Françoise de Cezelli
Françoise de Cezelli (* 1558 ; † 1615 ) was a French war heroine and military governor of the former border fortress of Leucate (then the French / Spanish border).
She won the Battle of Leucate in the Franco-Spanish War in 1590 . Her husband, Jean Bourcier de Barry, was governor of Leucate and was ambushed and captured in July 1589. The Duke of Joyeuse demanded the surrender of the city in exchange for the release of the governor, but they refused to surrender the fortress. Her husband was then executed. The city was defended by her until the troops of King Henry IV relieved the besieged. Since then she has been considered one of the first "war heroines" in French history. The king granted her a pension and lifelong government over Leucate.
The statue of Dame de Cezelli has adorned the central village square in Leucate for around 150 years.
Françoise de Cezelli still enjoys a high reputation in Languedoc - numerous public buildings (especially schools) are still named after her.
literature
- Mme. Dufrénoy, Biographie des jeunes demoiselles , p.346f (French)
- Jean Baptiste Beau, Otia regia Ludovici XIV sive Polyaenus Gallicus de veterum et recentium Gallorum strategematibus , p.745 (lat.)
- A Companion to Women's Military History , p 68-69, partial view (Engl.)
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cezelli, Françoise de |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Françoise de Cezelly, Constance of Ciselli |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French war heroine |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1558 |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1615 |