Joseph Boniface de La Môle (c. 1526 – 30 April 1574) was a French nobleman. He was the son of Jacques Boniface, seigneur de la Môle et de Colobrières, of

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

Life

La Môle was the Provençal lover of Marguerite de Valois, among others, during the early part of her marriage to King Henry III of Navarre, the future king of France (Henry IV). He served François, Duke of Anjou and Alençon, Marguerite's brother and youngest son of King

Henry II of France Henry II (; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was List of French monarchs#House of Valois-Angoulême (1515–1589), King of France from 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I of France, Francis I and Claude of France, Claude, Du ...

and

Catherine de' Medici Catherine de' Medici (, ; , ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Italian Republic of Florence, Florentine noblewoman of the Medici family and Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to Henry II of France, King Henry II. Sh ...

. He represented the Duc d'Alençon during marriage negotiations with Queen

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

in 1572. In 1574 he was implicated in a Malcontent conspiracy against the reigning king, Charles IX, who was gravely ill, supported by the

duke of Alençon Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

. He was accused of making an attempt on the king's life when a wax figurine pricked with needles, which he had obtained from the astrologer Cosimo Ruggeri, was found in his possession. After being subjected to questioning and torture, he was condemned to death. He was quartered and beheaded at the Place de Grève in Paris with his co-conspirator, . It has been rumoured that Marguerite embalmed la Môle's head and kept it in a jewelled casket.See E.R. Chamberlin, Margaret of Valois (NY: 1974) and Charlotte Haldane, Queen of Hearts (London, 1968).

Popular culture

* William Shakespeare seems to have heard of the incident. In Act IV, scene I of 2 Henry VI, the character William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk and lover of Queen Margaret, is beheaded. In scene IV, Margaret brings his head to a conference at the palace, where she weeps over and embraces it. * A major character of Alexandre Dumas's novel '' La Reine Margot'', la Môle is transformed into Joseph-Hyacinthe Boniface de Lerac de la Mole, a

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 ...

nobleman saved by Queen Marguerite during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. The figure who was saved after stumbling into the Queen's bed chamber was not, in fact, la Môle, who took part in the Massacre, but rather was a gentleman named M. de Teian. * Fictional descendants of La Môle also feature prominently in

Stendhal Marie-Henri Beyle (; 23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal (, , ), was a French writer. Best known for the novels ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' ('' The Red and the Black'', 1830) and ''La Chartreuse de Parme'' ('' T ...

's novel '' The Red and the Black''. * He is portrayed by Swiss actor Vincent Pérez in the film '' La Reine Margot'' and Dmitry Kharatyan in the Russian miniseries "La Reine Margot" ("Королева Марго" (1996)).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mole, Joseph Boniface De La 1520s births 1574 deaths Huguenots French torture victims Executed French people 16th-century executions by France