Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé
Encyclopedia
Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé (8 September 1621 – 11 December 1686) was a French
general and the most famous representative of the Condé branch of the House of Bourbon
. Prior to his father's death in 1646, he was styled the Duc d'Enghien
. For his military prowess he was renowned as le Grand Condé.
, the King of France, and his mother was an heiress of one of France's leading ducal
families.
Conde's father saw to it that his son received a thorough education – Louis studied history
, law
, and mathematics
during six years at the Jesuits' school at Bourges
. After that he entered the Royal Academy at Paris. At seventeen, in the absence of his father, he governed Burgundy.
His father betrothed him to Claire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé
, niece of the powerful Cardinal Richelieu
, chief minister of the king, before he joined the army in 1640. Despite being barely twenty years of age and in love with Mlle du Vigean (Marthe Poussard, called mademoiselle du Vigean, daughter of the king's gentleman of the bedchamber
François Poussard, marquis de Fors and baron du Vigean, by his wife Anne de Neubourg, daughter of Roland, sieur
de Sercelles), he was compelled by his father to marry his fiancée, a child of thirteen. Although she bore her husband three children, Enghien later claimed she committed adultery with different men in order to justify locking her away at Châteauroux
, but the charge was widely disbelieved: Saint-Simon
, while admitting that she was homely and dull, praised her virtue, piety and gentleness in the face of relentless abuse.
Enghien took part with distinction in the siege of Arras
. He also won Richelieu's favor when he was present with the Cardinal during the plot of Cinq Mars, and afterwards fought in the siege of Perpignan
(1642).
(19 May) put an end to the supremacy of the Spanish army and inaugurated the long period of French military predominance. Enghien himself conceived and directed the decisive attack, and at the age of twenty-two won his place amongst the great generals of the 17th century.
After a campaign of uninterrupted success, Enghien returned to Paris in triumph, and tried to forget his enforced and hateful marriage with a series of affairs (after Richelieu's death in 1642 he would unsuccessfully seek annulment of his marriage in hopes of marrying Mlle du Vigean, until she joined the order of the Carmelites
in 1647). In 1644 he was sent with reinforcements into Germany
to the assistance of Turenne
, who was hard pressed, and took command of the whole army.
The Battle of Freiburg
(August) was desperately contested, but in the end the French army won a great victory over the Bavaria
ns and Imperialists, commanded by Franz Baron von Mercy. As after Rocroi, numerous fortresses opened their gates to the duke.
Enghien spent the next winter, as every winter during the war, amid the gaieties of Paris. The summer campaign of 1645 opened with the defeat of Turenne by Mercy at Mergentheim, but this was retrieved in the brilliant victory of Nördlingen
, in which Mercy was killed, and Enghien himself received several serious wounds. The capture of Philippsburg
was the most important of his other achievements during this campaign. In 1646 Enghien served under Gaston, Duke of Orléans
in Flanders
, and when, after the capture of Mardyck
, Orléans returned to Paris, Enghien, left in command, captured Dunkirk (11 October).
, addressed by everyone, from the king down, simply as Monsieur le prince. The enormous power that fell into his hands was naturally looked upon with serious alarm by the Regent
and her minister. Condé's birth and military renown placed him at the head of the French nobility, but, added to that, the family of which he was now chief was both enormously rich and master of a large part of France. Condé himself held Burgundy, Berry
and the marches of Lorraine
, as well as other less important territory. His brother, the Prince de Conti
held Champagne
, and his brother-in-law, Longueville
, Normandy
.
The government, therefore, was determined to allow no increase of his already overgrown authority, and Mazarin made an attempt, which for the moment proved successful, both to find him employment and to tarnish his fame as a general. He was sent to lead the revolted Catalans. Ill supported, he was unable to achieve anything, and, being forced to raise the siege of Lleida
, he returned home in bitter indignation. In 1648, however, he received the command in the important field of the Low Countries
, and at Lens
(19 August) a battle took place, which, beginning with a panic in his own regiment, was retrieved by Condé's coolness and bravery, and ended in a victory that fully restored his prestige.
In September of the same year Condé was recalled to court, for the Regent Anne of Austria
required his support. Influenced by the fact of his royal birth and by his scorn for the bourgeoisie
, Condé lent himself to the court party, and finally, after much hesitation, he consented to lead the army which was to reduce Paris.
On his side, although his forces were insufficient, the war was carried on with vigour. After several minor combats with substantial losses, and a threatening scarcity of food, the Parisians were weary of the war. The political situation inclined both parties to peace, which was made at Rueil
on 20 March.
It was not long, however, before Condé became estranged from the court. His pride and ambition
earned him universal distrust and dislike, and the personal resentment of Anne. She assented to the sudden arrest of Condé, Conti and Longueville on 18 January 1650. But others, including Turenne and his brother the Duke of Bouillon
, made their escape.
