Henri de Montmorency, 4th Duke of Montmorency (1595 – 30 October 1632) was a French nobleman and military commander. Made Grand admiral in 1612, governor of Languedoc in 1614, and by 1620 was viceroy of New France. Despite defeating a Protestant fleet and seizing islands of Ré and

Oléron The Isle of Oléron or Oléron Island (, ; Saintongese dialect, Saintongese: ''ilâte d'Olerun''; , ) is an island off the Atlantic coast of France (due west of Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, Rochefort), on the southern side of the Pertuis d'Antio ...

, Cardinal Richelieu kept him from taking advantage of these victories. Henri defeated the Duke of Rohan in Languedoc during 1628-1629. He gained notoriety as a military commander in Piedmont during the War of the Mantuan Succession in 1630. Joining the forces of Gaston, Duke of Orleans (the king's brother), Henri raised an army and was severely wounded at

Battle of Castelnaudary The Battle of Castelnaudary occurred at Castelnaudary, France, on 1 September 1632, between the rebel forces of Henri II de Montmorency (loyal to Gaston, Duke of Orléans) and the royalist forces of Marshal Henri de Schomberg (loyal to King Louis ...

. Captured, he was executed on 30 October 1632, by a guillotine-like device.

Life and career

Born at

Chantilly, Oise Chantilly ( , ; Picard language, Picard: ''Cantily'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department in the Nonette (river), Valley of the Nonette in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region of Northern Franc ...

, Henri was the son of

Henri de Montmorency, 3rd Duke of Montmorency Henri de Montmorency, 3rd Duke of Montmorency (15 June 1534 in Chantilly, Oise – 2 April 1614), Marshal of France, and Constable of France, seigneur of Damville, served as Governor of Languedoc from 1563 to 1614. Biography Born on 15 J ...

, and his second wife, Louise de Budos. He was the godson of

King Henri IV Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

and was constantly receiving marks of the royal affection. Henri's name and his personality rendered him at an early age the darling of the court and the people. By 1612, he was raised to the office of

Grand Admiral Grand admiral is a historic naval rank, the highest rank in the several European navies that used it. It is best known for its use in Germany as . A comparable rank in modern navies is that of admiral of the fleet. Grand admirals in individual ...

. Henri succeeded to his father's title of

Duke of Montmorency Duke of Montmorency was a title of French nobility that was created several times for members of the Montmorency family, who were lords of Montmorency, near Paris. History The first creation was in 1551 for Anne de Montmorency, Constable of ...

in 1614 and was also governor of

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (, , ; ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately . History ...

. With influence from Marie de Medici, he married Maria Felicia Orsini, an Italian noblewoman. In 1620, he was made viceroy of

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

, a post he held until 1625. Henri wrested several important places from the Protestants and was present at the sieges of

Montauban Montauban (, ; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Oc ...

and

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

. On the renewal of the civil war in 1625, the fleet sent from Holland to aid the French king was placed under his command. In 1625, Henri defeated the French

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

fleet under

Soubise Soubise can refer to: * Soubise, a salpicon of cooked and pureed rice and onions; used primarily "au gratin". (steaks, tournedos) * Soubise sauce, based on Béchamel sauce, with the addition of a ''soubise'' of onion and rice purée * Soubise, Ch ...

and seized the islands of Ré and

, but the jealousy 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 ...

deprived him of the means of following up these advantages. In 1628–1629, Henri took command of a royal army to fight the forces of

Henri, Duc de Rohan Henri II de Rohan (21 August 157913 April 1638), Duke of Rohan and Prince of Léon, was a Breton-French soldier, writer and leader of the Huguenots. Early life Rohan was born at the Château de Blain (now a part of Blain, Loire-Atlantique), in ...

, in

, and he bested that famous leader of the Huguenots. In 1630, Henri won renown as a military leader in the war against the Spaniards in

Piedmont (Italy) Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the northwest. Pied ...

. He defeated the Piedmontese at the

Battle of Avigliana The Battle of Veillane (or the Battle of Avigliana) was fought on 10 July 1630 between a French army under the command of Henri II de Montmorency and a Spanish army under the command of Don Carlo Doria. The result was a French victory."On 10 ...

, where he charged across a ditch at the head of the gendarmes of the king, captured Carlo Doria, the enemy general, with his own hand, and fought like a common soldier until the enemy was completely driven from the field. This victory was followed by the raising of the siege of Casal and the taking of

Saluzzo Saluzzo (; ) is a town and former principality in the province of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region, Italy. The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, well-cultivated plain. Iron, lead, silver, marble, slate etc. are found in the su ...

. For these achievements, he was appointed a

Marshal of France Marshal of France (, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to General officer, generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1793–1804) ...

later in the same year. At the height of his fame and influence, he was solicited to join the opponents of

, Louis XIII's chief minister. Disliking Richelieu's attempts to rein in the influence of his class, in 1632, using his position as governor of Languedoc, he raised levies of troops and money, joined the party of Gaston, Duke of Orleans (the king's brother) and took command of an army of six or seven thousand. Negotiation was tried in vain; Henri was confronted and defeated by

Marshal Schomberg Frederick Herman de Schomberg, 1st Duke of Schomberg (6 December 1615 – 1 July 1690) was a German-born army officer who served as the English Master-General of the Ordnance from 1689 to 1690. Having fought in the French, Portuguese, Dutch ...

at the

(1 September 1632). Trying to emulate his victory at Avigliana, Henri led a charge into the royal camp at the head of a few horsemen. He cut his way through six ranks of infantry amidst a continuing shower of shot and fought against overwhelming numbers, until his horse dropped dead. Severely wounded, he was captured. Abandoned by Gaston, he was doomed to death by the remorseless Richelieu, as an example to the rest of the plotting nobility. In vain his life was begged for by all ranks throughout France. The only palliation of punishment that could be obtained from Louis XIII was that the execution should be in private. Henri was therefore beheaded in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

30 October 1632, by a guillotine-like device (according to the memoirs of Jacques, vicomte de Puysegur). His title passed to his sister, Charlotte Marguerite, Princess of Condé.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Montmorency, Henri 2 De 1595 births 1632 deaths People from the Province of Île-de-France People from Chantilly, Oise Henri 2 De Dukes of Montmorency Henri 2 Marshals of France Admirals of France 17th-century peers of France 17th-century executions by France People executed for treason against France People executed by France by decapitation People of the War of the Mantuan Succession

Life and career

References

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Further reading

External links