Henri, Count of Harcourt

Henri de Lorraine (20 March 1601 - 25 July 1666, Royaumont Abbey), known as Cadet la Perle, was a French nobleman. He was count of Harcourt, count of Armagnac, count of Brionne and viscount of Marsan. He was the younger son of Charles I, Duke of Elbeuf and his wife Marguerite de Chabot, countess of Charny.

Life

He did his first military service at the siege of Prague in November 1620 and because of his bravery he was nicknamed Cadet la Perle by his companions after the pearl he wore in his ear.

In France he fought the Protestants and took part in the Siege of La Rochelle (1627–1628) and Saint-Jean-d'Angély. He was made a knight in the Order of the Holy Spirit in 1633, Grand Squire of France in 1643 and Seneschal of Burgundy.

In 1637 he fought in Piedmont during the Franco-Spanish War (1635-1659), where he defeated a Spanish army, very superieur in numbers near Chieri. He was also in charge of the Siege of Turin (1640), where he took the city after a siege of three months. He then fought in Sardinia and Catalonia, where he was named viceroy in 1645.

During the Fronde, he remained loyal to the regent-queen Anne of Austria, but clashed with Mazarin, and retreated in the Alsace.

Marriage and issue

He married in February 1639 with Marguerite-Philippe du Cambout (1622–1674), and had 6 children :

• Armande Henriette (1640–1684), abbess of Soissons;
• Louis, Count of Armagnac (1641–1718), of Charny and of Brionne and ancestor of prince Albert II of Monaco through his daughter Marie of Lorraine, who was forced by King Louis XIV to marry Antonio I of Monaco ; a great grand daughter, Princess Joséphine of Lorraine, was the grand mother of Charles Albert of Sardinia, the present House of Savoy descend from this line;
• Philippe (1643–1702), called chevalier de Lorraine and lover of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
• Alfonse Louis (1644–1689), abbot of Royaumont, called chevalier d'Harcourt ;
• Raimond Bérenger (1647–1686), abbot of Faron de Meaux ;
• Charles (1648–1708), Viscount then Count of Marsan had issue.

Sources

• Georges Poull, La maison ducale de Lorraine, 1991

External links

Media related to Henri, Count of Harcourt at Wikimedia Commons