Vigorous attempts for the release of the princes began to be made. The women of the family were now its heroes. The dowager princess demanded from the parlement
of Paris fulfilment of the reformed law of arrest, which forbade imprisonment without trial. Condé's sister Anne Genevieve, duchesse de Longueville entered into negotiations with Spain; and the young Princess of Condé, having gathered an army around her, entered Bordeaux
and gained the support of the parlement of that town. She, alone among the nobles who took part in the folly of the Fronde, earned respect and sympathy. Faithful to a faithless husband, she came forth from the retirement to which he had condemned her to fight for his freedom.
The delivery of the princes was brought about in the end by the coming together of the old Fronde (the party of the parlement and of Cardinal de Retz) and the new Fronde (the party of the Condés). Anne was at last, in February 1651, forced to liberate the princes from their prison at Le Havre
. Soon afterwards, however, another shifting of parties left Condé and the new Fronde isolated. With the court and the old Fronde in alliance against him, Condé found no recourse but that of making common cause with the Spaniards who were at war with France.
The confused civil war which followed this step (September 1651) was memorable chiefly for the battle of the Faubourg St Antoine
, in which Condé and Turenne, two of the leading generals of the age, measured their strength (2 July 1652). The army of the Prince was only saved by being admitted within the gates of Paris.
La Grande Mademoiselle, daughter of Gaston, Duke of Orléans
, persuaded the Parisians to act thus, and turned the cannon of the Bastille
on Turenne's army. Thus Condé, who as usual had fought with the most desperate bravery, was saved, and Paris underwent a new siege. This ended in the flight of Condé to the Spanish army (September 1652), and thenceforward, up to the peace, he was in open arms against France, and held high command in the army of Spain. Nonetheless, even as an exile, he asserted the precedence of the royal house of France over the princes of Spain and Austria, with whom he was allied for the moment.
Condé's fully developed genius as a commander found little scope in the cumbrous and antiquated system of war practised by the Spanish, and though he gained a few successes, and manoeuvred with the highest possible skill against Turenne, his disastrous defeat at the Dunes
near Dunkirk (14 June 1658) led Spain to open negotiations for peace. The Treaty of the Pyrenees
in 1659, which ended the Franco-Spanish War
, pardoned Condé and allowed him to return to France.
. Even so, some years passed before he was recalled to active employment, and these years he spent on his estate, the Château de Chantilly
. Here he gathered round him a brilliant company, which included many men of genius such as Molière
, Racine
, Boileau
, La Fontaine
, Nicole
, Bourdaloue
and Bossuet
.
About this time negotiations between the Poles, Condé and Louis were carried on with a view to the election, at first of Condé's son Enghien, and afterwards of Condé himself, to the throne of Poland. These, after a long series of curious intrigues, were finally closed in 1674 by the veto of Louis XIV and the election of John Sobieski. The Prince's retirement, which was only broken by the Polish question and by his personal intercession on behalf of Fouquet
in 1664, ended in 1668.
In that year he proposed to Louvois, the minister of war, a plan for seizing Franche-Comté
, the execution of which was entrusted to him and successfully carried out. He was now completely re-established in the favour of Louis, and with Turenne was the principal French commander in the celebrated campaign of 1672 against the Dutch. At the forcing of the Rhine passage at Tolhuis (June 12), he received a severe wound, after which he commanded in Alsace
against the Imperials.
In 1673 he was again engaged in the Low Countries, and in 1674 he fought his last great battle, the Battle of Seneffe
, against the Prince of Orange (afterwards William III of England
). This battle, fought on August 11, was one of the hardest of the century, and Condé, who displayed the reckless bravery of his youth, had three horses killed under him. His last campaign was that of 1675 on the Rhine, where the army had been deprived of its general by the death of Turenne; and where by his careful and methodical strategy he repelled the invasion of the Imperial army of Montecuccoli
.
After this campaign, prematurely worn out by the toils and excesses of his life, and tortured by gout
, Condé returned to Château de Chantilly, where he spent the eleven years that remained to him in quiet retirement
. At the end of his life, Condé specially sought the companionship of Bourdaloue
, Pierre Nicole
and Bossuet
, and devoted himself to religious exercises. He died on 11 November 1686 at the age of sixty-five. Bourdaloue attended him at his death-bed, and Bossuet pronounced his elegy
.
The Prince's lifelong resentment of his forced marriage to a social inferior persisted, and found unchivalrous expression in a bitter letter, his last to the king, in which he begged that his wife never be released from her exile to the countryside. Nonetheless, Claire-Clémence de Maillé had brought the Prince of Condé a dowry of 600,000 livre
s, the manor
s of Ansac, Mouy, Cambronne, Plessis-Billebault, Galissonnière and Brézé, and, on one occasion, liberation from the King's dungeon.
