Antoine III Agénor de Gramont, Duke of Gramont, ''comte de Guiche,'' ''comte de Gramont,'' ''comte de Louvigny,'' ''Souverain de

Bidache Bidache (; ; )BIDAXUNE

'' (1604, Chateau d'Hagetmau – 12 July 1678,

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...

) was a French military commander and diplomat. He served as

Marshal of France Marshal of France (french: Maréchal de France, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1 ...

from 1641, Viceroy of

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

and

Béarn The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Bas ...

, and Governor of

Life and career

Antoine de Gramont came from an old southern French noble family. His father was

Antoine II de Gramont Antoine is a French language, French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton (name), Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West ...

, and his mother was Louise de Roquelaure (d. 1610), daughter of Marshal

Roquelaure Roquelaure (; ''Ròcalaura'' in Gascon) is a commune in the Gers department in southwestern France. A type of knee-length cloak, which was worn by men in the 18th and 19th Centuries of the Common Era, is named for the commune. Geography His ...

(1544–1625). He had a younger half-brother,

Philibert de Gramont Philibert, Count de Gramont (1621 – 31 January 1707), was a French courtier and soldier, known as the protagonist of the ''Mémoires'' written by Anthony Hamilton (his brother-in-law). He was a younger half-brother of Antoine III of Gra ...

, from their father's second marriage to Claude de Montmorency. Gramont was a loyal supporter of Richelieu. It is said that he once toasted to Richelieu saying that the cardinal was more important to him than the king and the entire royal family. Gramont took part in many battles of the

Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an es ...

, was promoted to

on 22 September 1641, and obtained the title of

Duke of Gramont The title of Duke of Gramont (''duc de Gramont'') is a French dukedom and former peerage. It was created in 1648 for French Marshal Antoine III de Gramont. History The family of Gramont was a Navarrese medieval noble house and owned the chateau ...

in 1648 for himself and his heirs. He became minister in 1653, ambassador to the Reichstag in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

in 1657, and was sent to Spain in 1660 to ask the hand in marriage of

Maria Theresa of Spain Maria Theresa of Spain ( es, María Teresa de Austria; french: Marie-Thérèse d'Autriche; 10 September 1638 – 30 July 1683) was Queen of France from 1660 to 1683 as the wife of King Louis XIV. She was born an Infanta of Spain and Portugal a ...

for

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

. He died in 1678. His memoirs (''"Mémoires du maréchal de Gramont",'' Paris 1716) were published by his son

Antoine Charles IV de Gramont Antoine Charles IV de Gramont, ''comte de Guiche,'' 3rd ''Duke de Gramont,'' ''comte de Louvigny,'' ''Souverain de Bidache'' (1641 – 25 October 1720) was a French diplomat. Early life He was the youngest son of Antoine III de Gramont and Franç ...

In literature

As the Comte de Guiche, he is a major character in

Edmond Rostand Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand (, , ; 1 April 1868 – 2 December 1918) was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism and is known best for his 1897 play ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. Rostand's romantic plays contrasted with t ...

's 1897 play ''

Cyrano de Bergerac Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th cen ...

'', where he is depicted at first as vain, lustful, and opportunistic. He is infatuated with Roxane, the heroine of the play, and tries to arrange her marriage to the Vicomte de Valvert as a "front" in order that he (the Count) may become her secret lover. When Cyrano kills Valvert in a duel, De Guiche becomes more open in his desires and tries to arrange his own marriage to her. After he is thwarted by Cyrano long enough for her to be able to marry her sweetheart Christian de Neuvillette, he vengefully sends both Christian and Cyrano to do battle at the 1640 Siege of Arras, in which Christian is killed. At Arras, however, de Guiche shows gallantry toward Roxane and a willingness to sacrifice his life to protect her after she arrives at the battlements. In doing this, he wins Cyrano's respect, and later becomes one of his most loyal friends. He is last seen warning Roxane of a plot to kill Cyrano - a plot which unfortunately succeeds.

Family

His younger half-brother was

Philibert, comte de Gramont Philibert, Count de Gramont (1621 – 31 January 1707), was a French courtier and soldier, known as the protagonist of the ''Mémoires'' written by Anthony Hamilton (his brother-in-law). He was a younger half-brother of Antoine III of Gr ...

(1621–1707), renowned for his memoirs describing the love affairs of the English court of Charles II, edited by

Antoine Hamilton Antoine (or Anthony) Hamilton, comte ( – 1719) was a soldier and a writer of literature. As a Catholic of Irish and Scottish ancestry, he fled with his family to France during the Interregnum and later sided with James II against the Pr ...

. In 1634, he married Richelieu's niece, Françoise-Marguerite du Plessis de Chivré (1608–1689). They had four children: * Guy Armand, comte de Guiche, (1637 – 29 November 1673, rumored lover of both

Philippe I, Duke of Orléans '' Monsieur'' Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (21 September 1640 – 9 June 1701), was the younger son of King Louis XIII of France and his wife, Anne of Austria. His elder brother was the "Sun King", Louis XIV. Styled Duke of Anjou from bir ...

and his wife Henrietta of England, duchess of Orleans. Predeceased his father and is thus known to history by the subsidiary title of comte de Guiche. * Catherine-Charlotte (1639–1678),

Princess of Monaco Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

and mistress of

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versa ...

. * Antoine Charles (1641–1720), Viceroy of Navarre; succeeded his father as Duke of Gramont etc. *Henriette-Catherine, married Alexandre de Canonville, marquis de Raffetot.

Royal origin

According to Count

, their father, Antoine II de Gramont, viceroy of Navarre, was assumed to be a bastard child of king Henry IV by

Diane d'Andoins Diane d'Andoins or d'Andouins (Diane of Andoins) was born in Hagetmau in the fall of 1554, and died there in February 1621. The Countess of Guiche, and called "the beautiful Corisande", she was known for having been a royal mistress of King Henr ...

, knowns as "''La Belle Corisande''". This has been challenged by some modern historians.

Raymond Ritter Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ( ...

( French article) in ''Une dame de chevalerie, Corisande d'Andoins, comtesse de Guiche (A lady of chivalry, Corisande of Andoins, Countess of Guiche)'' (1959) shows that this was her son by Philibert, and her affair with the king was childless. Diane's sister-in-law, Catherine, Countess of

Lauzun Lauzun (; Languedocien: ''Lausun'') is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France. The village of Lauzun is located in the north of Lot et Garonne, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It is separated from Périgord (Dordog ...

, was the grandmother of the first Duke of Lauzun, the secret husband of

la Grande Mademoiselle LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

Literature

* W. H. Lewis: ''Assault on Olympus; the rise of the House of Gramont between 1604 and 1678.'' New York, Harcourt, Brace (1958)

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20070905194034/http://www.portraits-gramont.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Gramont, Antoine 03 de 1604 births 1678 deaths Antoine 3 Counts of Guiche Counts of Gramont Counts of Louvigny 17th-century French diplomats 17th-century peers of France Peers created by Louis XIV Marshals of France Military personnel of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)