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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] Prince of Conde Biography CONDÉ, FAMILY OF. One of the great families in France, and a branch of the house of Bourbon. It took its name from the town of Condé. The first to bear the title of Prince de Condé was Louis, the youngest son of Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendóme. (See below.) The family became extinct in 1830. It gave many famous men to France, of whom the following are the most noted: LOUIS I DE BOURBON, Prince de Condé (1530-69), appears in 1549 as gentleman of the royal bedchamber. He distinguished himself at the siege of Metz (1552) , and in the battle of Saint Quentin (1557). But the court was under Guise influence, and no Bourbon could expect advancement. Condé, who had early imbibed Protestant ideas, threw in his lot with the Huguenots on the accession of Francis II in 1559. He took part in the conspiracy of Amboise, formed by the Huguenots for the overthrow of the Guises. The capture and imprisonment of the chief Huguenot leaders followed, and Condé escaped execution only through the opportune death of the King. The balance of power rested in the hands of Catherine de' Medici (q.v.), who liberated Condé and made him Governor of Picardy. After the Massacre of Vassy (1562) Condé and Coligny took up arms against the Guise faction, but they were defeated at Dreux in the same year, and Condé was taken prisoner. He was, however, liberated in the year following by the pacification of Amboise. Owing to fresh persecution, the Huguenots again took up arms in 1567; an unsuccessful attempt to seize the person of the King was followed by the indecisive battle of Saint-Dénis, in which the Catholic leader, the Constable de Montmorency, was slain, and in 1568 another treaty of peace was made. Condé however, learning of court intrigues against his liberty, renewed the conflict. The battle of Jarnac (March 13, 1569) resulted most disastrously for the Huguenots. Condé rashly exposed himself and was wounded and taken prisoner. While his wounds were being dressed, he was assassinated by Montesquieu, a Swiss mercenary captain, possibly at the command of the Duke of Anjou, whom Condé had offended. "He was distinguished," says the Due d'Aumale, "by great ardor and gayety, the desire and the gift of being pleasant, by a resolute character, a proud soul, and a great and generous heart." Of the four sons who survived him, the eldest, Henri I (1552-88), joined the Huguenot cause, but renounced his religion to save his life at the time of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew. He again took up arms for Protestantism in 1585 and was excommunicated by Pope Sixtus V. After several successful encounters with the forces of the League, Condé was wounded at Contras (Oct. 20, 1587) and died a few months later, not without grave suspicions of foul play on the part of his wife and attendants. The legitimacy of his only son, Henri II (1588-1646), was a matter of great dispute; but finally he was allowed to succeed to the titles and estates of his father, and, for a time at least, was looked on as the heir presumptive to the French crown. This contingency was removed by Henry IV's second marriage and the birth of the Dauphin Louis (1601). After a life at court, devoted to the aggrandizement of his family and marked by opposition to the Huguenots, Henri II de Condé died in 1646. He was the father of the Great Condé. The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. VI (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 712-713. |