Henri II d'Orléans, duc de Longueville or Henri de Valois-Longueville (6 April 1595 – 11 May 1663), a legitimated prince of France (of royal descent) and
peer of France, served as governor 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 ...
, then of
Normandy
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
, and was a major figure during the
Fronde.
Life
He was the only son of
Henri I d'Orléans, duc de Longueville and Princess
Catherine de Nevers who belonged to the influential
Gonzaga family.
As an opponent of
Concino Concini, the favourite of
Marie de' Medici
Marie de' Medici (; ; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV. Marie served as regent of France between 1610 and 1617 during the minority of her son Louis XIII. Her mandate as rege ...
, he joined the plot mounted in 1616 by
Henri II of Bourbon-Condé, during which his forces occupied the city of
Péronne, Concini's last remaining stronghold in Picardy. In 1619, he gave the governorship of Picardy to Louis XIII's favorite,
Charles d'Albert, duc de Luynes, obtaining in exchange that of Normandy. In the summer of 1620, he joined the
revolt of Marie de Medici, but the Parliament of Rouen and the city of Dieppe, which he besieged, remained loyal to the king. Longueville was suspended from his duties for a few months.
Longueville headed the French delegation in the talks that led to the
Treaty of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two Peace treaty, peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy R ...
which ended the
Thirty Years War
The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine, or disease, whil ...
(1648). During the peace proceedings, his insistence on being called ''Altesse'', added to the conflict regarding ambassadorial titles.
In his role as sovereign
prince of Neuchâtel, and acting as antagonist of the
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...
power rather than as liberal benefactor, he succeeded in obtaining formal exemption from the Holy Roman Empire for all cantons and associates of the
Swiss Confederacy
The Old Swiss Confederacy, also known as Switzerland or the Swiss Confederacy, was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ), initially within the Holy Roman Empire. It is the precursor of the modern state of Switzerlan ...
.
In 1642 he married
Anne Geneviève de Bourbon; his brother-in-law was
Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, leader of the aristocratic party in the Fronde. After the
Peace of Rueil (11 March 1649) had ended the first phase of the civil war,
Mazarin's sudden arrest of the Grand Condé, his brother the prince de Conti and their brother-in-law the duc de Longueville, on 14 January 1650 precipitated the next phase of the Fronde, the ''Fronde des nobles''.
Family
He married his first wife
Louise de Bourbon in
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 ...
on 10 April 1617, their children were:
*
Marie (1625–1707), who married
Henri II, Duke of Nemours
* Louise (1626–1628)
* X (1634–1634)
After his first wife's death, he married
Anne Geneviève de Bourbon in 1642, their children were:
* Charlotte Louise, Mademoiselle de Dunois (1644–1645)
* Jean Louis Charles d'Orléans, Duke of Longueville (1646–1694)
* Marie Gabrielle (1646–1650)
*
Charles Paris d'Orléans, Duke of Longueville (1649–1672).
Notes
References
Sources
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External list
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Liste des ducs de Longueville
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henri Ii Dorleans
1595 births
1663 deaths
People from Picardy (province)
People from the Province of Normandy
Dukes of Longueville
17th-century peers of France
Princes of Neuchâtel
House of Valois-Orléans