View source for Imbert de La Platière

{{Short description|French army officer}}
{{Infobox noble|name=Imbert de la Platière|title=Seigneur de Bourdillon|image=Imbert_de_La_Platière-Bourdillon.jpg|caption=|other_titles=[[Marshal of France]], Seigneur de Frasnay, [[Montigny-lès-Cherlieu]], [[Saint-Sulpice, Nièvre|Saint-Sulpice]]|birth_date={{birth date|1516|1||df=y}}|birth_place=|death_date={{death date and age|1567|4|4|1516|1||df=y}}|death_place=[[Fontainbleau]], Kingdom of France|house-type=Nobility|noble family={{ill|Famille de La Platière|fr}}|spouse=|issue=|father=Philippe de La Platière|mother=Catherine de La Fayette}}
'''Imbert de La Platière''', lord of Bourdillon (1516–1567), was a French army officer and [[Marshal of France]]. He began his career under [[Francis I of France|Francis I]], fighting at the famous victory of [[Battle of Ceresole|Ceresole]] in 1544. During the reign of [[Henri II of France|Henri II]] he continued to receive career advancements, becoming Lieutenant general first of Champagne and Brie in 1553, and then the important border fortresses in the [[Piedmont]] in 1559. Having fought for the crown during the [[Italian Wars]] he continued to serve loyally as the [[French Wars of Religion]] began, becoming a Marshal in December 1562 on the death of [[Paul de Thermes]], aiding in the enforcement of the [[Peace of Amboise]] after the first religious war, and being sent to crush the nascent religious leagues in 1565. He died in 1567, shortly before the civil wars resumed.
== Early life and family ==
A member of the Platière family, native of the region [[Nivernais]], Imbert de la Platière, Lord of Bourdillon, Frasnay, [[Montigny-lès-Cherlieu]], [[Saint-Sulpice, Nièvre|Saint-Sulpice]], [[Saint-Aubin-les-Forges|Saint-Aubin]] and [[Époisses, Côte-d'Or|Époisses]],<ref name="Histoire">[https://books.google.com/books?id=VTHpsuBbcaAC&dq=%22Imbert+de+la+Platiere%2C+seigneur+de+Bourdillon%22&pg=PA222 ''Histoire de la Maison Royale de France, et des grands officiers de la Couronne'', tome VII, 1733, page 222.]</ref> was born in 1516.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=l3rVMqHweGMC&dq=%22Imbert+de+la+Plati%C3%A8re+des+Bordes%2C+dit+Bourdillon%2C+mar%C3%A9chal+de+France+%281516-1567%29%22&pg=PA727 Positions des thèses soutenues pour obtenir le diplôme d'archiviste-paléographe, École des Chartes, 1967, page 150 : Jean-Pierre Busson ''Imbert de la Platière des Bordes dit Bourdillon maréchal de France (1516-1567)'']</ref><ref name="Bonvallet 44">{{cite book | language= fr | author1=Adrien Bonvallet| title=Le château des Bordes et ses seigneurs : Etude Historique | editor=Paulin Fay | location=Nevers | date=1869 | page=44 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t69CAAAAYAAJ&q=4%C2%B0+Imbert+de+La+Plati%C3%A8re%2C+chevp.ier%2C+seigneur+de+Bourdillon&pg=PA44}}</ref> He was the son of Philippe de la Platière, lord of the Bordes, ''maître d' hôtel'' of the king who was made captain of city Niort in 1520 before dying a few years later in 1525 and Catherine de La Fayette who died in 1529.{{sfn|Bonvallet|1869|p=44}} He was also the nephew of Imbert de la Platière (d. 1519), Bishop of [[Nevers]].<ref name="Histoire"/> He remained tied with Nevers his career advancing as a protégé of [[Francis I, Duke of Nevers|the Duke of Nevers]].{{sfn|Harding|1978|p=42}}
He married first [[Claude de Damas]] who was the widow of Gerarde de la Magdelaine, she would however die in 1558, and he would remarry, to [[Françoise de Birague]] daughter of [[René de Birague]] who became Chancellor of France in 1573. He had no children with either wife, and his niece Françoise de la Platière became his heiress upon his death.{{sfn|Bonvallet|1869|p=47}}
== Reign of Francis I ==
He participated in [[King Francis I of France]]'s military campaigns in [[Champagne-Ardenne|Champagne]] and [[Italy]], including the famous [[Battle of Ceresole]] in 1544.<ref name="books.google.fr">[https://books.google.com/books?id=IRlYAAAAcAAJ Adrien Bonvallet, Le château des Bordes et ses seigneurs : Étude Historique, Nevers, 1869.]</ref> In the wake of the battle, he was made ''bailli'' of Auxois in 1545.{{sfn|Bonvallet|1869|p=44}}
During this time he was in the service of the duke of Nevers, lieutenant of a company of his soldiers, and captain of 50 gentlemen of an ordinance company.{{sfn|Bonvallet|1869|p=44}}
