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| Louis II de Bourbon | |
|---|---|
| Le Grand Condé | |
 Portrait byJustus van Egmont,c. 1658 | |
| Prince of Condé | |
| Tenure | 26 December 1646 – 11 December 1686 |
| Predecessor | Henri |
| Successor | Henri Jules |
| Born | (1621-09-08)8 September 1621 Paris,France |
| Died | 11 December 1686(1686-12-11) (aged 65) Palace of Fontainebleau, France |
| Burial | Église St-Thomas,Vallery, France |
| Spouse | Claire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé |
| Issue Detail | Henri Jules, Prince of Condé Louis, Duke of Bourbon |
| House | Bourbon-Condé |
| Father | Henri, Prince of Condé |
| Mother | Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency |
| Religion | Catholicism |
| Signature |  |
| Military career | |
| Branch | French Army |
| Battles / wars | See battles
|
| Coat of arms of Louis II of Bourbon, Prince of Conde | |
|---|---|
 Coat of Arms of Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé |
Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé (8 September 1621 – 11 December 1686), known asle Grand Condé (French for 'the Great Condé'), was a French military commander. A tactician and strategist, he is regarded as one of France's greatest generals, particularly celebrated for his triumphs in theThirty Years' War and his campaigns during theFranco-Dutch War.[1]
A member of asenior cadet branch of theHouse of Bourbon, Condé demonstrated exceptional military prowess from a young age and distinguished himself during the Thirty Years' War, in particular at theBattle of Rocroi against Spain in 1643. He became a powerful and influential figure in France, which made him a threat toAnne of Austria, regent for the youngLouis XIV, and her prime ministerMazarin. During theFronde revolt, Condé initially supported the crown but was later imprisoned on Mazarin's orders. After his release, he launched an open rebellion and fought the royal forces until his defeat byTurenne, after which he defected to Spain. He commanded Spanish forces during the final phase of theFranco-Spanish War.
Following theTreaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, Condé was pardoned by Louis XIV and returned to France. He became a loyal supporter of the king, living a quiet life at theChâteau de Chantilly and associating with literary figures such asMolière andRacine. Despite his renewed contributions to France's military success in theWar of Devolution against Spain and the Franco-Dutch War, his personal life was marred by his unhappy marriage and estrangement from his wife,Claire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé, a niece ofRichelieu. Condé died in 1686 at the age of 65. His descendants include the present-day pretenders to the thrones of France and Italy, and the kings of Spain and Belgium.
Born in Paris as the son ofHenri II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé andCharlotte Marguerite de Montmorency, he was immediately endowed with the title ofDuke of Enghien.[2] His father was a first cousin-once-removed ofHenry IV, the King of France, and his mother was an heiress of one of France's leadingducal families.
His father saw to it that he received a thorough education, studyinghistory,law, andmathematics during six years at theJesuits' school atBourges.[3] After that, he entered the Royal Academy at Paris. At seventeen, in the absence of his father, he governedBurgundy.
His father betrothed him toClaire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé, niece ofCardinal Richelieu, before he joined the army in 1640.[3] Despite being in love with Marthe du Vigean, daughter of the king'sgentleman of the bedchamber, François Poussard, he was compelled by his father to marry hisfiancée, who was thirteen.[4] Although she bore her husband three children, Enghien later claimed she committed adultery with different men in order to justify locking her away atChâteauroux, but the charge was widely disbelieved.Saint-Simon, while admitting that she was homely and dull, praised her virtue, piety, and gentleness in the face of relentless abuse.[5]
Enghien took part with distinction in the siege ofArras.[3] He also won Richelieu's favor when he was present with the Cardinal during the plot ofCinq Mars and afterwards fought in theSiege of Perpignan (1642).
In 1643, Enghien was appointed to command against the Spanish in northern France. He was opposed byFrancisco de Melo, and thetercios of the Spanish army who were held to be the toughest soldiers in Europe. At theBattle of Rocroi, Enghien himself conceived and directed the decisive victory.[6]
After a campaign of uninterrupted success, Enghien returned to Paris in triumph, and tried to forget his enforced and hateful marriage with a series of affairs (after Richelieu's death in 1642, he would unsuccessfully seek annulment of his marriage in hopes of marrying Mlle du Vigean, until she joined the order of theCarmelites in 1647).[5] In 1644 he was sent with reinforcements intoGermany to the assistance ofTurenne, who was hard pressed, and took command of the whole army.[6]
TheBattle of Freiburg was desperately fought,[7] but after Rocroi, numerous fortresses opened their gates to the Duke.
