Claude de l'Isle de Marivaux (d. 1598) was a French diplomat working for

Henry of Navarre Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch ...

. Claude was a son of Jean de l'Isle de Marivaux and Hélène d'Aspremont, Lady of Tullin and Trassereux. They rebuilt the Château de Troissereux in renaissance style. Claude, who was governor of

Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Early history The holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. In ...

and Lieutenant-general of the government of the

Île-de-France , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +01:00 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +02:00 , blank_name_sec1 = Gross regional product , blank_info_sec1 = Ranked 1st , bla ...

, Chamberlain to the king's brother

Francis, Duke of Anjou '' Monsieur'' Francis, Duke of Anjou and Alençon (french: Hercule François; 18 March 1555 – 10 June 1584) was the youngest son of King Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici. Early years He was scarred by smallpox at age eight, a ...

, and Captain of the castle and town of Arques, was known as "Marivaux le Sage", the wise.

Mission to Scotland

Claude came to Scotland in April 1588. His mission was concerned with a plan for

James VI of Scotland James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...

to marry the sister of Henry of Navarre,

Catherine de Bourbon Catherine de Bourbon (7 February 1559 – 13 February 1604) was a Navarrese regent princess. She was the daughter of Queen Joan III and King Anthony of Navarre. She ruled the principality of Béarn in the name of her brother, King Henry III ...

. He was recommended for this role by the poet

Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas (1544, in Monfort – July 1590, in Mauvezin) was a Gascon Huguenot courtier and poet. Trained as a doctor of law, he served in the court of Henri de Navarre for most of his career. Du Bartas was celebrated acro ...

, who was strongly in favour of the marriage and praised the qualities of the "handsome, brave, eloquent, active, and discreet" king of the Scots to Henry. In September 1588 Claude wrote two letters to James VI, one from

Lennoxlove Lennoxlove House is a historic house set in woodlands half a mile south of Haddington in East Lothian, Scotland. The house comprises a 15th-century tower, originally known as Lethington Castle, and has been extended several times, principally i ...

, then called Lethington, the home of

John Maitland, 1st Lord Maitland of Thirlestane John Maitland, 1st Lord Maitland of Thirlestane (1537 – 3 October 1595), of Lethington, Knight (1581), was Lord Chancellor of Scotland. Life He was the second son of Sir Richard Maitland of Thirlestane, Berwickshire, and Lethington, Haddingt ...

, the other from Edinburgh, to thank him for gifts. These included 200 French gold crowns and a diamond ring which were recorded in Maitland's accounts of money from the English subsidy. Claude wrote to the Laird of Wemyss, who was busy with hare and hound, to ask James to conclude their business and give him leave to go. James VI gave him a letter for Catherine de Bourbon, saying he would like to visit her and declare his intentions, and assured of his constant love. Troissereux60

Claude carried a letter from the English diplomat in Edinburgh, William Ashby, to

Francis Walsingham Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wals ...

which mentions that he would tell him about the wreck of a ship from the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aris ...

Islay Islay ( ; gd, Ìle, sco, Ila) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The isl ...

Mull Mull may refer to: Places *Isle of Mull, a Scottish island in the Inner Hebrides ** Sound of Mull, between the Isle of Mull and the rest of Scotland * Mount Mull, Antarctica *Mull Hill, Isle of Man * Mull, Arkansas, a place along Arkansas Highway ...

. Claude had heard this news at

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological ...

from a letter sent to the king by Lachlan Mor Maclean. In London Claude gave James's letters to two envoys of Navarre, Paul Choart, Sieur de Buzenval, and François de Quincampoix, Sieur de Moy, who sent to king a copy of his paper on the 'Spanish Army'. Claude wrote to James VI from London complaining because he did not have a letter of personal credit to Catherine to permit him to discuss James's letter with her. He wished James might spare an hour to have his portrait painted for him. Claude got an interview with Catherine, and she wrote to James, thanking him for the letter. Henry sent Claude on a mission to

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 ...

. English politicians remained in favour of the Navarre marriage, although James VI was negotiating for a Danish bride. William Cecil wrote in July 1589, "The King of Scots is wooing the King of Denmark's daughter, but we could better like the match with the King of Navarre's sister".

Clermont d'Amboise

Another envoy Monsieur Clermont d'Amboise arrived in July 1588, pretending to have been driven to the west coast of Scotland by a storm. He was hosted by the town of Edinburgh for four days and there was a banquet at his departure involving claret, sweet wine, "drogs and sweitt meitt." James VI gave him a jewel worth 200 French crowns.

Jérôme Groslot

Jérôme Groslot Jérôme Groslot, Sieur de l’Isle (died 1622) was a French diplomat. His father, also Jérôme Groslot (1520-1572), was killed during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in Paris. He came to Scotland and was brought up with the young James VI at ...

, Sieur de l’Isle was sent to Scotland in April 1589 to advocate the Navarre marriage. To avoid confusion with Claude, as both were called "de l'Isle", Jérôme was sometimes known as "the son of the Baillie of Orleans". He had been brought up with James VI at Stirling Castle. John Colville wrote to the Laird of Wemyss that James VI was set on the Danish marriage and l'Isle's efforts were likely to be in vain. When he left in July James gave him 200 French crowns to fund his journey to Navarre with James's answers. In March 1589 yet another envoy from Navarre,

François de Civille François de Civille, seigneur de Saint-Mards (1537–1610), was a French soldier and diplomat. The Civille family of Rouen was of Spanish origin. Buried alive François de Civille was a soldier in the French Wars of Religion. He wrote a memoir ...

, arrived in Edinburgh, hoping to recruit troops. An English man at the Scottish court Thomas Fowler wrote that Civille and Groslot, Sieur de l’Isle encouraged Edinburgh merchants who dealt with France to support the Navarre marriage. James VI decided to marry

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional fo ...

. Another diplomat in Scotland, Jean Hotman de Villiers, was with James VI at

Falkland Palace Falkland Palace, in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a royal palace of the Scottish Kings. It was one of the favourite places of Mary, Queen of Scots, providing an escape from political and religious turmoil. Today it is under the stewardship of ...

in August 1589. The king gave him a ring with a diamond star and another jewel worth 100 gold crowns.

Later life

Claude fought for Henry at the

Battle of Ivry The Battle of Ivry was fought on 14 March 1590, during the French Wars of Religion. The battle was a decisive victory for Henry IV of France, leading French royal and English forces against the Catholic League by the Duc de Mayenne and Spanis ...

in March 1590. He died in 1598.

Family

Claude married Catherine Béatrix du Moustier, the widow of Jean-Galéas de Saint-Séverin, Count of Gayasse. They had seven children, five daughters were living at his death on 17 May 1598, Renée, Marguerite, and Catherine, and the nuns Leonore and Claude. Marguerite married Jean de Lameth, Seigneur de Bournonville. Renée married François de Hallencourt, Seigneur de Drosmesnil. Catherine married Antoine de Senicourt, Seigneur de Saisseval et Warmoise.Anselme de Sainte-Marie, ''Histoire Généalogique Et Chronologique De La Maison Royale De France'', vol. 8 (Paris, 1733), p. 793. They feuded over their inheritance, and François de Hallencourt was killed by a servant of Jean de Lameth in 1609.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:l'Isle, Claude de 1598 deaths Huguenots French people of the French Wars of Religion French military personnel Ambassadors of France to Scotland 16th-century French diplomats