Honorary I. de Savoie

Honorary I. de Savoie (* October 1538 in Marseille , † October 11, 1572 in Avignon ) was Count of Sommariva and Tenda; he was also governor and grand seneschal of Provence from April 28, 1566 until his death.

biography

origin

Honorat is the second son of Claude de Savoie , Count von Tenda, and his first wife Marie de Chabannes. He was born in Marseille in October 1538 in the king's house; his mother died in childbed. Honorat was baptized on October 30th in the Church of Notre-Dame-des-Accoules , his godparents are his uncle Honorat II. De Savoie, marquis de Villars and his sister Renée de Savoie-Tende .

career

Caterina de 'Medici sent him to Provence in 1562 as a lieutenant-général to oppose the Protestants, although his father, Claude de Savoie, supported the Protestant party. In order to have his power confirmed, he had to appear before the parliament in Aix-en-Provence , which was occupied by the Protestants.

Having no army to fight the Protestants, Honorat de Savoie allied himself with Jean V. de Pontevès , Comte de Carcès, who enabled him to raise a force to conquer Aix. Then he managed to put together several Catholic companies. His father Claude tried unsuccessfully on the Protestant side to occupy Pertuis , then withdrew to Sisteron , while he asked François de Beaumont , Baron des Adrets, to support him. Before Honorat attacked him, he decided to take Orange , which was also occupied by the Protestants. Honorat gathered troops with the Count of Carcès, François de La Baume , Comte de Suze, and other Provencal lords and received support from papal soldiers, who were commanded by Fabrizio Serbelloni. The city was taken, looted and devastated in 1562, even the bishop's house was set on fire.

Honorat then turned against Sisteron. Claude de Savoie, who had retired to the Barcelonnette valley , returned to support the besieged city and forced his son to lift the siege. Claude drove his son to flight, but did not pursue them further, allowing Honorat to rejoin his troops. Honorat returned, besieged Sisteron, and captured it. Claude de Savoie now retired to Turin and left Provence to the Catholics. Honorat de Savoie tried to conquer Saint-Gilles , but his troops were surprised and defeated by the Baron des Adrets. He had to tear down the bridge over the Rhône to stop the baron's advance.

As captain of 50 armed men, Honorat de Savoie was made Knight of the Order of Saint Michael on November 12, 1565 . After the death of his father on April 23, 1566 he became Count of Tende, on April 28, 1566 he was given the title of Governor and Grand Sénéchal de Provence, the functions that his father previously held.

He made an attempt to take back the castle of Nîmes , but was unsuccessful. The Protestants brought Sisteron back, Honorat came to besiege the city, but his troops disbanded and were attacked by the Sisteron garrison, but through a maneuver by the Count of Carcès they managed to repel them. Honorat then returned to Aix-en-Provence, where he received a request from the Comte de Suze asking for assistance in retaking cities in the Comtat Venaissin . Honorat de Savoie and the Count of Suze conquered several cities, which they plundered, until the Parlement in Aix reminded him that he should devote himself to the attacks by the Protestants on Sisteron. Honorat managed to subdue them. The Parlement in Aix approved the formation of a troop of 3,000 men, which he led to the king's army, which he added to his army, which was commanded by the Duke of Anjou , and then returned to Provence.

Honorat de Savoie was ill on October 1, 1572 in Salon-de-Provence , but declared in a letter to the Duke of Savoy that he was doing better. He traveled to Avignon to greet his new wife, Marguerite de La Tour, but died a few days later on October 11th. His successor as Count was his uncle Honorat II. De Savoie, marquis de Villars , as Grand Seneschal Jean V. de Pontevès , Count of Carcès, followed as Governor Gaspard de Saulx, seigneur de Tavannes .

Marriages

Honorat de Savoie married twice:

• March 1, 1558, Claire Strozzi, daughter of Piero Strozzi , Marshal of France .
• on January 1, 1572 Marguerite de La Tour, daughter of François III. de La Tour, Vicomte de Turenne, and Éléonore de Montmorency.

Both marriages remained childless.

literature

• Régis de la Colombière: Notice sur les comtes de Tende. Governors de Provence. In: Revue de Marseille et de Provence. 1864, p. 415
• Henri de Panisse-Passis: Les comtes de Tende de la maison de Savoie. Librairie Firmin-Didot et Cie, 1889, pp. 66, 117, 131f
• Jean Duquesne: Dictionnaire des Gouverneurs de Province. Éditions Christian, Paris 2002, ISBN 2864960990 , p. 186
• Claude-Francois Achard: Dictionnaire de la Provence et du comté Venaissin dédié à Monseigneur le maréchal prince de Beauvau par une société de gens de lettres contenant la seconde partie & dernière partie de l'Histoire des hommes illustres de la Provence. Volume 4, pp. 193-196, Imprimerie de Jean Mossy, Marseille, 1787