Philippe-Emmanuel de Lorraine,

Duke of Mercœur The Seigneurs and Dukes of Mercœur were a line of powerful lords deriving their name from the estate of Mercœur in Auvergne (province), Auvergne, France. The line became extinct in the 14th century, and passed by inheritance to the Dauphin of Auv ...

and of Penthièvre (9 September 1558, in Nomeny,

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a '' département'' in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. Its prefecture and largest city is Nancy and it borders the departments of Meuse to the west, Vosges to the south, ...

– 19 February 1602, in

Nürnberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the largest city in Franconia, the second-largest city in the German state of Bavaria, and its 544,414 (2023) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest city in Germany. ...

) was a French soldier, a prince of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

and a prominent member of the Catholic League, who fought for Breton political independence from the

House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...

Life

Philippe-Emmanuel de Lorraine, Duke of Mercoeur was born on 9 September 1558 in Nomeny, France, the eldest surviving son of Nicholas, Count of Vaudémont and Jeanne de Savoie-Nemours. In 1575, Mercoeur married Marie de Luxembourg, daughter of Sébastien de Luxembourg, which, together with the title of Duc de Penthièvre, also brought him rights to the crown of the

Duchy of Brittany The Duchy of Brittany (, ; ) was a medieval feudal state that existed between approximately 939 and 1547. Its territory covered the northwestern peninsula of France, bordered by the Bay of Biscay to the west, and the English Channel to the north. ...

. He was made a knight of the Order of Saint Esprit in 1578.

Rebellion in Brittany

In 1582, after the death of the

Duke of Montpensier The French fief, lordship of Montpensier (named after the village of Montpensier, Puy-de-Dôme, Montpensier, département in France, département of Puy-de-Dôme), located in historical Auvergne (province), Auvergne, became a countship in the 14 ...

, he was made

governor of Brittany This page is a list of royal governors of Brittany during the Ancien Régime. *Nominoe (841-851) *Enguerrand VII, Lord of Coucy (1380–1397) *Jean de Laval, Mayenne, Laval, husband of Françoise de Foix (1528-1554) *Jean IV de Brosse (1554-1565) * ...

Henry III of France Henry III (; ; ; 19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589) was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589, as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575. As the fourth son of King Henry II of France, he ...

, who had married his half-sister. In 1588 Mercœur joined the Catholic League in Brittany, and had himself proclaimed protector of the

Roman Catholic Church 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 ...

in the province. His wife's family, the House of Penthièvre, were descendants of the

House of Dreux The House of Dreux was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. It was founded by Robert I, Count of Dreux, a son of Louis VI of France, who was given the Counts of Dreux, County of Dreux as his appanage. The Counts of Dreux were relatively mino ...

as Dukes of Brittany. The House of Penthièvre had lost the dukedom of Brittany to the House of Montfort in the

Breton War of Succession The War of the Breton Succession (, ) or Breton Civil War was a conflict between the Counts of Blois and the Montforts of Brittany for control of the Duchy of Brittany, then a fief of the Kingdom of France. It was fought between 1341 and ...

in the 14th century. They had subsequently attempted to overthrow the Montfortist Dukes, with no success. Claiming hereditary rights through his wife, Mercœur endeavoured to make himself independent monarch of the region, and organized a government at

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and naming his son "prince and duke of Brittany". He formed an alliance with Spain and continued to press for his independence from France when the Huguenot Henry of Navarre converted to Catholicism and became King of France. King

Henry IV of France Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

sent a force against him led by the Duc de Montpensier. With the aid of the Spanish Royal Army, he defeated the French Royalist troops at the

Battle of Craon The battle of Craon took place during the Brittany campaign of the French Wars of Religion in Craon, Mayenne between 21–24 May 1592. It was fought between a Kingdom of France, French Crown army under Henri de Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier and Fr ...

in 1592. However, the royal troops were reinforced by English contingents and soon recovered the advantage. The king at last marched against Mercœur in person, but received his submission at

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

on 20 March 1598, the last member of the League to do so. King Henry IV assured his dynasty's future inheritance of Brittany by arranging the marriage of his illegitimate son, César Duc de Vendôme, to Mercœur's daughter Francoise.

Later years and death

Mercœur subsequently went to Hungary, where he entered the service of the emperor

Rudolph II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg), Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–16 ...

after answering the call to arms by the Holy Roman Emperor against the Ottomans. He fought against the Turks, defeating the Ottomans twice at the siege of Albe-Royale (Székesfehérvár) in 1601. He died after falling sick while returning to Lorraine in 1602. On 27 April, a

Requiem Mass A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is u ...

was celebrated for him at

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...

, with the

eulogy A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person, especially one who recently died or retired, or as a term o ...

delivered by St. François de Sales.

Family

Philippe married Marie de Luxembourg (1562–1623), Duchesse de Penthièvre and daughter of Sébastien, Duke of Penthièvre, on 12 July 1579 in Paris. He had two children with Marie: # Philippe Louis de Lorraine (21 May 1589 – 21 December 1590) died in infancy. #

Françoise de Lorraine, Duchesse de Mercœur et de Penthièvre Françoise () is a French feminine given name (equivalent to the English Frances or Italian Francesca) and may refer to: * Anne Françoise Elizabeth Lange (1772–1816), French actress * Claudine Françoise Mignot (1624–1711), French adventur ...

(November 1592 – 8 September 1669, Paris) Françoise married

César de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar, Portugal * Cesar Department, Colombia * Cesar River, in Colombia * Cesar R ...

, an illegitimate son of

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...

on 16 July 1608.

References

Sources