Louis De L'Hôpital

Louis de L'Hôpital, marquis de Vitry (1555 – 1611) was a French noble, governor, military commander and rebel during the latter French Wars of Religion. The son of François de l'Hôpital and Anne de La Châtre, Vitry found himself drawn into the opposition to the king in the early 1580s affiliating with the king's brother Alençon. In this capacity he served under the command of his maternal uncle Claude de La Châtre In 1584 the king successfully detached him, and made Vitry into a royal favourite, granting him the honour of being made a ''chevalier de l'Ordre de Saint-Michel'', before appointing him the governor of Dourdan and lieutenant of the royal hunt.

In 1589, Henri entered war with the Catholic ''ligue'', Vitry was loyal to Henri and fought for the king at the head of a company in the Brie. When the king was assassinated, and his Protestant heir Henri IV succeeded him, Vitry was the highest profile noble to defect to the ''ligueur'' cause. He joined his uncle, La Châtre, an earlier ''ligueur'' convert at Bourges, serving as the leader of his cavalry against the royalists and as governor of the city when La Châtre was absent. During Henri's siege of Paris, Vitry participated in the ''ligueur'' defence. As reward for his service, the lieutenant-general of the ''ligue'', Mayenne made him ''maître de camp'' of the ''ligueur'' light cavalry, and governor of Meaux. In 1593, Henri would convert to Catholicism, and Vitry began to look for an exit ramp from his support of the ''ligue''. In December he entered negotiations with the king, and the city was handed over to the royalists on 4 January 1594, much to Mayenne's fury. As a reward for the defection, Vitry's debts were cleared, and he was confirmed as governor of Meaux with survivance for his son. Vitry played a role in the royalist capture of Paris in March 1594, leading a column of troops into the city ahead of the king. As early as 1602 he was serving as the captain of the king's bodyguard, and on the day when Henri was assassinated, Vitry had warned him of the risks of going into the city without him, only to be dismissed. He died the following year.

Early life and family

Louis de l'Hôpital was born in 1555, the son of François de l'Hôpital, marquis of Vitry and Anne de La Châtre. Vitry's maternal uncle, Claude de La Châtre, was the ''ligueur'' governor of Berry.

In August 1580, Vitry married Françoise de Brichenteau, the younger sister of the royal favourite Beauvais-Nangis.

Reign of Henri III

In 1580 the king granted him a gift of 1000 ''écus''.

Alençon

After his disgrace in 1581, Beauvais-Nangis sought the friendship of his brothers in law; Vitry and Claude de Bauffremont. Many nobles who were in opposition to the king aligned themselves with his brother Alençon. Vitry was among these nobles during the early 1580s, and served in the dukes household as a ''gentilhomme de la chambre''. Vitry distinguished himself as a soldier under the command of his uncle La Châtre.

Favourite

His allegiance to the prince was to be temporary however, Henri keen to win him over. In 1584 he was made a ''chevalier de l'Ordre de Saint-Michel'', the second highest order of French chivalry. This was followed by elevation as a ''gentilhomme de la chambre du roi'' the following year. In the final years of Henri's reign he would become lieutenant of the royal hunt and governor of the town and citadel of Dourdan.

In 1584, Henri's brother Alençon died. Given Henri had no children with his wife, this meant that succession defaulted on his distant cousin the Protestant king of Navarre. For many Catholic notables this was unacceptable, and under the direction of the duke of Guise and Lorraine family they formed a Catholic ''ligue'' to oppose the succession, and various other royal policies. In March 1585 this ''ligue'' made war on Henri and forced him to void Navarre's right to the succession and make war on Protestantism. Over the next few years Henri's relations with his nominal ''ligueur'' allies against Protestantism would deteriorate.

Loyalist

With the king at war with the ''ligue'' in 1589 after assassinating the duke of Guise, Vitry rallied to him. He raised a company of light cavalry in the Brie and faced off against the ''ligueurs'' of the area.

Reign of Henri IV

Ligueur

The ''ligue'' recognised the murder of Henri III on 2 August as a great opportunity, with many loyal lords now faced with the immediate prospect of having to serve a Protestant king in the form of Navarre, now styled Henri IV. To this end they sent out appeals urging defections from Catholic royalists. Vitry was the first great noble to heed this call and on 12 August promised to deliver the town of Dourdan of which he was governor to the late duke of Guise's mother duchesse de Nemours. On 17 August he advanced 600 ''écus'' to the lieutenant general of the ''ligue'' the duke of Mayenne's army. Overall however, most nobles of stature who were sympathetic to the ''ligue'' had already declared for the ''ligue'' prior to the death of Henri, therefore Vitry was largely an exception in his late defection.

At the head of a cavalry force, he put himself at the service of his ''ligueur'' uncle La Châtre, forming the basis of the military of his little fiefdom carved out around Bourges. When La Châtre was absent from Bourges he entrusted Vitry as governor of the city in his stead.

Vitry participated in the defence of ''ligueur'' held Paris against an attempted siege by Henri IV in early 1590. As a reward for his service, Mayenne appointed him the ''ligueur'' governor of Meaux. He was further established as ''maître de camp'' for the ''ligueur'' light cavalry.

Mayenne and the radical ''ligue'' leadership of Paris, known as the ''Seize'' were increasingly alienated from one another. The ''Seize'' were frustrated by Mayenne's cautious conservativism and decided to strike out in November 1591 against those they perceived to be royalists, killing the ''premier président'' of the ''Parlement'' Barnabe Brisson. Mayenne was outraged, and decided it was time to liquidate the radical leadership of his movement. On 4 December Vitry, on his orders rounded up several leading members of the Parisian ''Seize'', Auroux, Émonnot, Ameline and Louchard and put them under arrest. Shortly thereafter, they were hanged outside the Louvre.

Meaux

In December 1593, after Henri's conversion to Catholicism, his victory became increasingly inevitable and a wave of defections to the royalist camp followed. The municipal leadership of Meaux were keen to defect to the royal cause, and Vitry followed their lead, offering his capitulation to Henri.

The city opened its gates to Henri on 4 January 1594. The principal inhabitants of Meaux travelled to the king to make official Vitry's surrender. Upon entering his presence they were overcome, and prostrated themselves. Henri wept and informed them, they were not his enemies but subjects, and that he would embrace them as a father does their children. The city of Meaux secured itself generous terms from Henri. Henri promised to protect the Catholic institutions of Meaux, promised he would not allow Protestant worship within its walls, confirmed all the ''ligueur'' officers in their posts, waived back taxes and exempted Meaux from the ''taille'' for the next 9 years.

When Mayenne received news of Meaux's defection in Paris, he was furious. It was reported that he tore the letter delivering the news to him apart with his teeth.

For Henri the defection of Meaux was a key stepping point to Paris, and he highlighted his generous treatment of the city in the letters he had smuggled into the capital. Vitry for his part used the surrender as an opportunity to publish a manifesto (''Le Manifeste à la noblesse de France'') in which he elaborated that he had only rebelled due to Henri being a Protestant, and now that he was Catholic there was no cause to defy him. Vitry was richly rewarded for his defection, receiving confirmation of his ''ligueur'' granted post as governor of the city, with a promise that his son could succeed him in the role. He received further appointment as governor of his seigneurie Vitry-Coubert in Brie. He was further granted 108,000 ''livres'' to clear his debts.

Vitry's defection came only days before his uncle La Châtre wrote to Mayenne informing him that it was not imperative to negotiate with Henri. La Châtre would submit to Henri with Orléans

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