Estrees, Francis Annibal D'

, duke, peer, and marshal of France, son of the subject of the preceding article, was born in the year 1573. At first he embraced the ecclesiastical state, and king Henry IV. appointed him to the bishopric of Laon; but he quitted the church to take up the profession of arms. He signalized himself on several occasions, brought succours to the duke of Mantua in 1626, took Treves, and distinguished himself no less by his sagacity than by his valour. Being appointed in 1636 ambassador extraordinary to Rome, he honourably executed that office in supporting the glory and interests of the crown, but not with the prudence requisite in such an office; and his rudeness and sallies of temper so involved him in differences with Urban VIII. and his nephews, that it was found necessary to recall him; which he much resented, and refused to appear at court to give an account of his conduct. He died at Paris the 5th of May, 1670, in his ninety-eighth year. The marshal d‘Estre’es was more calculated for serving the king at the head of his troops, than in intricate negociations. Not content with making his character respected, he would make his person feared. He was brother of the fair Gabriel d’Estrdes, whose history is given in a subsequent article. He was the author of, 1. “Memoirs of the regency of Mary de Medicis,” the best edition of which is that of Paris, 1666, 12mo, which has a preliminary epistle by Pierre le Moine. 2. Relation of the siege of Mantua, in 1630; and another of the Conclave in which Gregory XV. was elected in 1621. In these different works, although the style, that of a man more accustomed to weild the sword than the pen, is incorrect, there reigns an air of truth which disposes the reader to think favourably of the integrity of the author. 2

2

Ibid.

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