In 1685, his only surviving grandson, Louis de Bourbon, married Louise Françoise, Mademoiselle de Nantes
- eldest surviving daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. In mid 1686, Louise Françoise (later better known as Madame la Duchesse) caught smallpox while at Fontainebleau
; it was the Prince himself who helped nurse the little Duchess back to health, to the point of staying up with her to help her eat. The Prince even forcibly stopped Louis XIV himself from seeing his daughter for his own safety. Despite Louise Françoise surviving and giving her husband ten children, the Prince himself became ill; most said it was from worry about her health. He himself died at the Palace of Fontainebleau. He was buried in the Église at Valléry, the traditional burial place of the Princes of Condé; Claire-Clémence, who outlived her husband, was buried at the Église Saint-Martin at the Château de Châteauroux, France in 1694.
His son and grandson left little in history except they were afflicted by the madness which they had inherited from Claire-Clémence.
Louis married Claire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé
, niece of Cardinal Richelieu at the Palais Royal
in Paris February 1641 in the presence of Louis XIII
, Anne of Austria
and Gaston d'Orléans
.
That he was capable of waging a methodical war of positions may be assumed from his campaigns against Turenne and Montecucculi, the greatest generals opposing him. But it was in his eagerness for battle, his quick decision in action, and the stern will which sent his regiments to face the heaviest losses, that Condé is exalted above all the generals of his time. Upon the Grand Condé’s death, Louis XIV pronounced that he had lost "the greatest man in my kingdom."
In 1643 his success at the Battle of Rocroi
, in which he led the French army to an unexpected and decisive victory over the Spanish, established him as a great general and popular hero in France. Together with the Marshal de Turenne
he led the French to victory in the Thirty Years' War
.
During the Fronde
, he was courted by both sides, initially supporting Mazarin; he later became a leader of the princely opposition. After the defeat of the Fronde he entered Spanish service and led their armies against France. He returned to France only after the Treaty of the Pyrenees
in 1659, but soon received military commands again.
Condé conquered the Franche-Comté
during the War of Devolution
and led the French armies in the Franco-Dutch War
together with Turenne. His last campaign was in 1675, taking command after Turenne had been killed, repelling an invasion of an imperial army.
He is regarded as one of the premier generals in world history, whose masterpiece, the Battle of Rocroi
, is still studied by students of military strategy.
His descendants include the present-day pretender
s to the throne of France
and Italy
and the kings of Spain
and Belgium
.
He was portrayed in the film Vatel by Julian Glover.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
general and the most famous representative of the Condé branch of the House of Bourbon
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
. Prior to his father's death in 1646, he was styled the Duc d'Enghien
Duke of Enghien
The title of Duke of Enghien may, like many noble titles, refer to any of several historical figures.-Dukes of Enghien - first creation :...
. For his military prowess he was renowned as le Grand Condé.
Biography
Louis was born in Paris, the son of Henri de Bourbon, Prince de Condé and Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency. His father was a first cousin-once-removed of Henry IVHenry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
, the King of France, and his mother was an heiress of one of France's leading ducal
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
families.
Conde's father saw to it that his son received a thorough education – Louis studied history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, and mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
during six years at the Jesuits' school at Bourges
Bourges
Bourges is a city in central France on the Yèvre river. It is the capital of the department of Cher and also was the capital of the former province of Berry.-History:...
. After that he entered the Royal Academy at Paris. At seventeen, in the absence of his father, he governed Burgundy.
His father betrothed him to Claire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé
Claire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé
Claire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé, Princess of Condé , Princess of Condé and Duchess of Fronsac, was a French noblewoman from the Brézé family and a niece of Cardinal Richelieu...
, niece of the powerful Cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu et de Fronsac was a French clergyman, noble, and statesman.Consecrated as a bishop in 1608, he later entered politics, becoming a Secretary of State in 1616. Richelieu soon rose in both the Catholic Church and the French government, becoming a...
, chief minister of the king, before he joined the army in 1640. Despite being barely twenty years of age and in love with Mlle du Vigean (Marthe Poussard, called mademoiselle du Vigean, daughter of the king's gentleman of the bedchamber
Gentleman of the Bedchamber
A Gentleman of the Bedchamber was the holder of an important office in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain.-Description and functions:...
François Poussard, marquis de Fors and baron du Vigean, by his wife Anne de Neubourg, daughter of Roland, sieur
Lord
Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
de Sercelles), he was compelled by his father to marry his fiancée, a child of thirteen. Although she bore her husband three children, Enghien later claimed she committed adultery with different men in order to justify locking her away at Châteauroux
Châteauroux
Châteauroux is the capital of the Indre department in central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called Castelroussines or Castelroussins....
, but the charge was widely disbelieved: Saint-Simon
Claude de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon
Claude de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon , French courtier, was the second son of Louis de Rouvroy, seigneur du Plessis , who had been a warm supporter of Henry of Guise and the Catholic League....
, while admitting that she was homely and dull, praised her virtue, piety and gentleness in the face of relentless abuse.
Enghien took part with distinction in the siege of Arras
Arras
Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard dialect...
