Claude de La Trémoille, 2nd Duke of

Thouars Thouars () is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in western France. On 1 January 2019, the former communes Mauzé-Thouarsais, Missé and Sainte-Radegonde were merged into Thouars. It is on the River Thouet. Its inhabitants are known as ...

(1566 – 25 October 1604) was a sixteenth-century French nobleman of the La Tremoille family. He was the son of

Louis III de La Trémoille Louis III de La Trémoille (1521 – 25 March 1577), 1st Duke of Thouars, was a sixteenth-century French nobleman of the La Tremoille family. He was the son of François II de La Trémoille and his wife, Anne de Laval. Louis accompanied the d ...

and his wife, Jeanne de Montmorency. King

Henry IV of France 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 monarc ...

had been friendly with La Trémoille when he was King 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, ...

, but kept him in a subordinate position once he became King of France, preferring La Trémoille's cousin, Henry de La Tour d'Auvergne, the Viscount of Turenne. In 1587, La Trémoille converted to

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

. He fought for Henry IV at the

battle of Coutras The Battle of Coutras, fought on 20 October 1587, was a major engagement in the French Religious Wars between a Huguenot (Protestant) army under Henry of Navarre (the future Henry IV) and a royalist army led by Anne, Duke of Joyeuse. Henry of Na ...

and also at Ivry, and was rewarded by elevation to the peerage, as Duke of Thouars, in 1595. This new title, however, made La Trémoille lose more money than it earned him. In 1598, Turenne proposed to his sister-in-law Charlotte-Brabantine to marry La Trémoille. Thanks to her relations with the houses of Orange and

Bouillon Bouillon can refer to: Food * Bouillon (broth), a simple broth ** Court-bouillon, a quick broth * Bouillon (soup), a Haitian soup * Bouillon (restaurant), a traditional type of French restaurant **Bouillon Chartier, a bouillon restaurant foun ...

, Charlotte-Brabantine played an important part in the French Protestant diplomacy. They had four children:

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

(1598–1674);

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

(1599–1664), who married James Stanley, Earl of Derby; Élisabeth (1601–1604) and Frédéric (1602–1642) comte de

Laval Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxem ...

. In 1602, Charlotte-Brabantine dissuaded her husband from engaging in the conspiracy of Biron and encouraged him to lend allegiance to the king. He died in 1604.

References

* Madeleine Marie Louise Saint-René Taillandier: Henry IV The Huguenot on the throne of France. Hugendubel, Munich 2004, . * William A. Weary: The House of La Tremoille, Fifteenth through Eighteenth Centuries. Change and Adaptation in a French Noble Family. In: The Journal of Modern History . Vol. 49, No. 1, The University of Chicago Press, 1977. 1566 births 1604 deaths Converts to Calvinism from Roman Catholicism French Protestants

Claude Claude may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...

Dukes of Thouars 16th-century French people 17th-century French people People of Byzantine descent 16th-century peers of France 17th-century peers of France Peers created by Henry IV of France {{France-noble-stub