View source for Bernard de Nogaret de La Valette d'Épernon

{{short description|17th-century French nobleman}}
[[File:Bernard de Foix de la Valette Duke of Épernon 1650.jpeg|thumb|right|260px|Engraved portrait of Bernard de Nogaret de La Valette, 1650, by [[Robert Nanteuil]], [[Yale University Art Gallery]]]]
'''Bernard de Nogaret de La Valette''' (1592 &ndash; 25 July 1661) was [[Duke of Épernon]] and a French general, the son of [[Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette]] and [[Marguerite de Foix-Candale]], granddaughter of the constable of [[Montmorency family|Montmorency]]. Through his mother's line, Bernard could also claim the English title of [[Earl of Kendal]], originally granted to his ancestor [[John de Foix, 1st Earl of Kendal|John de Foix]] in 1446.
==Life==
Bernard was born in 1592 in [[Angoulême]]. In 1622, he married Gabrielle-Angélique de Verneuil, legitimised daughter of Henri IV and the [[Catherine Henriette de Balzac d'Entragues|Marquise de Verneuil]], with whom he had a son, [[Louis-Charles-Gaston de Candale]], and a daughter, Anne-Louise-Christine de Foix de La Valette d'Épernon. Gabrielle-Angélique died in 1627 (some say Bernard poisoned her) and in 1634 he married Marie Ducambaut, a niece of [[Cardinal Richelieu]]. It was not a happy marriage, as Bernard later conceived a lifelong passion for a middle-class woman named Ninon de Lartigue, who exerted absolute power over him and to whom he gave enormous sums of money.
[[File:Coat of arms of Bernard de Nogaret de Foix, Duc d'Épernon, KG.png|thumb|150px|left|Gartered arms of Bernard de Nogaret de Foix, Duc d'Épernon, KG]]
Like his father, Bernard made a career of the military. He was named colonel-general of infantry and fought at the sieges of [[Siege of Saint-Jean-d'Angély (1621)|Saint-Jean-d'Angély]] (1621) and [[Siege of Royan|Royan]] (1622) and at the attack of the pas de Suse (1629). On 15 May 1633, Bernard became a Chevalier du Saint-Esprit and in 1635 he was charged by [[Louis XIII]] with restoring the order which had been disturbed by the lifting of taxes and religious passions. He fought in [[Picardy]] (1636), in [[Guyenne]], and finally against the Spanish, and repressed a peasants' revolt, the [[Croquant rebellions|Révolte des Croquants]], in 1637.
Charged by the [[Henry II de Bourbon, prince de Condé|Prince de Condé]] in 1638 with leading the assault at the [[Siege of Fuenterrabía (1638)|Siege of Fuenterrabía]] ([[Hondarribia]]), he refused, believing that the breach was not broad enough. He yielded his post to [[Henri de Sourdis|Vice-Admiral de Sourdis]], who launched an ill-fated attack which resulted in heavy losses.  The disaster was nonetheless attributed to the Duke of Valette, who had nothing to do with it and in fact had rejoined the remains of the army and led it to [[Bayonne]]. Richelieu, who hated de La Valette, had him tried in front of an extraordinary court chaired by the king himself (1639). The court returned a sentence of death but de La Valette, who knew Richelieu well, had prudently departed for England where he received the [[Order of the Garter]].  The penalty was carried out in effigy.
In 1642 Bernard's father died, raising him to the title of Duke of Épernon. After the death of [[Louis XIII]], Bernard returned to France where the [[Parlement of Paris]] cancelled the judgement against him (1643). In 1648 he became governor of Guyenne. That same year, he was responsible for transporting artillery of the Château du Hâ to arm the Château-Trompette to put down unrest resulting from the Parliament of Bordeaux's refusal to allow the departure of a shipment of corn, for fear of famine. Bernard also served as governor of Burgundy (1654–1660) and was a guard of the theatre company of [[Charles Dufresne (actor)|Charles Dufresne]] (whose most famous member was [[Molière]]).
He died in Paris in 1661.
==Family==
Bernard's children included:
* [[Louis-Charles-Gaston de Candale]]
* Anne-Louise-Christine de Foix de La Valette d’Épernon
==See also==
*[[Guillaume de Nogaret]]
*[[Jean Parisot de la Valette]]
*[[Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette]]
==References==
*[[:fr:Bernard de Nogaret de La Valette d'Épernon|Bernard de Nogaret de La Valette d'Épernon (French Wikipedia)]]
==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|Bernard de Nogaret de La Valette}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051014042651/http://www.eureetloir.cci.fr/images/epernon.jpg Arms of Epernon]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071105100749/http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Bayou/3653/tree/ArchValx.html  Valette family tree]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nogaret de La Valette, Jean Louis de}}
[[Category:1592 births]]
[[Category:1661 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Angoulême]]
[[Category:Dukes of Épernon]]
[[Category:Counts of Candale]]
[[Category:French generals]]
[[Category:Knights of the Garter]]
[[Category:Peers created by Louis XIII]]
[[Category:Military personnel of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)]]
[[Category:House of Nogaret de La Vallete]]