III

Fifth civil war

At the advent of Henri III's reign, Joyeuse was once more left to face off with the viscounts of Languedoc under Paulin.[21]

Catholic League

As a

Navarre he entered the city of Toulouse on 30 September 1589. He wanted a temporary truce with Navarre such that his troops could recover, he further desired the disbanding of the local Confraternity of the Holy Ghost, viewing the militant Catholic organisation as a threat to civil order. The bishop responded by retreating to the island of Thunis on the Garonne from there he instructed his loyal followers to arm themselves, and several hundred of them stormed Joyeuse's residence in the city. With the help of his son, violence was averted, and he gained control of the city. Now in command he was able to win the confidence of much of the Parlement of Toulouse, alongside the capitouls and bureau d'état and leverage them to negotiate his way into leadership of the local ligue. Gelais left the city and Joyeuse remained in uncontested local leadership until his death.[22] Regardless much of his time was consumed in military operations so he left lieutenants to preside over the ligue for much of the year.[23]

Sources

  • Baird, Henry (1880). History of the Rise of the Huguenots: Vol 2 of 2. Hodder & Stoughton.
  • Harding, Robert (1978). Anatomy of a Power Elite: the Provincial Governors in Early Modern France. Yale University Press.
  • Holt, Mack P. (2005). The French Wars of Religion, 1562-1629. Cambridge University Press.
  • Roberts, Penny (2013). Peace and Authority during the French Religious Wars c.1560-1600. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Salmon, J.H.M (1975). Society in Crisis: France during the Sixteenth Century. Metheun & Co.
  • Thompson, James (1909). The Wars of Religion in France 1559-1576: The Huguenots, Catherine de Medici and Philip II. Chicago University Press.
  • Vaissière, Pierre (1926). Messieurs de Joyeuse (1560-1615). Portraits et documents inédits. Albin Michel.
  • Wood, James (2002). The Kings Army: Warfare, Soldiers and Society during the Wars of Religion in France, 1562-1576. Cambridge University Press.

Further reading

  • Carroll, Stuart (2009). Martyrs and Murderers: The Guise Family and the Making of Europe. Oxford University Press.

References

  1. ^ a b Vaissière 1926.
  2. ^ Vaissière 1926, p. 28-29.
  3. ^ Harding 1978, p. 49.
  4. ^ Harding 1978, p. 98.
  5. ^ Harding 1978, p. 50.
  6. ^ Thompson 1909, p. 125.
  7. ^ Salmon 1975, p. 134.
  8. ^ Roberts 2013, p. 57.
  9. ^ Thompson 1909, p. 157.
  10. ^ Harding 1978, p. 138.
  11. ^ Harding 1978, p. 57.
  12. ^ Harding 1978, p. 59.
  13. ^ Roberts 2013, p. 114.
  14. ^ Thompson 1909, p. 348.
  15. ^ Thompson 1909, p. 396.
  16. ^ Wood 2002, p. 232.
  17. ^ Salmon 1975, p. 174.
  18. ^ Harding 1978, p. 65.
  19. ^ Baird 1880, p. 574.
  20. ^ Thompson 1909, pp. 476–483.
  21. ^ Salmon 1975, p. 198.
  22. ^ Holt 2005, p. 147.
  23. ^ Harding 1978, p. 95.
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