==Reign of Henri II==
Upon the ascension of the new king he was granted the title of [[Maréchal de camp]] in 1552, [[Lieutenant general]] in charge of the ''gouvernment'' of Champagne and Brie in 1553. In 1554 he fought the Spanish around [[Mézières, Ardennes|Mezieres]] clearing them from the area.{{sfn|Bonvallet|1869|p=44}} In 1557 France was stunned by the crushing defeat dealt to the army at the [[Battle of Saint-Quentin (1557)|battle of Saint-Quentin]], Bourdillon successfully extracted the remnants of the army from the field, preventing a larger disaster.{{sfn|Bonvallet|1869|p=44}} He fought at the relief of [[Thionville]] in 1558.<ref name="books.google.fr"/> By the terms of the [[Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis]] Italy was largely evacuated by the French. However, several fortresses were maintained in the Piedmont, placed under the authority of Bourdillon as Lieutenant General of Piedmont and governor of the [[Marquisate of Saluzzo]].{{sfn|Harding|1978|p=42}} In this role his responsibility for civilians was highly limited, and his command was focused around a large mercenary contingent.{{sfn|Harding|1978|p=44}}
==Reign of Charles IX==
Receiving increasingly disagreeable instructions from court as the crowns toleration policy became more fully formed, Bourdillon took the opportunity to stall, delaying carrying out royal instructions for months on the grounds that it was not possible to enforce the orders of a king who was a minor.{{sfn|Harding|1978|p=46}} With the outbreak of civil war the situation changed, and on 22 December 1562, he was called to court, receiving  [[Paul de Thermes]]' Marshal baton upon the late Marshal's death from the regent [[Catherine de'Medici]].<ref name="books.google.fr"/> Having received the honour he returned to his lieutenant general responsibilities.{{sfn|Thompson|1909|p=182}} With peace declared in 1563, the [[Edict of Amboise]] required enforcing. To facilitate this commissioners were sent out into the provinces, to resolve disputes over the edicts terms and create compromises where necessary. To ensure that the commissioners would be obeyed by local lords, Marshals Bourdillon, [[François de Scépeaux|Vielleville]] and [[François de Montmorency|Montmorency]] were assigned super regions to oversee compliance. Bourdillon was given the region of [[Touraine]], [[Anjou, France|Anjou]], [[Maine, France|Maine]], [[Poitou]], lower [[Normandy]] and parts of [[Brittany]].{{sfn|Roberts|2013|p=66}} With the rise of Catholic religious leagues in violation of the edicts terms, Bourdillon was tasked in 1565 with leading an army into the Guyenne, to crush this rebellious movement.{{sfn|Harding|1978|p=59}} When the queen mother met with [[Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba|Alba]] during the [[Bayonne Conference]] in 1565 to discuss potential marriage proposals between the two kingdoms, Bourdillon accompanied her, and was involved in the negotiations.{{sfn|Bonvallet|1869|p=44}}
==Death==
He died at [[Fontainebleau]] on 4 April 1567. He was buried in the church at [[Époisses, Côte-d'Or|Époisses]] which he had acquired from the duke of Nevers in 1561.{{sfn|Bonvallet|1869|p=47}}
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
==Sources==
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=IRlYAAAAcAAJ Adrien Bonvallet, Le château des Bordes et ses seigneurs: Étude Historique, Nevers, 1869.]
* {{cite book |last=Bonvallet |first=Adrien |title=Le château des Bordes et ses seigneurs |publisher=Fay |year=1869}}
* {{cite book |last=Thompson |first=James |title=The Wars of Religion in France 1559-1576: The Huguenots, Catherine de Medici and Philip II|publisher=Chicago University Press|year=1909}}
*{{cite book |first=Robert |last=Harding |title=Anatomy of a Power Elite: the Provincial Governors in Early Modern France |year=1978 |publisher=Yale University Press}}
* {{cite book |last=Roberts |first=Penny |title=Peace and Authority during the French Religious Wars c.1560-1600 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2013}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Platiere, Imbert de}}
[[Category:Marshals of France]]
[[Category:1516 births]]
[[Category:1567 deaths]]