François de Crussol, 4th Duke of Uzès

François de Crussol, 4th Duke of Uzès (24 April 1604 – 14 July 1680), was a French soldier and courtier.

François de Crussol
4th Duke of Uzès, Peer of France
Prince of Soyons
Count of Crussol
BornFrançois de Crussol
(1604-04-24)24 April 1604
Château d'Uzès, Gard, France
Died14 July 1680(1680-07-14) (aged 76)
Château d'Acier, France
Noble familyCrussol
Spouse(s)
Henriette de La Châtre
(m. 1625; div. 1633)

Marguerite d'Apchier
(m. 1636; died 1680)
IssueEmmanuel II de Crussol
Louis de Crussol-Florensac
Marie-Rose de Crussol
Suzanne de Crussol d'Uzès
FatherEmmanuel de Crussol d'Uzès
MotherClaudine d'Hébrard de Saint Sulpice

Early life

edit

Crussol was born at the Château d'Uzès in Uzès in the Gard department in Southern France on 24 April 1604.[1] He was the eldest son of Emmanuel de Crussol, 3rd Duke of Uzès, and Claudine d'Hébrard de Saint Sulpice. From his parents' marriage, he was brother to Jacques Christophe de Crussol (who founded the Marquis of Saint-Sulpice branch), Louis de Crussol (Abbot of Figeac and Conques, styled Marquis of Crussol), Alexandre Galliot de Crussol (who founded the Marquis of Montsalès branch), Anne Gaston de Crussol (Baron of Florensac who was killed at the Siege of Turin in 1640), and Louise de Crussol (who married Antoine Hercule de Budos, Marquis des Portes, and, after his death, Charles de Rouvroy, Marquis of Saint-Simon de Rasse, brother to Claude de Rouvroy, 1st Duke of Saint-Simon). After his mother died in c. 1632, his father married Marguerite d'Apchier (née de Flagheac), who was the mother of his second wife (from her first marriage). From his father's second marriage, he had a younger half-brother, Armand de Crussol, Count of Uzès, Marquis of Cuisieux, who was murdered in Osnabrück in 1663.[2]

His paternal grandparents were Jacques II de Crussol, 2nd Duke of Uzès (who had inherited the barony of Acier from his mother, Jeanne Ricard de Genouillac, before inheriting the dukedom from his brother, Antoine de Crussol, 1st Duke of Uzès), and Françoise de Clermont-Tonnerre. His maternal grandparents were Bertrand III d'Hébrard de Saint Sulpice, and Marguerite de Balaguier de Montsalès.[1]

Career

edit

As soon as he was old enough to bear arms, he was put in charge of a Cavalry Regiment which bore his name of Crussol. After his father resigned from his position of Knight of Honour of the Queen Mother (French: chevalier d'honneur de la reine mère) in favour of François on 1 June 1656, he retired to Florensac, where he died on 19 July 1657, with François then becoming the 4th Duke of Uzès.[1]

François, who fought in the Siege of Perpignan in 1642, was instrumental in annexing the area of Roussillon into France through the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 (resolving the uprising of the Catalans against the Spanish Crown, known as the Reapers' War). King Louis XIII entered the conflict on the side of the Spanish Crown and, at the end, the Treaty partitioned the Principality of Catalonia, securing Roussillon and part of the Cerdanya to the French crown, creating the French province of Roussillon. Both the Duke and his second wife were present at the wedding of Louis XIV to Marie Thérèse of Spain in 1660. The couple enjoyed the favour of the King at the court of Louis XIV.[1]

Personal life

edit

Crussol was twice married. His first marriage was on 7 January 1625 to Louise Henriette de La Châtre, Baroness de Maisonfort (b. c. 1600), daughter of Louis de La Châtre, Baron de Maisonfort (son of Claude de La Châtre) and Elisabeth Louise d'Étampes de Valençay. She had previously been married to François de Valois d'Angoulême, Count d'Alais (son of Charles de Valois, Duke of Angoulême, himself an illegitimate son of King Charles IX, and a grandson of Henri de Montmorency, 3rd Duke of Montmorency), from April 1622 until his death in September 1622. They divorced and she remarried to Claude Pot de Rhodes, the Grand Master of Ceremonies of France, in 1633, shortly before her death on 4 June 1634.[3]

Second marriage

edit

On 28 September 1636, he remarried to Marguerite d'Apchier, Countess of Vazeilles (1617–1708) at the Château d'Uzès. She was a daughter of Christophe, Count d'Apchier, and Marguerite de Flagheac.[4] Together, they were the parents of seven children, including:[1]

The Duke died on 14 July 1680 at the Château d'Acier. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Emmanuel II.[1]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Albiousse, Lionel d' (1887). Histoire des ducs d'Uzès: avec une notice sur leur château ducal (in French). H. Champion. pp. 317–320. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  2. ^ d'Albiousse, Lionel (1903). Histoire de la ville d'Uzès ... (in French). H. Malige. p. 170. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  3. ^ Pattou, Etienne (2008). "Maison Pot Basse-Marche, Berry, Limousin, Auvergne, Bourgogne (dès 1360), Vexin Français, Etampois, Orléanais XIV-XV° siècles" (PDF). racineshistoire.free.fr (in French). Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  4. ^ Yarrow, P.J.; Brooks, William (2010). Memoirs of Mademoiselle de Montpensier (La Grande Mademoiselle). Modern Humanities Research Association. pp. 130, 245. ISBN 978-1-907322-01-3. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  5. ^ Benoit-d'Entrevaux, Florentin (1908). Armorial du Vivarais (in French). Impr. centrale. p. 438. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  6. ^ "Histoire Abbaye Yerres". www.yerres-nostalgie.com. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
edit
French nobility
Preceded by  
Duke of Uzès

1657–1680
Succeeded by