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Huguenot Warrior: The Life and Times of Henri de Rohan, 1579–1638 PDF

237 Pages·1966·7.775 MB·English
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HUGUENOT WARRIOR: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF HENRI DE ROHAN, 1579-1638 ARCHIVES INTERNATIONALES D'HISTOIRE DES IDEES INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE HISTORY OF IDEAS 17 JACK ALDEN CLARKE HUGUENOT WARRIOR: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF HENRI DE ROHAN, 1579-1638 Directors: P. Dibon (Paris) and R. Popkin (Univ. of California, La Jolla) Editorial Board: J. Aubin (Paris); J. Collins (St. Louis Univ.); P. Costabel (Paris); A. Crombie (Oxford); I. Dambska (Cracow); H. de la Fontaine-Verwey (Amsterdam); H. Gadamer (Heidelberg) ; P. Golliet (Nimeguen) ; H. Gouhier (Paris) ; T. Gregory (Rome); T. E. Jessop (Hull); A. Koyre t (Paris); P. O. Kristeller (Columbia Univ.); Elisabeth Labrousse (Paris); S.Lindroth (Upsala); P. Mesnard (Tours) ;J.Orcibal (Paris); I. S. Revah (Paris); G. Sebba (Emory Univ., Atlanta); R. Shackleton (Oxford); J. Tans (Groningen); G. Tonelli (Pisa). JACK ALDEN CLARKE HUGUENOT WARRIOR: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF HENRI DE ROHAN, 1579-1638 • SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V. 1966 ISBN 978-90-481-8251-0 ISBN 978-94-017-1798-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-1798-4 Copyright I966 by Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Martinus NijhoiJ, The Hague, Netherlands in I966 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition I966 Alt rights reserved, including the rights to tranrlate or to reproduce this book or parts thereof in a1!Jl form For Anna with love PREFACE The purpose of this book is to describe the Duke of Rohan's role as a political leader of the Huguenot party from 1621 to 1629 placing somewhat less emphasis on his military achievements. It makes no claim to biographical completeness. The narrative is based on con temporary books and pamphlets and on manuscripts in the Biblio theque nation ale, the British Museum, and the Public Record Office. Research was also done at the Newberry Library, the Library of Congress, and at the University of Wisconsin's Memorial Library, notably in its Montauban, Tank, and French Pamphlet collections. In the preparation of this book I have received advice and assistance from many people. Personal thanks are due to William P. Kaldis, Jack Ray Thomas, and Howard S. Miller for reading the manuscript and to my wife Anna for typing several drafts of it. Marguerite Chris tensen, reference librarian at the University of Wisconsin, helped me secure a number of rare volumes on interlibrary loan. I would also like to thank Cynthia Kaldis for translating a large number of diplo matic letters from Seventeenth century Latin. MADISON, WISCONSIN TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface VII CHAPTER I. The Huguenot Heritage I CHAPTER 2. The Party Seeks a Leader 21 CHAPTER 3· The Regency's Uncertain Course 48 CHAPTER 4· Revolt in the Midi, 162 I 70 CHAPTER 5· Peace Without Victory 94 CHAPTER 6. Fort Louis Provokes a Second War 109 CHAPTER 7· The Siege of La Rochelle 136 CHAPTER 8. The Huguenot Civil War 156 CHAPTER 9· An Exile's Bitter Cup 180 CHAPTER 10. Mountain Victory 197 Bibliography 215 Index 227 CHAPTER I THE HUGUENOT HERITAGE Eighteen miles northwest of Nantes, in Loire-Inferieure, the southern most of the five departments comprising the ancient province of Brittany, lies the village of Blain. Situated on the Isac River, the village is surrounded by lakes and forests, one of which, Le Gavre, is the largest domainal forest in Brittany. The countryside is a pleasant land of broad valleys and swelling hills. Its farmhouses lie scattered and secretive behind tall hedgerows. The province faces the ocean, turning its back on the rest of France - a geographical aloofness reflected in the obstinate and particularist strain of its people. Half a mile outside the village stands the castle of Blain, once the seat of the ducal Rohan family. The castle is rich in history; some of the stones have been in place for nearly eight hundred years. Stoutly built, with a circuit of massive walls behind deep moats, Blain Castle was an important outpost of the Breton Dukes in the eastern Marches looking toward France. What we see today, however, bears little resemblance to the grim fortress of the Rohans. The original structure was modified and largely rebuilt in a style of sixteenth century magni ficence by Viscount Rene I. In 1629, Cardinal Richelieu's soldiers razed the imposing line of fortifications. Only two stout machiolated towers remind us of the feudal past.! Within these granite walls Henry de Rohan, the last military chief of the Huguenot party, was born on August 21, 1579. His father, Rene II, Viscount of Rohan, Prince of Leon, and Count of Porhoet, was the head of a family connected by marriage with many of the reigning dynasties in Europe. His mother, Catherine de Parthenay, boasted descent from the royal house of Lusignan which had ruled briefly in the crusader kingdoms of Jerusalem, Armenia, and Cyprus. 1 For the full history of Blain Castle see L. Prevel, "Le Chateau de Blain, sa description son histoire" Annalesde la societe academique de Nantes Fourth series, vol. IO t XL (1869) 7-149. 