. He also won Richelieu's favor when he was present with the Cardinal during the plot of Cinq Mars, and afterwards fought in the siege of Perpignan
Perpignan
-Sport:Perpignan is a rugby stronghold: their rugby union side, USA Perpignan, is a regular competitor in the Heineken Cup and seven times champion of the Top 14 , while their rugby league side plays in the engage Super League under the name Catalans Dragons.-Culture:Since 2004, every year in the...
(1642).
Thirty Years' War
In 1643 Enghien was appointed to command against the Spanish in northern France. He was opposed by experienced generals, and the veterans of the Spanish army were held to be the toughest soldiers in Europe. The great Battle of RocroiBattle of Rocroi
The Battle of Rocroi was fought on 19 May 1643, late in the Thirty Years' War. It resulted in a victory of the French army under the Duc d'Enghien, against the Spanish army under General Francisco de Melo.-Prelude:...
(19 May) put an end to the supremacy of the Spanish army and inaugurated the long period of French military predominance. Enghien himself conceived and directed the decisive attack, and at the age of twenty-two won his place amongst the great generals of the 17th century.
After a campaign of uninterrupted success, Enghien returned to Paris in triumph, and tried to forget his enforced and hateful marriage with a series of affairs (after Richelieu's death in 1642 he would unsuccessfully seek annulment of his marriage in hopes of marrying Mlle du Vigean, until she joined the order of the Carmelites
Carmelites
The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
in 1647). In 1644 he was sent with reinforcements into Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to the assistance of Turenne
Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne
Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne,often called simply Turenne was the most illustrious member of the La Tour d'Auvergne family. He achieved military fame and became a Marshal of France...
, who was hard pressed, and took command of the whole army.
The Battle of Freiburg
Battle of Freiburg
The Battle of Freiburg, also called the Three Day Battle, took place on August 3, August 5 and August 9, 1644 as part of the Thirty Years' War...
(August) was desperately contested, but in the end the French army won a great victory over the Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
ns and Imperialists, commanded by Franz Baron von Mercy. As after Rocroi, numerous fortresses opened their gates to the duke.
Enghien spent the next winter, as every winter during the war, amid the gaieties of Paris. The summer campaign of 1645 opened with the defeat of Turenne by Mercy at Mergentheim, but this was retrieved in the brilliant victory of Nördlingen
Battle of Nördlingen (1645)
The second Battle of Nördlingen was fought on August 3, 1645 southeast of Nördlingen near the village of Alerheim...
, in which Mercy was killed, and Enghien himself received several serious wounds. The capture of Philippsburg
Philippsburg
Philippsburg is a town in Germany, in the district of Karlsruhe in Baden-Württemberg.-History:Before 1632, Philippsburg was known as "Udenheim".The city was a possession of the Bishop of Speyer from 1371–1718...
was the most important of his other achievements during this campaign. In 1646 Enghien served under Gaston, Duke of Orléans
Gaston, Duke of Orléans
Gaston of France, , also known as Gaston d'Orléans, was the third son of King Henry IV of France and his wife Marie de Medici. As a son of the king, he was born a Fils de France. He later acquired the title Duke of Orléans, by which he was generally known during his adulthood...
in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
, and when, after the capture of Mardyck
Mardyck
Mardyck is a former commune in the Nord department in northern France. Associated since 1980 with Dunkerque.-Heraldry:-References:...
, Orléans returned to Paris, Enghien, left in command, captured Dunkirk (11 October).
The Fronde
It was in this year that Enghien's father died, leaving him the fourth of his line and second of his name to bear the title Prince of Condé. He also now became premier prince du sangPrince du Sang
A prince of the blood was a person who was legitimately descended in the male line from the monarch of a country. In France, the rank of prince du sang was the highest held at court after the immediate family of the king during the ancien régime and the Bourbon Restoration...
, addressed by everyone, from the king down, simply as Monsieur le prince. The enormous power that fell into his hands was naturally looked upon with serious alarm by the Regent
Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria was Queen consort of France and Navarre, regent for her son, Louis XIV of France, and a Spanish Infanta by birth...
and her minister. Condé's birth and military renown placed him at the head of the French nobility, but, added to that, the family of which he was now chief was both enormously rich and master of a large part of France. Condé himself held Burgundy, Berry
Berry (province)
Berry is a region located in the center of France. It was a province of France until the provinces were replaced by départements on 4 March 1790....
and the marches of Lorraine
Lorraine (province)
The Duchy of Upper Lorraine was an historical duchy roughly corresponding with the present-day northeastern Lorraine region of France, including parts of modern Luxembourg and Germany. The main cities were Metz, Verdun, and the historic capital Nancy....
, as well as other less important territory. His brother, the Prince de Conti
Armand de Bourbon, prince de Conti
Armand de Bourbon, Prince de Conti was a French nobleman, the second son of Henry II, Prince of Condé and brother of Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé and Anne Genevieve, Duchess of Longueville. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a Prince du Sang.The title of Prince de Conti...
held Champagne
Champagne, France
Champagne is a historic province in the northeast of France, now best known for the sparkling white wine that bears its name.Formerly ruled by the counts of Champagne, its western edge is about 100 miles east of Paris. The cities of Troyes, Reims, and Épernay are the commercial centers of the area...
