Jean VI d'Aumont | |
|---|---|
| Seigneur de Aumont | |
 Equestrian portrait of Jean VI, from theMusée Condé | |
| Other titles | Marshal of France |
| Born | (1522-01-00)January 1522 Châteauroux,Kingdom of France |
| Died | 19 August 1595(1595-08-19) (aged 73) Château de Comper, Kingdom of France |
| Family | Maison d'Aumont [fr] |
| Spouse | Antoinette Chabot |
| Father | Pierre III d'Aumont |
| Mother | Françoise de Sully |
Jean VI d'Aumont (1522-1595) was a soldier and Marshal of France. He served as Marshal under Henri III, campaigning against the Protestants in 1585. He would not however conduct the campaign with much enthusiasm, and after clamour at court he would be replaced byAnne de Joyeuse He playing a key role in theDay of the Barricades andAssassination of the Duke of Guise (1588). Upon the assassination of Henri III in 1589, he would transfer his loyalties to the ProtestantNavarre and would campaign for him inBurgundy,Maine andBrittany againstthe Duke of Mercœur. He was also granted the office of governor ofDauphiné, upon it being vacated in 1592. It would be whilst fighting in Brittany in 1595, that he would be killed.
Aumont was from an old noble family, which is recorded as far back as the thirteenth century.[1]
In 1585 Aumont was granted command of an army by Henri and sent to campaign inAuvergne andLanguedoc against the forces ofNavarre.[2] He was among those accused of lethargy in the conduct of the campaign against the Protestants by those at court, as suchAnne de Joyeuse was sent to take over leadership in Auvergne.[3]
Aumont was among those nobles who in 1588, was less concerned with matters of theLigue than the duels ofLes Mignons and affairs of the court.[4] During theDay of the Barricades the angry population demanded the removal of the French and Swiss troops in the capital. The king relented, and instructed O, Alphonse,Biron and Aumont to remove the soldiers from the city. Unable to tolerate the domination of the Guise over him that the day of the Barricades had brought about, the king decided to have them assassinated.[5]
While staying atBlois in December the king met with Aumont, Rambouillet and d'Ornano in a secret council, at which they agreed that Guise would have to be killed.[6] Having worked out the specifics of the plan, the king informed Guise of his intention to retreat to his château atLa Noue for Christmas and his desire that the whole council meet prior to departing. Guise duly attended, but was puzzled by the presence of many nobles who did not usually attend council, among them Aumont.[7] He sought an explanation but none was provided for the Marshals presence. After the meeting was concluded Guise was invited into a side chamber with the king, where many nobles stabbed him to death. TheCardinal of Guise, and the Archbishop of Lyons who had remained in the chamber heard the commotion, and attempted to rush in to support their kinsmen and ally. Aumont put his hand on his sword, and as an officer of the crown forbade them, and any others in the room from moving on pain of death.[8]
The king was now unable to avoid open war with theligue. To this end Aumont was tasked to lead in March 1589 with leading the main body of the loyalist army. His forces headed out fromTours to make an attempt to besiegeLe Mans. In April his forces found themselves inAngers and were able to hold off aligue attempt on the town. Shortly thereafter in light of the dire situation in the country Henri made a rapprochement with Navarre and the two allied against theligue.[9]
With the king's death a short while later, Aumont was among the nobility that recognisedNavarre as king, even prior to his conversion to Catholicism.[10] Aumont was among the nobles who attended the heavily guarded funeral for the king inCompiègne as the civil war continued to rage.[11]
Aumont campaigned in Burgundy for Navarre in 1591, sweeping all before him in the countryside. He was however unable to make inroads into theligue bastions ofAuxerre andMâcon.[12] In 1592 Navarre appointed him as governor ofDauphiné, replacingMontpensier, he would hold this office until his death.[13] The same year he campaigned inMaine seeking to reverse the royal loss at theBattle of Craon, he capturedMayenne and would takeLaval in 1594.[14] In 1593 his campaigning moved to Brittany, where, with the support ofConti he advanced onthe Duke of Mercœur.[15] To this end he was in command of 7000 soldiers, which were entirely mercenary in composition.[16] It was during fighting in Brittany that he died in 1595.[17]