Roger de Saint-Lary de Termes, duc de Bellegarde (10 December 156213 July 1646 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

), nephew of

Roger de Saint-Lary de Bellegarde Roger de Saint-Lary de Bellegarde (1525-1579) was a soldier and Marshal of France. Rising to prominence as a favourite of Henri III he was quickly elevated to high office, becoming Marshal in 1574. Tasked with leading the main royal army in the fif ...

, was a French duke.

Life

Born as son to Jean de Saint-Lary (died in 1586), who was a military governor of

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

, he was brought to court by the duke of Épernon. He quickly became a favourite of Henry III and maintained this position during the reigns of Henry IV, and

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

. It was also during the reign of Henry III that he became royal

master of the horse Master of the Horse is an official position in several European nations. It was more common when most countries in Europe were monarchies, and is of varying prominence today. (Ancient Rome) The original Master of the Horse ( la, Magister Equitu ...

, whereas he received his title of

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

1602 Events January–June * January 3 – Battle of Kinsale: The English defeat Irish rebels and their Spanish allies. (The battle happens on this date according to the Gregorian calendar used by the Irish and Spanish but on Thursday, 24 Dec ...

after his involvement against the Biron conspiracy. His estate of

Seurre Seurre () is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France. This commune lies at the crossroad of routes to Dijon, Chalon-sur-Saône, Dole, Beaune, and Louhans. Population See also *Communes of the Côte-d'Or department Th ...

in Burgundy was created a duchy in the peerage of France (''duché-pairie'') in his favour under the name of Bellegarde, in 1619. In 1645 the title of this duchy was transferred to the estate of Choisy-aux-Loges in

Gâtinais Gâtinais () or Gâtine () was a province of France, containing the area around the valley of the Loing, corresponding roughly to the northeastern part of the département of Loiret, and the south of the present department of Seine-et-Marne. Unde ...

. He was an illustrious noble at the French court who sided with

Gaston, Duke of Orléans '' Monsieur'' Gaston, Duke of Orléans (Gaston Jean Baptiste; 24 April 1608 – 2 February 1660), was the third son of King Henry IV of France and his second wife, Marie de' Medici. As a son of the king, he was born a '' Fils de France''. He lat ...

. During the very difficult years of 1629 and 1630, in which

Marie de Medici Marie de' Medici (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom ...

and Gaston had reputadely allied against

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

, there were rumours that Bellegarde kept their agreement in a precious necklace he wore at court. After the

Day of Dupes Day of the Dupes (in french: la journée des Dupes) is the name given to a day in November 1630 on which the enemies of Cardinal Richelieu mistakenly believed that they had succeeded in persuading King Louis XIII of France to dismiss Richelieu fr ...

, in 1631, when Gaston tried to rally an army against the king but failed, Bellegarde let him pass through his estates to

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...

and yet tried afterwards to rally people in his own district against the king. Upon hearing that, the king started moving towards Burgundy with an army, so Bellegarde fled after the king had taken

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

and had forced the Parlement to issue an edict against Gaston's followers. Bellegarde's governorship was therefore given to Henri, Prince of Condé (1588-1646). However, because of his importance, he was already forgiven in 1632 by Richelieu, so that he could return to France French Wikipedia site Roger de Bellegarde

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Termes, Roger Dukes of Bellegarde 1646 deaths 1562 births Peers created by Louis XIII