, and his brother-in-law, Longueville
Henri II d'Orléans, duc de Longueville
Henri II d'Orléans, duc de Longueville or Henri de Valois-Longueville , a legitimated prince of France and peer of France, was a major figure in the civil war of France, the Fronde, and served as governor of Picardy, then of Normandy.Longueville headed the French delegation in the talks that led...
, Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
.
The government, therefore, was determined to allow no increase of his already overgrown authority, and Mazarin made an attempt, which for the moment proved successful, both to find him employment and to tarnish his fame as a general. He was sent to lead the revolted Catalans. Ill supported, he was unable to achieve anything, and, being forced to raise the siege of Lleida
Lleida
Lleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida, as well as the largest city in the province and it had 137,387 inhabitants , including the contiguous municipalities of Raimat and Sucs. The metro area has about 250,000 inhabitants...
, he returned home in bitter indignation. In 1648, however, he received the command in the important field of the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
, and at Lens
Battle of Lens
The Battle of Lens was a French victory under Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé against the Spanish army under Archduke Leopold in the Thirty Years' War . It was the last major battle of the war....
(19 August) a battle took place, which, beginning with a panic in his own regiment, was retrieved by Condé's coolness and bravery, and ended in a victory that fully restored his prestige.
In September of the same year Condé was recalled to court, for the Regent Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria was Queen consort of France and Navarre, regent for her son, Louis XIV of France, and a Spanish Infanta by birth...
required his support. Influenced by the fact of his royal birth and by his scorn for the bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
, Condé lent himself to the court party, and finally, after much hesitation, he consented to lead the army which was to reduce Paris.
On his side, although his forces were insufficient, the war was carried on with vigour. After several minor combats with substantial losses, and a threatening scarcity of food, the Parisians were weary of the war. The political situation inclined both parties to peace, which was made at Rueil
Peace of Rueil
The Peace of Rueil , signed 11 March 1649, signalled an end to the opening episodes of the Fronde, France's civil war, after little blood had been shed. The articles ended all hostilities and declared all avenues of trade reopened. The settlement was promulgated in the name of the child king Louis...
on 20 March.
It was not long, however, before Condé became estranged from the court. His pride and ambition
Ambition
Ambition is the desire for personal achievement. It provides the motivation and determination necessary to achieve a particular end or condition. Ambitious people are characterised by their strong desire for attainment, power, or superiority...
earned him universal distrust and dislike, and the personal resentment of Anne. She assented to the sudden arrest of Condé, Conti and Longueville on 18 January 1650. But others, including Turenne and his brother the Duke of Bouillon
Frédéric Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne, duc de Bouillon
Frédéric Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne, duc de Bouillon was prince of the independent principality of Sedan, and general in the French royal army....
, made their escape.
Vigorous attempts for the release of the princes began to be made. The women of the family were now its heroes. The dowager princess demanded from the parlement
Parlement
Parlements were regional legislative bodies in Ancien Régime France.The political institutions of the Parlement in Ancien Régime France developed out of the previous council of the king, the Conseil du roi or curia regis, and consequently had ancient and customary rights of consultation and...
of Paris fulfilment of the reformed law of arrest, which forbade imprisonment without trial. Condé's sister Anne Genevieve, duchesse de Longueville entered into negotiations with Spain; and the young Princess of Condé, having gathered an army around her, entered Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
and gained the support of the parlement of that town. She, alone among the nobles who took part in the folly of the Fronde, earned respect and sympathy. Faithful to a faithless husband, she came forth from the retirement to which he had condemned her to fight for his freedom.
The delivery of the princes was brought about in the end by the coming together of the old Fronde (the party of the parlement and of Cardinal de Retz) and the new Fronde (the party of the Condés). Anne was at last, in February 1651, forced to liberate the princes from their prison at Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
. Soon afterwards, however, another shifting of parties left Condé and the new Fronde isolated. With the court and the old Fronde in alliance against him, Condé found no recourse but that of making common cause with the Spaniards who were at war with France.
The confused civil war which followed this step (September 1651) was memorable chiefly for the battle of the Faubourg St Antoine
Battle of the Faubourg St Antoine
The battle of the Faubourg St Antoine occurred on 2 July 1652 during the Fronde rebellion in France.-Details:During the period of the Second Fronde, between 1650 to 1653, Louis, the Prince of Condé, controlled much of Paris, having allied himself with the Parlement of Paris, which was in open...
, in which Condé and Turenne, two of the leading generals of the age, measured their strength (2 July 1652). The army of the Prince was only saved by being admitted within the gates of Paris.
La Grande Mademoiselle, daughter of Gaston, Duke of Orléans
Gaston, Duke of Orléans
Gaston of France, , also known as Gaston d'Orléans, was the third son of King Henry IV of France and his wife Marie de Medici. As a son of the king, he was born a Fils de France. He later acquired the title Duke of Orléans, by which he was generally known during his adulthood...
