Henri II de Lorraine, 5th Duke of Guise, (4 April 1614, in

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– 2 June 1664) was a French aristocrat and archbishop, the second son of

Charles, Duke of Guise Charles de Lorraine, 4th Duke of Guise and 3rd Prince of Joinville (20 August 1571 – 30 September 1640), was the son of Henry I, Duke of Guise and Catherine of Cleves, and succeeded his father as Duke of Guise in 1588. Initially part of the Cat ...

and

Henriette Catherine de Joyeuse Henriette may refer to: People Nobles :''Ordered chronologically'' * Henriette of Cleves (1542–1601), Duchess of Nevers, Countess of Rethel and Princess of Mantua * Henriette Marie of the Palatinate (1626–1651), daughter of Elizabeth Stuart, ...

Life

At the age of fifteen, he became

archbishop of Reims The Archdiocese of Reims or Rheims (; French language, French: ''Archidiocèse de Reims'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastic territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. Erected as a diocese around 250 by Sixtus of Reims, the diocese w ...

. According to

Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux Gédéon Tallemant, Sieur des Réaux (7 November 1619 – 6 November 1692) was a French writer known for his ''Historiettes'', a collection of short biographies. Biography Born at La Rochelle, he belonged to a wealthy middle-class Huguenot f ...

, he had a well known affair with the actress Marguerite Béguin during this time.Scott, Virginia (2010).
Women on the stage in early modern France : 1540-1750
''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. . The death of his eldest brother Francis in 1639 placed him in the dukedom the following year. He opposed Richelieu, and conspired with the

count of Soissons This is a list of those who bore the title Count of Soissons () and ruled Soissons and its ''civitas'' or diocese as a county in the Middle Ages. The title continued in use into modern times, but without ties to the actual Soissonnais. Carolingia ...

, fighting in the Battle of La Marfée in 1641. For this, he was condemned to death, but fled to

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in 1641. His property was seized by the king in 1641, for crime of

lèse-majesté ''Lèse-majesté'' or ''lese-majesty'' ( , ) is an offence or defamation against the dignity of a ruling head of state (traditionally a monarch but now more often a president) or of the state itself. The English name for this crime is a mod ...

. Reprieved, he returned in 1643 and his confiscated property was returned to him. Hoping to make good his family's ancient pretensions to the

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, he joined the revolt of

Masaniello Tommaso Aniello (29 June 1620 – 16 July 1647), popularly known by the contracted name Masaniello (, ), was an Italian fisherman who became leader of the 1647 revolt against the rule of Habsburg Spain in the Kingdom of Naples. Name and place ...

in 1647. The " Royal Republic of Naples" was declared, appealing to the protection of France and nominally headed by Guise (entitled

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in imitation of

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). However, the tactless Guise rapidly alienated the Neapolitans, and wielded little influence with

Cardinal Mazarin Jules Mazarin (born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino or Mazarini; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), from 1641 known as Cardinal Mazarin, was an Italian Catholic prelate, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Lou ...

. He was captured by the Spaniards in 1648 when the republic fell, and held by them until 1652. He made a second attack on

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in 1654, but it ended in failure, partly because of the presence of an English fleet under

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in support of the Spanish. Afterwards, he settled in Paris, becoming

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and going deeply into debt because of his expenditures for horses and entertainments. He was the patron of

Pierre Corneille Pierre Corneille (; ; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great 17th-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronage ...

, to whom he gave a lodging in the Hôtel de Guise. Over the years two women laid claim to being his wife. The first was

Anna Gonzaga Anna Gonzaga (Anna Marie; 1616 – 6 July 1684) was an Italian French noblewoman and salonist. The youngest daughter of Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat, and Catherine de Mayenne (herself daughter of Charles, Duke of Mayenne), ...

later known as the "Princess Palatine," who in 1639 appears to have been duped into believing that a clandestine marriage ceremony was genuine. The second was a widow of Albert Maximilien de Hénin-Liétard (1617-1640), Honorée de Berghes, Countess of Bossut (1617-1679), who claimed to have married him in Brussels on November 11, 1641. In March 1666 the

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declared the marriage valid; but the King (and the

House of Guise The House of Guise ( , ; ; ) was a prominent French noble family that was involved heavily in the French Wars of Religion. The House of Guise was the founding house of the Principality of Joinville. Origin The House of Guise was founded as a c ...

) refused to recognize the decision, thereby preventing Mme de Bossut from receiving any of the late Duke's vast fortune. Anna Gonzaga described Duke Henri's "good and bad qualities" as follows:

Monsieur Guise had the figure, the air and the manners of a hero in a novel, and his entire life bore the mark this character. Magnificence reigned in his entire person and in everything that surrounded him; his conversation was especially charming: everything he said, everything he did, proclaimed that he was an extraordinary man. Ambition and love dominated his projects, which were so vast that they were Homeric; but with such an illustrious name, heroic valor, and a bit of good fortune, nothing exceeded his hopes. He had a gift for making himself loved by all those he wanted to please, which seemed to be the lot of the princes of the House of Lorraine. He was flighty in his attachments, inconstant in his projects, hasty in carrying things out.

He died in Paris on 2 June 1664 and was succeeded by his nephew Louis Joseph de Lorraine.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guise, Henri 02 de Lorraine, Duke of 1614 births 1664 deaths Counts of Eu

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Dukes in Italy Princes of Joinville Archbishops of Reims 17th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in France Grand chamberlains of France

Henri Henri is the French form of the masculine given name Henry, also in Estonian, Finnish, German and Luxembourgish. Bearers of the given name include: People French nobles * Henri I de Montmorency (1534–1614), Marshal and Constable of France * H ...

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