Antoine, 1st comte de Noailles
Encyclopedia
Admiral of France
The title Admiral of France is one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France, the naval equivalent of Marshal of France.The title was created in 1270 by Louis IX of France, during the Eighth Crusade. At the time it was equivalent to the office of Constable of France. The Admiral was responsible...
, and was ambassador in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
during three important years, 1553–1556, maintaining a gallant but unsuccessful rivalry with the Spanish ambassador, Simon Renard
Simon Renard
Simon Renard, sir de Bermont was an advisor of the Emperor Charles V and his son Philip II of Spain, overlords of the County of Burgundy and Counts of Burgundy.He was ambassador of Spain in France and England...
.
Antoine was the eldest of three brothers who served as French diplomats, three of the 19 children of Louis de Noailles and Catherine de Pierre-Buffière.
His brothers Gilles
Gilles de Noailles
Gilles de Noailles, abbé de l'Isle was French Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1575 to 1579. He was the brother of his predecessor as ambassador, François de Noailles, and was succeeded by Jacques de Germigny...
and François
François de Noailles
François de Noailles, Papal Prothonotary, made Bishop of Dax in 1556, was French ambassador in Venice in the 1560s, and French ambassador of Charles IX to the Ottoman Empire from 1571 to 1575....
were clergymen. His wife was Jeanne de Gontaut
Jeanne de Gontaut
Jeanne de Gontaut, Countess of Noailles , was a French noblewoman and the wife of Antoine de Noailles, Admiral of France and French Ambassador to England from 1553 to 1556...
, who following his death, became a lady-in-waiting
Lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...
to Catherine de Medici.