Frédéric Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne

Frédéric Maruice
Duke of Bouillon

Portrait of Frédéric-Maurice de La Tour d’Auvergne by Robert Nanteuil
Born (1605-10-22)22 October 1605
Died 9 August 1652(1652-08-09) (aged 46)
Pontoise
Burial Évreux
Spouse Eleonora Catharina Febronis, Countess of the Bergh
Issue Godefroy Maurice, duc de Bouillon
Frédéric Maurice, comte d'Auvergne
Emmanuel-Théodose, duc d'Albret
Constantin Ignace, duc de Château-Thierry
Henri Ignace, comte d'Évreux
Mauricienne Fébronie, Duchess of Bavaria-Leuchtenberg
Élisabeth, Duchess of Elbeuf
House La Tour d'Auvergne
Father Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon, Prince of Sedan
Mother Elisabeth of Nassau
Religion Protestantism

Frédéric Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon (22 October 1605 – 9 August 1652) was ruler of the independent principality of Sedan, and a general in the French royal army. Born in Sedan, Ardennes, he was the son of Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon, Prince of Sedan, and Elisabeth of Orange-Nassau. His brother was the renowned Turenne, Marshal of France. Raised as a Protestant, he received a military education in Holland under his uncles, Maurice of Nassau-Orange, and Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange.

He became Duke of Bouillon, and Prince of Sedan, Jametz, and Raucourt (now in Ardennes, France) at the death of his father in 1623.[1] He was appointed governor of Maastricht in the United Provinces in 1629. In 1634 he married Countess Eleonora van Berg's-Heerenberg,[1] under whose influence he converted to Catholicism.

In 1635 the Duke of Bouillon came into the service of King Louis XIII of France, and was appointed maréchal de camp (brigadier general). He was deprived of his offices in the United Provinces after engaging in negotiations with Spain (the arch-enemy of the United Provinces) in 1637.

Along with the Louis de Bourbon, comte de Soissons, he conspired against Cardinal Richelieu, and with the support of Spanish troops he and the comte de Soissons defeated the French royal troops sent after them at the Battle of La Marfée, outside of Sedan, in 1641.

Later he submitted to King Louis XIII and Richelieu, and he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general in command of the French army of Italy (1642). Having again conspired against Richelieu with Cinq-Mars, he was arrested in Casale Italy, and was released only when his wife threatened to open Sedan to the Spaniards (1642). During this misfortune, he promised to cede the strategic border principalities of Sedan and Raucourt to France.

In 1650 he joined the Fronde, and was one of its leaders with his brother Turenne. Cardinal Mazarin won him over (1650) by promising him high office and compensations for the cessions of Sedan and Raucourt, exchanged in 1651 for the duchies of Albret and Château-Thierry, the counties of Auvergne and Évreux, and several other lands.

He died at Pontoise, near Paris, in 1652 and was buried in Évreux.

Children

Frédéric Maurice's eldest three children, Pierre Mignard.

Frédéric Maurice married Eleonora Catharina Febronis, Countess of the Bergh. The couple had five sons and four daughters.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Huberty, Michel; Giraud, Alain; Magdelaine, F.; B. (1985). L'Allemagne Dynastique, Tome IV -- Wittelsbach. France: Laballery. pp. 73, 88. ISBN 2-901138-04-7.
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