Gaspard de Saulx, sieur de Tavannes (March 1509–June 1573) was a French Roman Catholic military leader during the

Italian Wars The Italian Wars, also known as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts covering the period 1494 to 1559, fought mostly in the Italian peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and the Mediterranean Sea. The pr ...

and the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four mi ...

. He served under four kings during his career, participating in the

Siege of Calais (1558) The French siege of Calais in early 1558 was part of the Italian War of 1551–1559 between France and England and their respective allies. It resulted in the seizure of the town by France. The Pale of Calais had been ruled by England since ...

and leading the royal army to victory in the third civil war at the

Jarnac Jarnac (; ; Saintongese: ''Jharnat'') is a commune in the Charente department, southwestern France.Moncontour. A strong Catholic, he founded the confraternity of the holy ghost in 1567 which would be a template for other militant Catholic organisations across France. He died in 1573, shortly after the opening assassinations of the

Massacre of Saint Bartholomew The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (french: Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy) in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence, directed against the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants) during the French War ...

, which he had helped plan.

Early life and family

The Saulx family was well established in Dijon, Gaspard's great-grandfather having been a judge in the Paris ''Parlement'' and a councillor to the Duke of Burgundy. Gaspard was born in 1509 in the house Jean de Saulx had commissioned in 1412. He was the son of Jean de Saulx, baron of Sully, and od Marguerite de Tavannes, their second child of three. In 1546 he married Françoise de la Baume for a dowry of 20,000 ''livres''. They would have five children, among whom (1553-1633), who would inherit his fathers titles.

Reign of Francis I

As a page of King

Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to: * Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407) * Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450 * Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547 * Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...

, he was captured after the disaster at the

Battle of Pavia The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–1526 between the Kingdom of France and the Habsburg empire of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor as well as ruler of Spain, ...

in 1525. Later he distinguished himself in the War of Provence and in 1544 at the Battle of Ceresole. In the factionalism between

Anne de Pisseleu Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly (), Duchess of Étampes, (15081580) was chief mistress of Francis I of France. She became Francis' mistress following his return from captivity in 1526. Anne enriched her family and friends through her courtly influen ...

and

Diane de Poitiers Diane de Poitiers (9 January 1500 – 25 April 1566) was a French noblewoman and prominent courtier. She wielded much power and influence as King Henry II's royal mistress and adviser until his death. Her position increased her wealth and famil ...

at court, Tavannes fell in with the group around the king's mistress.

Reign of Henri II

In 1552 he supported the Duke of Guise in the defence of Metz and had an important role in the 1554 French victory at the

Battle of Renty The Battle of Renty was fought on 12 August 1554, between France and the Holy Roman Empire at Renty, a northern French secondary theatre of the Italian Wars. The French were led by Francis, Duke of Guise, while the Imperial forces were led by Emp ...

. Subsequently, he was appointed as Lieutenant General of Burgundy in 1556, making him second in command to

Claude, Duke of Aumale Claude of Lorraine, Duke of Aumale (18 August 1526, Joinville – 3 March 1573, La Rochelle) was the third son of Claude, Duke of Guise and Antoinette de Bourbon. He was a prince of Lorraine by birth. Biography As part of the Treaty of Boulog ...

. In Aumale's absence he could govern with the full capacity of the governor, an eventuality which occurred regularly. He again supported Guise at the capture of Calais in 1558. When the

Peace of Cateau-Cambresis Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

brought an end to the Italian Wars in 1559, Tavannes was among those angrily denouncing it as a betrayal of the conquests he and other leading nobles had accomplished in the prior years. At the joust to commemorate the end of the war, Henri insisted on participating, as was often the case. Tavannes and Montmorency acted as judges adjudicating the joust between Henri and Montgommery. The joust would go awry with Montgommery accidentally mortally wounding the king. Tavannes and Montmorency rushed onto the field to offer their assistance and removed Henri's mask to expose his bloody face splinters embedded deep into it.

