, the natural son of Charles IX. and Maria Touchet, was born April
, the natural son of Charles IX. and Maria Touchet, was born
April 28, 1575, and distinguished himself by his bravery
during the reign of five kings. Being intended from his
infancy for the order of Malta, he was, in 1587, presented
to the abbey of Chaise-Dieu, and, in 1589, was made
grand prior of France. Catherine de Medicis having bequeathed him the estates of Auvergne and Lauraguais, he
quitted the order of Malta, with a dispensation to marry;
and accordingly in 1591, married Charlotte, daughter of
the constable Henry of Montmorenci. In 1606, Margaret
de Valois applied to parliament, and set aside the will of
Catherine of Medicis, and the estates were given to the
dauphin, afterwards Louis XIII. Charles, however, continued to take the title of count d' Auvergne, until 1619,
when the king bestowed on him the duchy of Angouleme.
He was one of the first to acknowledge Henry IV. at St.
Cloud, and obtained great reputation for his services in the
battles of Arques, Ivry, &c. In 1602, being implicated in
Biron’s conspiracy, he was sent to the Bastille, but obtained
his pardon. Being, however, afterwards convicted of a
treasonable attempt in concert with the marchioness de
Verneuil, his uterine sister, he was arrested a second time
in 1604, and next year condemned to lose his head, which
Henry IV. commuted for perpetual imprisonment; but in
1616, we find him again at large, and, in 1617, at the siege
of Soissons. Being appointed colonel of the light cavalry
of France, and created a knight by order of the king, he
was, in 1620, sent as the principal of an embassy to the
emperor Ferdinand II. the result of which was printed in
1667, under the title of “Ambassade de M. le due
d‘Angouleme, &c.” fol. The narrative is somewhat dry, but it
contains many particulars of considerable interest in the
history of that time. In 1628, the duke opened the famous
and cruel siege of Rochelle, where he had the chief command until the arrival of the king. He also bore a part in
the war of Languedoc, Germany, and Flanders. He died
at Paris, Sept 24, 1650. Francoise de Nargonne, whom
he married for his second wife, in 1644, died one hundred
and forty-one years after her father-in-law Charles IX.
on the 10th of August 1715, aged ninety-two. The duke
d’Angouleme wrote, 1. “Memoires tres-particuliers du
duc d‘Angouleme, pour servir à l’histoire des regnes de
Henri III. et Henri IV.
” 1662, 12mo. Bineau, the editor
of this work, has added to it a journal of the negoeiations
for the peace of Vervins, in 1598. The duke’s memoirs
also form the first volume of the “Memoires particuliers
pour servir a. l'Histoire de France,
” Pieces fugitives pour servir, &c.
”
published by the marquis d'Aubais et Menard, Les harangues prononcees en l‘assemblie da
M. M. les princes Protestants d’Allemagne,
” Le generale et fidele relation de tout ce qui s’est
passé en l'Isle de Re, &c.
”