, persuaded the Parisians to act thus, and turned the cannon of the Bastille
Bastille
The Bastille was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. The Bastille was built in response to the English threat to the city of...
on Turenne's army. Thus Condé, who as usual had fought with the most desperate bravery, was saved, and Paris underwent a new siege. This ended in the flight of Condé to the Spanish army (September 1652), and thenceforward, up to the peace, he was in open arms against France, and held high command in the army of Spain. Nonetheless, even as an exile, he asserted the precedence of the royal house of France over the princes of Spain and Austria, with whom he was allied for the moment.
Condé's fully developed genius as a commander found little scope in the cumbrous and antiquated system of war practised by the Spanish, and though he gained a few successes, and manoeuvred with the highest possible skill against Turenne, his disastrous defeat at the Dunes
Battle of the Dunes (1658)
The Battle of the Dunes, fought on 14 June , 1658, is also known as the Battle of Dunkirk. It was a victory of the French army, under Turenne, against the Spanish army, led by John of Austria the Younger and Louis II de Condé...
near Dunkirk (14 June 1658) led Spain to open negotiations for peace. The Treaty of the Pyrenees
Treaty of the Pyrenees
The Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed to end the 1635 to 1659 war between France and Spain, a war that was initially a part of the wider Thirty Years' War. It was signed on Pheasant Island, a river island on the border between the two countries...
in 1659, which ended the Franco-Spanish War
Franco-Spanish War (1653)
The Franco-Spanish War was a military conflict that was the result of French involvement in the Thirty Years' War. After Swedish allies were forced to seek terms with the Holy Roman Empire, First Minister, Cardinal Richelieu declared war on Spain because French territory was now surrounded by the...
, pardoned Condé and allowed him to return to France.
Rehabilitation
Condé now realized that the period of agitation and party warfare was at an end, and he accepted, and loyally maintained henceforward, the position of a chief subordinate to Louis XIVLouis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
. Even so, some years passed before he was recalled to active employment, and these years he spent on his estate, the Château de Chantilly
Château de Chantilly
The Château de Chantilly is a historic château located in the town of Chantilly, France. It comprises two attached buildings; the Grand Château, destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870s, and the Petit Château which was built around 1560 for Anne de Montmorency...
. Here he gathered round him a brilliant company, which included many men of genius such as Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
, Racine
Jean Racine
Jean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition...
, Boileau
Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux
Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux was a French poet and critic.-Biography:Boileau was born in the rue de Jérusalem, in Paris, France. He was brought up to the law, but devoted to letters, associating himself with La Fontaine, Racine, and Molière...
, La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine was the most famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, and in French regional...
, Nicole
Nicole
Nicole is a feminine given name .Nicole may also refer to:- People known solely as Nicole :* Nicole , winner of the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest...
, Bourdaloue
Louis Bourdaloue
Louis Bourdaloue was a French Jesuit and preacher.He was born in Bourges. At the age of sixteen he entered the Society of Jesus, and was appointed successively professor of rhetoric, philosophy and moral theology, in various Jesuit colleges...
and Bossuet
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet was a French bishop and theologian, renowned for his sermons and other addresses. He has been considered by many to be one of the most brilliant orators of all time and a masterly French stylist....
.
About this time negotiations between the Poles, Condé and Louis were carried on with a view to the election, at first of Condé's son Enghien, and afterwards of Condé himself, to the throne of Poland. These, after a long series of curious intrigues, were finally closed in 1674 by the veto of Louis XIV and the election of John Sobieski. The Prince's retirement, which was only broken by the Polish question and by his personal intercession on behalf of Fouquet
Fouquet
Fouquet is a French surname and may refer to:* Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet, duc de Belle-Isle , French general and statesman* Guillaume Fouquet de la Varenne , French chef and statesman...
in 1664, ended in 1668.
In that year he proposed to Louvois, the minister of war, a plan for seizing Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...
, the execution of which was entrusted to him and successfully carried out. He was now completely re-established in the favour of Louis, and with Turenne was the principal French commander in the celebrated campaign of 1672 against the Dutch. At the forcing of the Rhine passage at Tolhuis (June 12), he received a severe wound, after which he commanded in Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
against the Imperials.
In 1673 he was again engaged in the Low Countries, and in 1674 he fought his last great battle, the Battle of Seneffe
Battle of Seneffe
The Battle of Seneffe was fought on 11 August 1674 and resulted in a draw.The armies were under the command of Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé and the Dutch-German-Spanish army under William III of Orange....
, against the Prince of Orange (afterwards William III of England
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
). This battle, fought on August 11, was one of the hardest of the century, and Condé, who displayed the reckless bravery of his youth, had three horses killed under him. His last campaign was that of 1675 on the Rhine, where the army had been deprived of its general by the death of Turenne; and where by his careful and methodical strategy he repelled the invasion of the Imperial army of Montecuccoli
Raimondo Montecuccoli
Raimondo, Count of Montecúccoli or Montecucculi was an Italian military general who also served as general for the Austrians, and was also a prince of the Holy Roman Empire and Neapolitan Duke of Melfi....