2 THE HUGUENOT HERITAGE Catherine was the only child of the Huguenot general, Jean de l'A r cheveque-Parthenay, seigneur de Soubise, from whom she inherited vast estates in Poitou and Saintonge. As the heir to this illustrious line, Henry de Rohan played a leading role in the bitter and uncompro mising struggle of the Calvinist nobles and municipalities against the centralizing policies of the monarchy. Although the Rohans claimed descent from Ruhan, a son of Conan Meriadec, the legendary first King of Brittany, the earliest ancestor with their name appears to have been Alain I, Viscount of Rohan, who was living in the year 1 1 19. Possessing princely fiefs and trained to the profession of arms, the Viscounts of Rohan held an important place in the history of Brittany, taking precedence in the provincial estates immediately after the reigning Duke. It was a regal life they lived at Blain. Their manors and forests extended over thirty !niles of rolling country. They had their own courts ofseigneurialjustice which levied taxes, settled disputes, and tried crimes. They had their own prisons and gallows. Roi ne puis, due ne daigne, Rohan suis was the family boast.1 Among Henry's immediate ancestors was Pierre de Rohan who fought in Italy under the banner of Francis I and fell at Pavia in 1525.2 His son, Rene I, carried on the martial traditions of their house and was killed at Metz in 1552 during the siege of that city by Charles V. Left an orphan at an early age, Rene had been brought up by Margu erite of Navarre, the talented sister of Francis I. Marguerite was a precursor of the Reformation, the patroness of Clement Marot, Theodore de Beza, and Jean Calvin. She became a second mother to Rene and eventually found a wife for him in her sister-in-law, Isabel D'A lbret. Their marriage had far reaching political consequences since it secured to the Huguenot cause the most powerful Breton family. Isabel D'Albret was a great aunt and godmother of Henry IV, the future king of France and Navarre. Her grandson, Henry de Rohan, was thus a second cousin of Henry IV and, in default of the Bourbon line, the heir to the throne of Navarre. Scholarly in her tastes and curious for new ideas, Isabel first became 1 Herve Du Halgouet, La Vicomte de Rohan et ses seigneurs (Saint Brieuc, 1921) p. VI and passim. 2 Genealogical information on the Rohan family may be found in a variety of sources. The following works are particularly helpful: Gui Alexis Lobineau, Histoire de Bretagne com posle sur les titres et auteurs originaux (2 vols., Paris, 1707) I, 106, rr8-19, 131-32, 168; Anselme de Sainte-Marie, Histoire glnealogique de la maison royale de France, des pairs, grands qfficiers de la couronne et de La maison du roy 4th edition (Vols. 4 and 9 all published, Paris, I 868-g0) IV, 50-75; Auguste du Paz, Histoire glnealogique de plusieurs maisons illustres de Bretagne (Paris, 1620). THE HUGUENOT HERITAGE 3 aware of the reform movement at the court of Marguerite of Navarre. She read with keen interest the new translations of the gospel. She knew and respected the first propagators of the movement - Jacques Lefevre D'Etaples and Gerard Roussel, Bishop of Oloron in Beam. During her husband's lifetime Isabel prudently concealed her unor thodox opinions, but shortly after his death she accepted the new faith as "the truth of Almighty God." Influenced by Isabel's zeal, her three sons, with many of their retainers, embraced the Reformed Religion, its relentless logic, its discipline, and its mode oflife.1 Isabel was a staunch Calvinist who never wavered in the profession of her faith. She found herself in a difficult position, however: "Brit tany, among all the French provinces, delayed accepting the Gospel," Theodore de Beza wrote. "The majority of its people remained in different although a portion of the nobility showed itself attentive to God's word. The means which God employed to awaken their zeal was Lord D' Andelot who in April of this same year (1558) arrived at La Bretesche bringing with him Gaspard Carmel, known as Fleury, minister of the Church of Paris and induced him to preach publicly in his house of Lormais." 2 Fran~ois de Coligny, seigneur D'A ndelot, the youngest brother of Admiral de Coligny, had acquired immense estates in Brittany through his marriage with Claude de Rieux. In 1558, during an inspection tour accompanied by Fleury and another pastor named L'Oiseleur, he paid a courtesy visit to the Viscountess of Rohan. To D' Andelot's delight Isabel warmly welcomed the pastors as "angels of the Lord who come to announce the pure Gospel." That same evening Fleury preached in the Great Hall of the Castle to the Rohan family and their assembled vassals. This was the first recorded instance of Protestant worship at Blain. Somtime after 1560, Isabel D' Albret openly espoused Calvinism and sought royal permission to hold reformed services for her household. The King reluctantly granted liberty of private worship to the Rohan family, their servants, and a few others but he instructed the Prince of Montpensier, then the Governor of Brittany, to keep a watchful eye on these meetings. When Montpensier expressed asto nishment at the large number of people at Blain (for Isabel had gather- 1 I am indebted to Professor R. Anthony for much of the biographical information on Isabel d' Albret, though I do not share his belief that Isabel had little influence on the spread of Calvinism in Brittany. See his "Ysabeau D'Albret, Princesse de Navarre, Vicomtesse de Rohan." Bulletin de la Societe des sciences, lettres, et arts de Peu, Second Series LVII (Dax, 1934) 65-71. 2 Theodore de Beze, Histoire ecclesiastique des eglises riformees de France (3 vols., Anvers, 1580) I, 151-52.

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