Enghien spent the next winter, as every winter during the war, amid the gaieties of Paris. The summer campaign of 1645 opened with the defeat of Turenne byFranz von Mercy atMergentheim, but this was retrieved in the victory ofNördlingen, in which Mercy was killed, and Enghien himself received several serious wounds. The capture ofPhilippsburg was the most important of his other achievements during this campaign. In 1646 Enghien served underGaston, Duke of Orléans inFlanders, and when, after the capture ofMardyck, Orléans returned to Paris, Enghien, left in command, capturedDunkirk (11 October).
When he succeeded in 1646 as 'Prince of Condé,' his combination of military ability, noble status, and enormous wealth inspired considerable apprehension inAnne of Austria, regent for the youngLouis XIV, and her prime minister,Mazarin. Condé's vast domains included Burgundy andBerry, while thePrince de Conti, his brother, heldChampagne, and his brother-in-law,Longueville, controlledNormandy. In 1641, Louis XIII had granted himClermont-en-Argonne, ceded to France by theDuchy of Lorraine; in 1648, this was converted to anappanage, effectively making it independent of royal authority.[8]
To remove Condé from Paris, Mazarin arranged for him to lead anti-Habsburg forces in the Catalan revolt known as theReapers' War. By 1648, this had become an increasingly bitter, multi-sided conflict between the Spanish, the Catalan nobility supported by France, and the Catalan peasantry. As Mazarin had intended, Condé could achieve little; however, a Spanish revival in theLow Countries led to his recall and victory atLens in August 1648.[6]
When the aristocracy took up arms against new taxes in theFronde rebellion, Condé was recalled to Court byAnne of Austria. He quickly subdued theParlement of Paris, and the Parliamentary Fronde ended with the March 1649Peace of Rueil. The resulting uncertain balance of power between crown and nobility inspired Condé to himself rebel, starting the far more seriousFronde des nobles. In January 1650, he was arrested, along with Conti and Longueville; imprisoned atVincennes, and when asked if he needed reading material, he allegedly replied 'The Memoirs of M de Beaufort,' who had made a dramatic escape from the same prison two years earlier.[9]
Turenne and his brother, theDuke of Bouillon, were among those who had escaped arrest; they now demanded the prisoners' freedom, leading to a short-lived alliance between theFronde des nobles and theFronde des parlements. Shortly after their release in February 1651, the diverging interests of the two rebellious parties led to a shift of alliances, with the crown and Parlements against Condé's party of the high nobility. The royal forces under Turenne defeated Condé at theBattle of the Faubourg St Antoine in July 1652, ending the Fronde as a serious military threat.
Condé only escaped when theDuchess of Montpensier persuaded the Parisians to open the gates; in September, he and a few loyalists defected to Spain. Despite victory over Turenne atValenciennes in 1656,[3] defeat at theBattle of the Dunes in June 1658[10] led to theTreaty of the Pyrenees in 1659. Bending his knee to the risingSun King, Condé was pardoned and restored to his previous titles, but his power as an independent prince was broken.[3]
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Condé became a loyal supporter ofLouis XIV, living quietly at theChâteau de Chantilly, an estate inherited from his uncle,Henri II de Montmorency. Here he assembled a brilliant circle of literary men, includingMolière,Racine,Boileau,La Fontaine,Nicole,Bourdaloue, andBossuet. About this time, convoluted negotiations between the Poles were carried on with a view to theroyal elections in Poland, at first by Condé's son,Henri Jules de Bourbon, and afterwards by Condé himself. These were finally closed later in 1674 by the veto of King Louis XIV and the election ofJohn Sobieski. The Prince's retirement, which was only broken by the Polish question and by his personal intercession on behalf ofFouquet in 1664, ended in 1668.
