View source for Henri de Montmorency, 4th Duke of Montmorency

{{Short description|French nobleman and military commander}}
[[File:Henri II de Montmorency.jpg|thumb|Henri de Montmorency]]
[[File:Montmorency-Henri-Daret.jpg|thumb|Engraving by [[Pierre Daret]]]]
[[File:Anguier montmorency.jpg|thumb|The funerary monument, by [[Michel Anguier]]]]
[[File:Montmorency Park National Historic Site of Canada-Old Québec-CRHP10404-RPCQ105312-RPCQ93523-CRHP3134-20230107.jpg|thumb|[[Parc Montmorency]] in [[Quebec City]]]]
'''Henri de Montmorency, 4th Duke of Montmorency''' (1595 – 30 October 1632) was a French nobleman and military commander. Made Grand admiral in 1612, governor of Languedoc in 1614, and by 1620 was viceroy of New France. Despite defeating a Protestant fleet and seizing islands of Re and Oleron, Cardinal Richelieu kept him from taking advantage of these victories. Henri defeated the Duke of Rohan in Languedoc during 1628-1629. He gained notoriety as a military commander in Piedmont during the War of the Mantuan Succession in 1630. Joining the forces of Gaston, Duke of Orleans (the king's brother), Henri raised an army and was severely wounded at [[Battle of Castelnaudary]]. Captured, he was executed on 30 October 1632, by a [[guillotine|guillotine-like]] device.
==Life and career==
Born at [[Chantilly, Oise]], Henri was the son of [[Henri de Montmorency, 3rd Duke of Montmorency]], and his second wife, Louise de Budos.{{sfn|Barbier|2002|p=489}} He was the godson of [[Henri IV of France|King Henri IV]] and was constantly receiving marks of the royal affection. Henri's name and his personality rendered him at an early age the darling of the court and the people. By 1612, he was raised to the office of [[Grand admiral|Grand Admiral]].{{sfn|James|2004|p=61}} Henri succeeded to his father's title of [[Duke of Montmorency]] in 1614 and was also governor of [[Languedoc]].{{sfn|Koskenniemi|2021|p=506}} With influence from Marie de Medici, he married [[Marie-Félicie des Ursins|Maria Felicia Orsini]], an Italian noblewoman.{{sfn|Sandberg|2010|p=49-50}} In 1620, he was made viceroy of [[New France]], a post he held until 1625.{{sfn|Fischer|2009|p=367}}
Henri wrested several important places from the Protestants and was present at the sieges of [[Siege of Montauban|Montauban]] and [[Siege of Montpellier|Montpellier]]. On the renewal of the civil war in 1625, the fleet sent from Holland to aid the French king was placed under his command.{{sfn|Traill|1858|p=520}} In 1625, Henri defeated the French [[Protestant]] fleet under [[Benjamin de Rohan, duc de Soubise|Soubise]] and seized the islands of [[Île de Ré|Ré]] and [[Oleron]], but the jealousy of [[Cardinal Richelieu]] deprived him of the means of following up these advantages.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=787}}
In 1628–1629, Henri took command of a royal army to fight the forces of [[Henri, Duc de Rohan]], in [[Languedoc]], and he bested that famous leader of the Huguenots.{{sfn|Traill |1858|p=520}}
In 1630, Henri won renown as a military leader in [[War of the Mantuan Succession|the war against the Spaniards]] in [[Piedmont (Italy)]].{{sfn|Traill |1858|p=520}} He defeated the Piedmontese at the [[Battle of Avigliana]], where he charged across a ditch at the head of the gendarmes of the king, captured [[Carlo Doria]], the enemy general, with his own hand, and fought like a common soldier until the enemy was completely driven from the field. This victory was followed by the raising of the [[siege of Casal]] and the taking of [[Saluzzo]]. For these achievements, he was appointed a [[Marshal of France]] later in the same year.{{sfn|Traill |1858|p=520}}{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=787}}
At the height of his fame and influence, he was solicited to join the opponents of [[Cardinal Richelieu]], Louis XIII's chief minister. Disliking Richelieu's attempts to rein in the influence of his class, in 1632, using his position as governor of Languedoc, he raised levies of troops and money, joined the party of [[Jean-Baptiste Gaston, duc d'Orléans|Gaston, Duke of Orleans]] (the king's brother) and took command of an army of six or seven thousand.{{sfn|Traill|1858|p=520}}{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=787}}
Negotiation was tried in vain; Henri was confronted and defeated by [[Henri de Schomberg|Marshal Schomberg]] at the [[Battle of Castelnaudary]] (1 September 1632).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=787}} Trying to emulate his victory at Avigliana, Henri led a charge into the royal camp at the head of a few horsemen. He cut his way through six ranks of infantry amidst a continuing shower of shot and fought against overwhelming numbers, until his horse dropped dead. Severely wounded, he was captured.{{sfn|Traill|1858|p=520}}{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=787}}
Abandoned by Gaston, he was doomed to death by the remorseless Richelieu, as an example to the rest of the plotting nobility. In vain his life was begged for by all ranks throughout France. The only palliation of punishment that could be obtained from Louis XIII was that the execution should be in private. Henri was therefore beheaded in [[Toulouse]]'s [[Toulouse Town Hall|town hall]] 30 October 1632, by a [[guillotine|guillotine-like]] device (according to the memoirs of [[Jacques de Chastenet-Puységur|Jacques, vicomte de Puysegur]]).{{sfn|Traill|1858|p=520}}{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=787}} His title passed to his sister, [[Charlotte-Marguerite de Montmorency|Charlotte Marguerite, Princess of Condé]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=787}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Sources==
*{{cite book |title=Ma bibliothèque Poétique |first=Jean Paul |last=Barbier |publisher=Librairie Droz |year=2002 |language=French  }}
*{{cite book |title=Champlain's Dream |first=David Hackett |last=Fischer |publisher=Knopf   |year=2009  }}
*{{cite book |title=The Navy and Government in Early Modern France, 1572-1661 |first=Alan |last=James |year=2004 |publisher=The Boydell Press }}
*{{cite book |title=To the Uttermost Parts of the Earth: Legal Imagination and International Power 1300-1870 |first=Martti |last=Koskenniemi |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2021 }}
*{{cite book |title=Warrior Pursuits: Noble Culture and Civil Conflict in Early Modern France |first=Brian |last=Sandberg |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=2010  }}
*{{source-attribution|{{cite encyclopedia|editor-last=Traill |editor-first=Thomas Stewart |year=1858 |title=Montmorency, Henri II  |encyclopedia=The Encyclopaedia Britannica: or, Dictionary of arts, sciences and general literature |volume=15 |edition=8 |publisher=A. and C. Black |page=520 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZTsgAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA520}} }}
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Montmorency (family)|display=Montmorency |volume=11 |page=787 }}
==Further reading==
*{{cite web |first=Miroslav |last=Marek |url=http://genealogy.euweb.cz/morency/morency3.html |title=Montmorency genealogy |publisher=genealogy.euweb.cz |date=4 January 2005}}<!--unreliable source-->
==External links==
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[[Category:1595 births]]
[[Category:1632 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Chantilly, Oise]]
[[Category:House of Montmorency|Henri 2 De]]
[[Category:Dukes of Montmorency]]
[[Category:Counts of Dammartin|Henri 2]]
[[Category:Marshals of France]]
[[Category:Admirals of France]]
[[Category:17th-century peers of France]]
[[Category:17th-century executions by France]]
[[Category:People executed for treason against France]]
[[Category:People of the War of the Mantuan Succession]]