Honorat II of Savoy

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Honorat II de Savoie
Seigneur de Villars
musée historique de Versailles in 1834.
Other titlesAdmiral of France
Marshal of France
Count of Tende
Born~1511
Died20 September 1580(1580-09-20) (aged 69)
Le Grand-Pressigny, Kingdom of France
FamilySavoie-Tende
Spouse(s)Jeanne de Foix, Vicomtesse de Castillon
IssueHenriette de Savoie-Villars [fr]
FatherRené of Savoy
MotherAnne Lascaris

Honorat de Savoie, marquis of Villars (c. 1511

battle of Saint-Quentin
. During this period he also conducted diplomacy for the French court, and was involved in the negotiations that brought an end to the Italian Wars. Subsequently, he received the office of lieutenant-general of Languedoc, in which he suppressed Huguenots for several years before resigning the commission in 1562.

During the French Wars of Religion he fought at

Massacre of Saint Bartholomew. He would hold this incredibly prestigious title until 1578, when he was compelled to resign it in favour of Charles, Duke of Mayenne
. He died in 1580.

Early life and family

Honorat de Savoie was the second son of

Order of Saint-Michel.[3]

In 1540 he married Jeanne Françoise de Foix, viscountess of Castillon (†1542), with whom he only had one child, Henriette de Savoie-Villars († 1611), who married Charles, Duke of Mayenne.

He first appears in the records upon receipt of a gift from Francis I who granted him several seigneuries at Blois in 1524. Around the year 1531 he likely reached his majority, as it was on 25 August 1531 that he was granted the county of Villars by the Duke of Savoy. In 1533 he became a gentleman of the chamber.[3]

Reign of Francis I

In 1536 he campaigned in Picardy for France, as part of the

Claude, Count of Tende. As a gentleman of the chamber he had frequent need to be at court, and it was in one of his stays at Rambouillet that Francis I died.[4]

Reign of Henri II

The advent of a new reign brought promotion to Villars, in 1547 he was made lieutenant-general of Languedoc. He was further elevated to the

Duke of Ferrara and was regularly subject to the dukes complaints about the conduct of the war.[7] He was heavily wounded at battle of Saint-Quentin on 10 August 1557, with those around him doubting he would survive but before he could fully heal he threw himself into relieving the siege of Corbie, attacking the Spanish besiegers with 300 men, and succeeding in having the siege lifted.[6] Alongside the sons of Montmorency, Villars was sent to negotiate with the duke of Savoy, arriving in the Spanish camp in late October 1558, and being treated to dinner by the duke.[8] Subsequent to the negotiations he was invited to the tournament to celebrate the peace, at which Henri II was killed in a jousting accident.[6]

Reign of Francis II

With the death of Henri II, the religious situation in the kingdom, which had been precarious, deteriorated into disorder, as emboldened Calvinists began to assert their worship publicly, particularly in the wake of the

Conspiracy of Amboise. This represented a particular issue for Villars in his position as lieutenant-general of Languedoc, a region where the reformation was strongest, resulting his efforts were consumed suppressing 'seditious conduct'.[9] From this position he oversaw the arrest of preachers and their supporters, before having many of them executed without trial.[10]

Reign of Charles IX

First civil war

In March 1562, he resigned his post as lieutenant-general of Languedoc to

Joyeuse.[10] With the outbreak of the French Wars of Religion in the following month, he was tasked by Charles with reporting on the situation in Poitou, he visited the city of Châtellerault and informed the king of the inhabitants continued loyalty. He joined up with the main royal army for the siege of Rouen in October.[11]

Long peace

With peace declared in 1563, he accompanied Charles and the queen mother on their grand tour of France, aimed at reinforcing the provinces loyalty to the crown, and dealing with reticence in adhering to the Edict of Amboise. While following the monarchy on this tour in 1565, the duke of Savoy elevated his county of Villars into a marquisate.[11] In 1566 he was among the grandees at the Assemblée des Grands de France held at Moulins, the result of the grandees deliberations being the Ordinance of Moulins [fr] which aimed to bring order back to the divided country.[12]

Second and third civil war

He fought for the crown during the second of the French Wars of Religion, fighting at Saint-Denis in 1567.[12]

During the third civil war he fought at the decisive royal victory at

Anjou after he was unhorsed during a charge. With Coligny declared a public enemy by the Parlement de Paris in 1569, his offices were forfeit. As a result, Villars became Admiral of France.[14]

Admiral of France

In 1570, he succeeded

Massacre of Saint Bartholomew he again took possession of the title of Admiral alongside a position on the conseil privé. With all these new offices, he was relieved of his role as lieutenant-general of Guyenne in favour of his son-in-law.[14] He further inherited those titles belonging to his nephew Honorat I de Savoie upon his death in October 1572, making him Comte de Tende et Sommerieve.[17]

In his new role as Admiral of France, he fought alongside Anjou during the fourth civil war, leading Gascon troops with the aims of reducing the town of

Charles de Lorraine, duc de Mayenne. He was appointed to the Order of the Holy Spirit
on 1 January 1579.

Sources

  • Harding, Robert (1978). Anatomy of a Power Elite: the Provincial Governors in Early Modern France. Yale University Press.
  • Panisse, Henri (1889). Les Comtes de Tendes de la Maison de Savoie. Librarie de Firmin-Didot et Cie.
  • Roelker, Nancy (1968). Queen of Navarre: Jeanne d'Albret. Harvard University Press.
  • Romier, Lucien (1913). Les Origines Politiques des Guerres de Religion II: La Fin de la Magnificience Extėrieure le Roi Contre les Protestants (1555-1559). Librairie Académique Perrin et Cie.
  • Wood, James (2002). The Kings Army: Warfare, Soldiers and Society during the Wars of Religion in France, 1562-1576. Cambridge University Press.

References

  1. ^ Comte Henri de Panisse-Passis, Les comtes de Tende de la maison de Savoie, Firmin-Didot (Paris), 1889, p.137.
  2. ^ a b Recueil des lettres d'Henry IV, tome 1, page 14, note 1 (on French Wikisource)
  3. ^ a b Panisse 1889, p. 137.
  4. ^ Panisse 1889, p. 138.
  5. ^ Panisse 1889, p. 139.
  6. ^ a b c Panisse 1889, p. 140.
  7. ^ Romier 1913, p. 202.
  8. ^ Romier 1913, p. 316.
  9. ^ Panisse 1889, p. 141.
  10. ^ a b Panisse 1889, p. 142.
  11. ^ a b Panisse 1889, p. 143.
  12. ^ a b Panisse 1889, p. 144.
  13. ^ Panisse 1889, p. 145.
  14. ^ a b Panisse 1889, p. 146.
  15. ^ Roelker 1968, p. 343.
  16. ^ Harding 1978, p. 60.
  17. ^ Panisse 1889.
  18. ^ Wood 2002, p. 258.
  19. ^ Wood 2002, p. 280.
  20. ^ Harding 1978, p. 61.

External links

French nobility
Preceded by Count of Villars
1525-1565 		Succeeded by
Promoted to marquisate
Preceded by
New creation
 Marquis of Villars
1565-1580 		Succeeded by
Henriette of Savoy-Villars
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