.
After this campaign, prematurely worn out by the toils and excesses of his life, and tortured by gout
Gout
Gout is a medical condition usually characterized by recurrent attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis—a red, tender, hot, swollen joint. The metatarsal-phalangeal joint at the base of the big toe is the most commonly affected . However, it may also present as tophi, kidney stones, or urate...
, Condé returned to Château de Chantilly, where he spent the eleven years that remained to him in quiet retirement
Retirement
Retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours.Many people choose to retire when they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, although some are forced to retire when physical conditions don't allow the person to...
. At the end of his life, Condé specially sought the companionship of Bourdaloue
Louis Bourdaloue
Louis Bourdaloue was a French Jesuit and preacher.He was born in Bourges. At the age of sixteen he entered the Society of Jesus, and was appointed successively professor of rhetoric, philosophy and moral theology, in various Jesuit colleges...
, Pierre Nicole
Pierre Nicole
Pierre Nicole was one of the most distinguished of the French Jansenists.Born in Chartres, he was the son of a provincial barrister, who took in charge his education...
and Bossuet
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet was a French bishop and theologian, renowned for his sermons and other addresses. He has been considered by many to be one of the most brilliant orators of all time and a masterly French stylist....
, and devoted himself to religious exercises. He died on 11 November 1686 at the age of sixty-five. Bourdaloue attended him at his death-bed, and Bossuet pronounced his elegy
Elegy
In literature, an elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.-History:The Greek term elegeia originally referred to any verse written in elegiac couplets and covering a wide range of subject matter, including epitaphs for tombs...
.
The Prince's lifelong resentment of his forced marriage to a social inferior persisted, and found unchivalrous expression in a bitter letter, his last to the king, in which he begged that his wife never be released from her exile to the countryside. Nonetheless, Claire-Clémence de Maillé had brought the Prince of Condé a dowry of 600,000 livre
Livré
Livré-la-Touche is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France. Prior to October 6, 2008, it was known as Livré....
s, the manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
s of Ansac, Mouy, Cambronne, Plessis-Billebault, Galissonnière and Brézé, and, on one occasion, liberation from the King's dungeon.
In 1685, his only surviving grandson, Louis de Bourbon, married Louise Françoise, Mademoiselle de Nantes
Louise-Françoise de Bourbon
Louise Françoise de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the eldest surviving legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Montespan. She was said to have been named after her godmother, Louise de La Vallière, the woman that her mother had replaced as the king's...
- eldest surviving daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. In mid 1686, Louise Françoise (later better known as Madame la Duchesse) caught smallpox while at Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau...
; it was the Prince himself who helped nurse the little Duchess back to health, to the point of staying up with her to help her eat. The Prince even forcibly stopped Louis XIV himself from seeing his daughter for his own safety. Despite Louise Françoise surviving and giving her husband ten children, the Prince himself became ill; most said it was from worry about her health. He himself died at the Palace of Fontainebleau. He was buried in the Église at Valléry, the traditional burial place of the Princes of Condé; Claire-Clémence, who outlived her husband, was buried at the Église Saint-Martin at the Château de Châteauroux, France in 1694.
His son and grandson left little in history except they were afflicted by the madness which they had inherited from Claire-Clémence.
Ancestry
Issue
Claire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé
Claire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé, Princess of Condé , Princess of Condé and Duchess of Fronsac, was a French noblewoman from the Brézé family and a niece of Cardinal Richelieu...
, niece of Cardinal Richelieu at the Palais Royal
Palais Royal
The Palais-Royal, originally called the Palais-Cardinal, is a palace and an associated garden located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris...
in Paris February 1641 in the presence of Louis XIII
Louis XIII of France
Louis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority...
, Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria was Queen consort of France and Navarre, regent for her son, Louis XIV of France, and a Spanish Infanta by birth...
and Gaston d'Orléans
Gaston, Duke of Orléans
Gaston of France, , also known as Gaston d'Orléans, was the third son of King Henry IV of France and his wife Marie de Medici. As a son of the king, he was born a Fils de France. He later acquired the title Duke of Orléans, by which he was generally known during his adulthood...
.
