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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] Gaspard de Coligny Biography COLIGNY, or COLIGNI, GASPARD DE (1517-72). Admiral of France and Huguenot leader, born at Châtillon-sur-Loing, Feb. 16, 1517. [see Reformation] He came of a noble family, his father having been Marshal Gaspard de Coligny, his mother Louise de Montmorency. He was introduced at court at the age of 22 and served under Francis I in Italy, where he evinced great bravery, especially at the battle of Ceresole (1544). Under Henry II he was made colonel general of the infantry, and in 1552 he became Admiral of France. In all the wars in which he took part he showed himself a born general and leader, his most noted exploit being the defense of Saint-Quentin (1557) against an overwhelming force of Spanish and English troops. He was finally forced to surrender and spent the next two years in a Spanish prison. On the death of Henry II, 1559, Coligny, who had previously adopted the Reformed faith, became, with the Prince of Condé, one of the great leaders of the Huguenots. In this capacity he was remarkable alike for his prudence and his bravery. Opposed to the Huguenot chiefs was the powerful Catholic party headed by the Duke of Guise and the Constable de Montmorency. At the disastrous battles of Dreux (1562) and Jarnac (1569), Coligny's skill saved the remnants of the Protestant army. Condé was slain on the field of Jarnac, and Coligny assumed the sole leadership until he gave way to the young Prince of Navarre. (See HENRY IV.) Together they besieged Poitiers, but the Huguenot forces were again routed on the bloody field of Moncontour (Oct. 3, 1569) . When peace was concluded in 1570, Coligny went to court and was apparently well received by Charles IX, whose ardor he aroused by the plan of a national war against Spain, in which Coligny hoped to sink all religious differences. His projects and his favor with the King aroused the enmity of the Catholic party, whose leader, the Duke of Guise, always suspected the Admiral of having caused the death of his father at the siege of Orleans. Guise and the Catholics formed a plot to murder Coligny, which narrowly failed, and after their lack of success in this passed to a more general plot which resulted in the Massacre of St. Bartholomew (Aug. 24 1572) in which Coligny perished. While upholding the Huguenot cause at home, Coligny exerted himself to secure a safe asylum for his coreligionists in the New World and sent repeatedly expeditions (Ribault in 1562, Laudonnière in 1564) to colonize what is now the southeastern part of the United States. Among his papers, burned by order of Catharine de'Medici was his History of the Wars of Religion in France. Consult: Tessier, L'Amiral Coligny (Paris, 1872); Delaborde, Gaspard de Coligny (3 vols., ib., 1879-82); Bersier The Early Life of Coligny (London, 1884); Blackburn, Life of Coligny (Philadelphia, 1869); Besant, Life of Coligny (London, 1892); Whitehead, Gaspard de Coligny (ib., 1905); Erich Marck's Gaspard von Coligny (Stuttgart, 1892; vol. i (to 1560) is all that has so far appeared). The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. V (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 579. |