During the 1666 to 1667War of Devolution, Condé proposed to theMarquis de Louvois, the Minister of War, a plan for seizingFranche-Comté, the execution of which was entrusted to him and successfully carried out. He was now completely re-established in the favour of King Louis XIV, and with Turenne, was appointed the principal French commander in the celebrated campaign of 1672 against the Dutch. At the forcing of theRhine passage at theBattle of Tolhuis (12 June), he received a severe wound, after which he commanded inAlsace against the Imperials.
In 1673, he was again engaged in the Low Countries, and in 1674, he fought his last great battle, theBattle of Seneffe, againstWilliam, Prince of Orange.[11] This battle, fought on 11 August, was one of the hardest of the century, and Condé, who displayed the reckless bravery of his youth, had three horses killed under him. His last campaign was that of 1675 on the Rhine, where the army had been deprived of its general by the death of Turenne; and where, by his careful and methodical strategy, he repelled the invasion of the Imperial army ofRaimondo Montecuccoli.
After this campaign, prematurely worn out by toils and excesses, and tortured bygout, Condé returned to the Château de Chantilly, where he spent his last eleven years in quiet retirement. At the end of his life, Condé sought the companionship ofBourdaloue,Pierre Nicole, andBossuet, and devoted himself to religious exercises.
In 1685, his only surviving grandson,Louis de Bourbon, marriedLouise Françoise, eldest surviving daughter of Louis and his mistressMadame de Montespan. In mid-1686, Louise Françoise, later known as 'Madame la Duchesse', contractedsmallpox while atFontainebleau; Condé helped nurse her back to health, and prevented Louis from seeing her for his own safety. Although Louise Françoise survived, Condé became ill, allegedly from worry over her health. He died at Fontainebleau on 11 November 1686 at the age of sixty-five and was buried atVallery, the traditional resting place of the Princes of Condé. Bourdaloue attended him at his death-bed, and Bossuet pronounced hiselegy.
Although his youthful marriage to Claire Clémence de Maillé had brought him a dowry of 600,000livres and many lands, Condé's lifelong resentment of his forced marriage to a social inferior persisted.[12] In his last letter to Louis, he asked that his estranged wife never be released from her exile to the countryside. She survived until 1694.
Louis marriedClaire Clémence de Maillé,[13] daughter ofUrbain de Maillé, Marquis of Brézé and Nicole du Plessis de Richelieu, at thePalais Royal in Paris, in February 1641, in the presence of KingLouis XIII,Anne of Austria, andGaston of France. Their children were:
That he was capable of waging a methodical war of positions may be assumed from his campaigns against Turenne and Montecucculi, the greatest generals opposing him. But it was in his eagerness for battle, his quick decision in action, and the stern will which sent his regiments to face the heaviest losses, that Condé earned the right to be compared to the great generals of his time. Upon theGrand Condé’s death, Louis XIV pronounced that he had lost "the greatest man in my kingdom."[citation needed]
In 1643 his success at theBattle of Rocroi, in which he led the French army to an unexpected and decisive victory over the Spanish, established him as a great general and popular hero in France. Together with theMarshal de Turenne he led the French to a favorable peace in theThirty Years' War.
During theFronde, he was courted by both sides, initially supporting Mazarin; he later became a leader of the princely opposition. After the defeat of the Fronde, he entered Spanish service and led their armies against France, notably atArras,Valenciennes, andDunkirk. He returned to France only after theTreaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 but soon received military commands again.
Condé conquered theFranche-Comté during theWar of Devolution and led the French armies in theFranco-Dutch War together with Turenne. His last campaign was in 1675, taking command after Turenne had been killed, repelling an invasion of an imperial army.
Conde is regarded as an excellent tactician, a fine strategist,[15] and one of the greatest French generals.[16] His masterpiece, theBattle of Rocroi, is still studied by students of military strategy.
His descendants include the present-daypretenders to the throne ofFrance andItaly and the kings ofSpain andBelgium.
He was portrayed in the filmVatel byJulian Glover.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Condé, Louis II. de Bourbon, Prince of".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 842–844.Louis, Grand Condé Cadet branch of theHouse of Bourbon Born: 8 September 1621 Died: 11 November 1686 | ||
| French nobility | ||
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| Preceded by | Prince of Condé 26 December 1646 – 11 November 1686 | Succeeded by |
Generations are numbered by descent fromCharles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme | ||
| 1st generation | .svg) | |
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*died without issue | ||