- Henri Jules de Bourbon, Duke of Enghien, Prince of Condé (29 July 1643, Paris - 1 April 1709, Paris); married Anne Henriette of BavariaAnne Henriette of BavariaAnne Henriette of Palatinate-Simmern, in France known as Anne Henriette of Bavaria was a Princess of Palatinate-Simmern by birth and by her marriage in 1663, the Duchess of Enghien and then the Princess of Condé...
and had issue; - Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Bourbon (20 September 1652, Bordeaux - 11 April 1653, Bordeaux); died in infancy;
- X de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Bourbon (1657, Breda - 28 September 1660, Paris); died in infancy;
Titles and styles
- 8 September 1621 – 26 December 1646 His Serene HighnessSerene HighnessHis/Her Serene Highness is a style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein and Monaco. It also preceded the princely titles of members of some German ruling and mediatised dynasties as well as some non-ruling but princely German noble families until 1918...
the Duke of Enghien - 26 December 1646 – 11 November 1686 His Serene HighnessSerene HighnessHis/Her Serene Highness is a style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein and Monaco. It also preceded the princely titles of members of some German ruling and mediatised dynasties as well as some non-ruling but princely German noble families until 1918...
the Prince of Condé
Legacy
It is on his military character that the Grand Condé’s fame rests. Unlike his great rival, Turenne, Condé was equally brilliant in his first battle and in his last. The one failure of his generalship was in the Spanish Fronde, and, in this, everything united to thwart his genius; only on the battlefield itself was his personal leadership as conspicuous as ever.That he was capable of waging a methodical war of positions may be assumed from his campaigns against Turenne and Montecucculi, the greatest generals opposing him. But it was in his eagerness for battle, his quick decision in action, and the stern will which sent his regiments to face the heaviest losses, that Condé is exalted above all the generals of his time. Upon the Grand Condé’s death, Louis XIV pronounced that he had lost "the greatest man in my kingdom."
In 1643 his success at the Battle of Rocroi
Battle of Rocroi
The Battle of Rocroi was fought on 19 May 1643, late in the Thirty Years' War. It resulted in a victory of the French army under the Duc d'Enghien, against the Spanish army under General Francisco de Melo.-Prelude:...
, in which he led the French army to an unexpected and decisive victory over the Spanish, established him as a great general and popular hero in France. Together with the Marshal de Turenne
Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne
Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne,often called simply Turenne was the most illustrious member of the La Tour d'Auvergne family. He achieved military fame and became a Marshal of France...
he led the French to victory in the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
.
During the Fronde
Fronde
The Fronde was a civil war in France, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. The word fronde means sling, which Parisian mobs used to smash the windows of supporters of Cardinal Mazarin....
, he was courted by both sides, initially supporting Mazarin; he later became a leader of the princely opposition. After the defeat of the Fronde he entered Spanish service and led their armies against France. He returned to France only after the Treaty of the Pyrenees
Treaty of the Pyrenees
The Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed to end the 1635 to 1659 war between France and Spain, a war that was initially a part of the wider Thirty Years' War. It was signed on Pheasant Island, a river island on the border between the two countries...
in 1659, but soon received military commands again.
Condé conquered the Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...
during the War of Devolution
War of Devolution
The War of Devolution saw Louis XIV's French armies overrun the Habsburg-controlled Spanish Netherlands and the Franche-Comté, but forced to give most of it back by a Triple Alliance of England, Sweden, and the Dutch Republic in the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.-Background:Louis's claims to the...
and led the French armies in the Franco-Dutch War
Franco-Dutch War
The Franco-Dutch War, often called simply the Dutch War was a war fought by France, Sweden, the Bishopric of Münster, the Archbishopric of Cologne and England against the United Netherlands, which were later joined by the Austrian Habsburg lands, Brandenburg and Spain to form a quadruple alliance...
together with Turenne. His last campaign was in 1675, taking command after Turenne had been killed, repelling an invasion of an imperial army.
He is regarded as one of the premier generals in world history, whose masterpiece, the Battle of Rocroi
Battle of Rocroi
The Battle of Rocroi was fought on 19 May 1643, late in the Thirty Years' War. It resulted in a victory of the French army under the Duc d'Enghien, against the Spanish army under General Francisco de Melo.-Prelude:...
, is still studied by students of military strategy.
His descendants include the present-day pretender
Pretender
A pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....
s to the throne of France
Orléanist
The Orléanists were a French right-wing/center-right party which arose out of the French Revolution. It governed France 1830-1848 in the "July Monarchy" of king Louis Philippe. It is generally seen as a transitional period dominated by the bourgeoisie and the conservative Orleanist doctrine in...
and Italy
Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples
Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, formerly Crown Prince of Italy is the only son of the Umberto II, the last King of Italy. He is commonly known in Italy as Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia...
and the kings of Spain
Juan Carlos I of Spain
Juan Carlos I |Italy]]) is the reigning King of Spain.On 22 November 1975, two days after the death of General Francisco Franco, Juan Carlos was designated king according to the law of succession promulgated by Franco. Spain had no monarch for 38 years in 1969 when Franco named Juan Carlos as the...
and Belgium
Albert II of Belgium
Albert II is the current reigning King of the Belgians, a constitutional monarch. He is a member of the royal house "of Belgium"; formerly this house was named Saxe-Coburg-Gotha...
.
He was portrayed in the film Vatel by Julian Glover.
Sources
- Katia Béguin, Les Princes de Condé (Seyssel: Champ Vallon, 1999)