Reign of Francis II

In the wake of the

Conspiracy of Amboise The Amboise conspiracy, also called Tumult of Amboise, was a failed attempt by a Huguenot faction in France to gain control over the young king Francis II and to reverse the policies of the current administration of Francis, Duke of Guise and Cha ...

, Tavannes was deputised by the Guise regime to clear the

Dauphiné The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...

region of straggler conspirators, who had not made it to

Amboise Amboise (; ) is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Today a small market town, it was once home of the French royal court. Geography Amboise lies on the banks of the river Loire, east of Tours. It is also about away ...

; to that end, he was issued with blank ''lettres de cachet''.

Reign of Charles IX

In his role as lieutenant-governor of Burgundy, he prosecuted the Protestant population harshly, an action for which he was cautioned by Catherine de' Medici in 1561, who urged him to have patience. With the publication of the

Edict of Saint-Germain The Edict of Saint-Germain, also known as the Edict of January, was a landmark decree of tolerance promulgated by the regent of France, Catherine de' Medici, in January 1562. The act represented the culmination of several years of slowly libera ...

in January 1562, he allied with the mayor of Dijon in opposing it, and the Parlement of Dijon refused to register the edict.

First war

He served the crown loyally during the civil wars that broke out after the

Massacre of Wassy The massacre of Vassy (french: link=no, massacre de Wassy) was the murder of Huguenot worshippers and citizens in an armed action by troops of Francis, Duke of Guise, in Wassy, France, on 1 March 1562. The massacre is identified as the first maj ...

. In the spring of 1562, he prepared to attack

Mâcon Mâcon (), historically anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the prefecture of the department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home to near 34,000 residents, who are referred to in French as ...

, requesting a militia be raised by Dijon for the purposes of reconquest. Having seized the city,

Beza Theodore Beza ( la, Theodorus Beza; french: Théodore de Bèze or ''de Besze''; June 24, 1519 – October 13, 1605) was a French Calvinist Protestant theologian, reformer and scholar who played an important role in the Protestant Reformatio ...

would claim Tavannes enriched himself to the sum of 60,000 ''livres'' in the looting that followed. Alongside the capture of Mâcon he would foil attempted coups in Dijon and Chalons. In May he summoned all Protestant preachers in Dijon to assemble outside the ''Hôtel de Ville'' so that they might be sent elsewhere, with the penalty of death for any who failed to attend. To support his military efforts in recapturing Chalons after it was seized by the baron des Adresse several thousand mercenaries would be hired from Switzerland and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. With peace declared in 1563, Catherine would write to him as she had in 1561, urging him to restrain the vindictive urge of the Dijon ''Parlement'' to punish Protestants and allow them to practice freely in accordance with the

Edict of Amboise The Edict of Amboise, also known as the Edict of Pacification, was signed at the Château of Amboise on 19 March 1563 by Catherine de' Medici, acting as regent for her son Charles IX of France. The Edict ended the first stage of the French War ...

. The queen mother would ultimately draw close to Tavannes, seeing him and Marshal Vielleville as useful counterweights to the Guise and Montmorency factions at court. In 1564 with the royal court on tour of France, Tavannes staged a grand welcome for them in Dijon, throwing a large military parade.

Second war

After the victory at the battle of Saint Denis Tavannes and Guise monitored the border, hoping both to prevent ''reiters'' coming to Condé's aid, and to achieve juncture with the ''Comte de Manfeldt'' the crossing of 6000 ''reiters'' thwarted their plans and forced them to retire from the border. In 1568, after the conclusion of the second war with the

Peace of Longjumeau The Peace of Longjumeau (also known as the Treaty of Longjumeau or the Edict of Longjumeau) was signed on 23 March 1568 by Charles IX of France and Catherine de' Medici. The edict brought to an end the brief second French Wars of Religion with t ...

he established a Confraternity of the Holy Ghost in Dijon, a violation of the edicts terms. The purpose of the league was to raise funds and prepare arms in the eventuality of conflict breaking out again. The success of the confraternity in bringing about abjurations in Dijon led to imitation orders being founded across Burgundy, such as in

Autun Autun () is a subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of central-eastern France. It was founded during the Principate era of the early Roman Empire by Emperor Augustus as Augustodunum to give a Ro ...

and Chalon-sur-Saône. During the short peace Catherine implored Tavannes to enforce the terms of the edict in his territory.

