Bernard de Nogaret de La Valette (1592 – 25 July 1661) was
Duke of Épernon and a French general, the son of
Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette
Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette (1554–1642), created Duke of Épernon, was a powerful member of the French nobility at the turn of the 17th century. He was deeply involved in plots and politics throughout his life.
Life
He was born at C ...
and
Marguerite de Foix-Candale, granddaughter of the constable of
Montmorency. Through his mother's line, Bernard could also claim the English title of
Earl of Kendal
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used.
The titl ...
, originally granted to his ancestor
John de Foix in 1446.
Life
Bernard was born in 1592 in
Angoulême
Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; ) is a small city in the southwestern French Departments of France, department of Charente, of which it is the Prefectures of France, prefecture.
Located on a plateau overlooking a meander of ...
. In 1622, he married Gabrielle-Angélique de Verneuil, legitimised daughter of Henri IV and the
Marquise de Verneuil, with whom he had a son,
Louis-Charles-Gaston de Candale, and a daughter, Anne-Louise-Christine de Foix de La Valette d'Épernon. Gabrielle-Angélique died in 1627 (some say Bernard poisoned her) and in 1634 he married Marie Ducambaut, a niece of
Cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...
. It was not a happy marriage, as Bernard later conceived a lifelong passion for a middle-class woman named Ninon de Lartigue, who exerted absolute power over him and to whom he gave enormous sums of money.
Like his father, Bernard made a career of the military. He was named colonel-general of infantry and fought at the sieges of
Saint-Jean-d'Angély
Saint-Jean-d'Angély (; Saintongeais dialect, Saintongeais: ''Sént-Jhan-d'Anjhéli'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department in southwestern France.
The commune has its historical origins i ...
(1621) and
Royan
Royan (; in the Saintongeais dialect; ) is a commune and town in the south-west of France, in the Departments of France, department of Charente-Maritime in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Capital of the Côte de Beauté, Royan is one of the mai ...
(1622) and at the attack of the pas de Suse (1629). On 15 May 1633, Bernard became a Chevalier du Saint-Esprit and in 1635 he was charged by
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.
...
with restoring the order which had been disturbed by the lifting of taxes and religious passions. He fought in
Picardy
Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...
(1636), in
Guyenne
Guyenne or Guienne ( , ; ) was an old French province which corresponded roughly to the Roman province of '' Aquitania Secunda'' and the Catholic archdiocese of Bordeaux.
Name
The name "Guyenne" comes from ''Aguyenne'', a popular transform ...
, and finally against the Spanish, and repressed a peasants' revolt, the
Révolte des Croquants, in 1637.
Charged by the
Prince de Condé
A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in some ...
in 1638 with leading the assault at the
Siege of Fuenterrabía (
Hondarribia
Hondarribia (; ; ) is a Spanish town situated on the west shore of the Bidasoa river's estuary, in Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community.
The border town is situated on a little promontory facing Hend ...
), he refused, believing that the breach was not broad enough. He yielded his post to
Vice-Admiral de Sourdis, who launched an ill-fated attack which resulted in heavy losses. The disaster was nonetheless attributed to the Duke of Valette, who had nothing to do with it and in fact had rejoined the remains of the army and led it to
Bayonne
Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...
. Richelieu, who hated de La Valette, had him tried in front of an extraordinary court chaired by the king himself (1639). The court returned a sentence of death but de La Valette, who knew Richelieu well, had prudently departed for England where he received the
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...
. The penalty was carried out in effigy.
In 1642 Bernard's father died, raising him to the title of Duke of Épernon. After the death of
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.
...
, Bernard returned to France where the
Parlement of Paris
The ''Parlement'' of Paris () was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. Parlements were judicial, rather than legislative, bodies and were composed of magistrates. Though not representative bodies in the p ...
cancelled the judgement against him (1643). In 1648 he became governor of Guyenne. That same year, he was responsible for transporting artillery of the Château du Hâ to arm the Château-Trompette to put down unrest resulting from the Parliament of Bordeaux's refusal to allow the departure of a shipment of corn, for fear of famine. Bernard also served as governor of Burgundy (1654–1660) and was a guard of the theatre company of
Charles Dufresne
Georges-Charles Dufresne (23 November 1876, Millemont - 8 August 1938, La Seyne-sur-Mer) was a French painter, engraver, sculptor and decorator.
Biography
He came from a family of sailors and fishermen that originated in Granville. He lef ...
(whose most famous member was
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...
).
He died in Paris in 1661.
Family
Bernard's children included:
* Anne-Louise-Christine de Foix de La Valette,Mlle. d’Épernon. Became a
Carmelite
The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...
nun.
*
Louis-Charles-Gaston de Candale
See also
*
Guillaume de Nogaret
Guillaume de Nogaret (c. 1260 April 1313) was a French statesman, councilor and keeper of the seal to Philip IV of France.
Early life
Nogaret was born in Saint-Félix-Lauragais, Haute-Garonne. The family held a small ancestral property o ...
*
Jean Parisot de la Valette
*
Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette
Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette (1554–1642), created Duke of Épernon, was a powerful member of the French nobility at the turn of the 17th century. He was deeply involved in plots and politics throughout his life.
Life
He was born at C ...
References
*
Bernard de Nogaret de La Valette d'Épernon (French Wikipedia)
External links
Arms of Epernon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nogaret de La Valette, Jean Louis de
1592 births
1661 deaths
People from Angoulême
Dukes of Épernon
Counts of Candale
French generals
Knights of the Garter
Peers created by Louis XIII
Military personnel of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)
House of Nogaret de La Vallete