Everything about Fran Ois De Bassompierre totally explained
François de Bassompierre (
April 12,
1579,
Lorraine -
October 12,
1646), was a
French courtier.
The son of Christophe de Bassompierre (
1547-
1596), he was born at the castle of
Haroué in Lorraine. He was descended from an old family which had for generations served the dukes of Burgundy and Lorraine, and after being educated with his brothers in
Bavaria and
Italy, was introduced to the court of King
Henry IV of France in
1598. He became a great
favourite of the king and shared to the full in the dissipations of court life. In
1600, he took part in the brief campaign in
Savoy, and in
1603 fought in
Hungary for
the emperor against the Turks.
In
1614, he assisted
Marie de' Medici, now queen mother, in her struggle against the nobles, but upon her failure in
1617 remained loyal to the young king
Louis XIII and assisted the royalists when they routed Marie's supporters at
Les Ponts-de-Cé in
1620. His services during the
Huguenot rising of
1621-
1622 won for him the dignity of
marshal of France. He was with the army of the king during the
siege of La Rochelle in
1628, and in
1629 distinguished himself in the campaign against the rebels of
Languedoc. In 1615 Bassompierre had purchased from
Henri, duc de Rohan, the coveted position of colonelgeneral of the Swiss and Grisons; on this account he was sent to raise troops in
Switzerland when Louis XIII marched against Savoy in 1629, and after a short campaign in Italy his military career ended.
As a diplomat, his career was a failure. In
1621, he went to
Madrid as envoy extraordinary to arrange the dispute concerning the seizure of the
Valtelline forts by Spain, and signed the fruitless
Treaty of Madrid. In
1625, he was sent into Switzerland on an equally futile mission, and in
1626 to London to secure the retention of the Catholic ecclesiastics and attendants of
Henrietta Maria, wife of King
Charles I of England. The personal influence of Henry IV had deterred Bassompierre from a marriage with
Charlotte de Montmorency, daughter of
the constable Montmorency, afterwards princesse de Condé, and between 1614 and
1630 he was secretly married to Louise Marguerite, widow of
François, prince de Conti, and through her became implicated in the plot to overthrow Richelieu on the "
Day of the Dupes" 1630. His share was only a slight one, but his wife was an intimate friend of Marie de' Medici, and her hostility to the cardinal aroused his suspicions. By
Richelieu's orders, Bassompierre was arrested at
Senlis on
February 25,
1631, and put into the
Bastille, where he remained until Richelieu's death in
1643.
On his release his offices were restored to him, and he passed most of his time at the castle of
Tillières in
Normandy, until his death. He left a son, Francois de la Tour, by the princesse de Conti, and an illegitimate son,
Louis de Bassompierre, afterwards
Bishop of Saintes.
His
Mémoires, which are an important source for the history of his time, were first published at Cologne in 1665. He also left an incomplete account of his embassies to
Spain,
Switzerland and
England (Cologne, 1668) and a number of discourses upon various subjects.
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