Henri de Bourbon, 2nd

Prince of Condé A prince is a 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, in some European states. The f ...

(29 December 1552 – 5 March 1588) was a French '' prince du sang'' and

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

general like his more prominent father,

Louis I, Prince of Condé Louis de Bourbon, 1st Prince of Condé (7 May 1530 – 13 March 1569) was a prominent Huguenot leader and general, the founder of the Princes of Condé, Condé branch of the House of Bourbon. Coming from a position of relative political unimportan ...

Life

Henri was the eldest son of Louis de Bourbon and Eléanor de Roye, daughter and heiress of Charles de Roye, Count of Roucy. Of the eight children in his family, he and his brother François, Prince of Conti, were the only ones to have children. Following the death of his father, Louis, at the Battle of Jarnac,

Jeanne d'Albret Jeanne d'Albret (, Basque language, Basque: ''Joana Albretekoa''; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Joana de Labrit''; 16 November 1528 – 9 June 1572), also known as Jeanne III, was Queen of Navarre from 1555 to 1572. Jeanne was the daughter of He ...

introduced Henri and her own son, Henry of Navarre, as pages to Admiral Coligny. Since both were ''princes of the blood'', this act gave the Huguenot cause legitimacy. At the Battle of Moncontour on 3 October 1569, Henri was wounded in the face and was forced to retreat. Attending the wedding of Henry of Navarre and the subsequent massacre of Protestants, Henri was forced to convert to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, face death or life imprisonment. In his escape from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, Henri was joined by

Theodore Beza Theodore Beza (; or ''de Besze''; 24 June 1519 – 13 October 1605) was a French Calvinist Protestant theologian, reformer and scholar who played an important role in the Protestant Reformation. He was a disciple of John Calvin and lived most ...

, who published his ''Du droit des magistrats sur leurs sujets'' in Germany. By 1573 the Huguenot cause had made some political gains in the

Midi Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...

, consequently Henri was assigned "governor general and protector". Following the Peace of Monsieur, he was restored to his governorship of

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 ...

. During the sixth war of religion, he commanded the forces that captured Brouage and allowed English aid for the Huguenots. And, it would be Henri, angered by Catholic resistance to his governorship of Picardy, who started the seventh war of religion by seizing the town of

La Fère La Fère () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in France. It was once famous for its military school (1720), one the oldest commissioned for instructing ordnance officers. History During World War II, Nazi Germany operat ...

in November 1579. In 1588, Henri died at

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 ...

after a brief illness.

Marriages

He married twice, first to his cousin,

Marie of Cleves Marie may refer to the following. People Given name * Marie (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** List of people named Marie * Marie (Japanese given name) Surname * Jean Gabriel-Marie, French compo ...

. With Marie, Henri had one child: * Catherine (30 October 1574 – 30 December 1595), Marquise of Isles, never married. Secondly, Henri married his second cousin once removed, Charlotte Catherine de La Tremoille (1568–1629), daughter of Louis III de La Trémoille. They had at least two children: * Éléonore de Bourbon (1587–1619), married in 1606 to Philip William, Prince of Orange. * Henri II, Prince of Condé (1588–1646)

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Henri 01 de Bourbon, Prince de Conde 1552 births 1588 deaths People from La Ferté-sous-Jouarre House of Bourbon-Condé Huguenots French people of the French Wars of Religion Princes of Condé 16th-century peers of France