Third war

With the peace collapsing and the Protestant nobles moving into opposition, Tavannes allowed his correspondence on the matter to be intercepted by their agents, alerting them to the fact they were due to be arrested. Whilst he opposed them politically he felt the planned arrest was a dishonourable method, the warning provided allowed them to flee south to La Rochelle and take up arms. During the third civil war he led the crown to victory at the battles of

Jarnac Jarnac (; ; Saintongese: ''Jharnat'') is a commune in the Charente department, southwestern France.Moncontour commanding armies under the nominal leadership of

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France * County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France **Duk ...

. In the wake of the latter victory Tavannes and Cossé counselled the king to make peace while he had the advantage, but the government instead set about a siege of Saint-Jean-d'Angély. The siege would prove a disaster for the royal army, destroyed by disease and lack of pay. As a reward for his service, and compensation for being disposed of his lieutenant governorship in Dijon, he was made

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 ( ...

on 28 November 1570. He was also granted a royal pension from Anjou.

Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre

In the uneasy peace that followed the third war, Tavannes was opposed to the plans of Coligny to reunite the kingdom through an invasion of the

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the H ...

. When

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

crossed the border in May 1572 and Coligny urged the king to seize the moment, he was one of the figures selected to compose a memoranda against the idea. As one of Catherine's chief confidents and a member of the ''Conseil Privé'' he was intimately involved in the meetings that took place after the attempted assassination of Admiral Coligny in which the decision to liquidate the senior Protestant leadership was taken. According to the much later written memoires by his son, he had argued for the life of Navarre and Condé during the meeting, however the fact the memoires were written during Navarre's reign as king, makes this hard to take at face value. In October the same year he was appointed as governor of

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

and Admiral of the Levant. He traded the governorship of Provence to

Albert de Gondi Albert de Gondi, duc de Retz (4 November 1522 in Florence – 1602) seigneur du Perron, comte, then marquis de Belle-Isle (1573), duc de Retz (from 1581), was a marshal of France and a member of the Gondi family. Beginning his career during the ...

on condition that Gondi hand over Metz to his son.

Death

He died in his castle at Sully, and was buried in the Sainte Chapelle of Dijon. His memoirs, edited and published by his son around 1620, are an important primary source for the period.Saulx; Knecht, 122, 158.

Notes

Sources

* * * Forster, Robert (1994). ''House of Saulx-Tavanes: Versailles and Burgundy, 1700–1830.'' Johns Hopkins University Press. . * * * * * * Knecht, R. J. (1998). ''Catherine de' Medici''. London and New York: Longman. . * Oman, Charles (1937). ''A History of the Art of War in the Sixteenth Century.'' London: Methuen & Co. * * * Saulx, Jean de, vicomte de Tavannes ( . 1620 reprinted 1822). ''Mémoires de très-noble et très-illustre Gaspard de Saulx, seigneur de Tavannes, mareschal de France, admiral des mers de Levant, gouverneur de Provence, conseiller du roy, et capitaine de cent hommes d'armes'', reprinted in ''Collection complèt̀e des méḿoires relatifs à ̀l'histoire de France'', edited by M. Petitot. Paris: Foucault. Vols
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. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tavannes, Gaspard de Saulx, sieur de 1509 births 1575 deaths Military personnel from Dijon Marshals of France Military leaders of the Italian Wars French people of the French Wars of Religion