Jean de Saint-Bonnet de Toiras

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Jean du Caylar de Saint-Bonnet, Marquis de Toiras (1585–1636)

Jean du Caylar de Saint-Bonnet, Marquis de Toiras (born March 1, 1585 in Saint-Jean-de-Gardonnenque, today's Saint-Jean-du-Gard in the Gard department , † June 14, 1636 in Fontaneto d'Agogna , Italy ) was a Maréchal de France (Marshal of France).

Life

Jean du Caylar de Saint-Bonnet was the ninth and last son of Aymar de Saint-Bonnet du Caylar, Marquis de Toiras and Françoise de Claret de Saint-Félix, Dame de Pallières .

At the age of 14 he entered the service of King Henry IV and became an ordinary nobleman in his house.

At the age of 25 he was in the service of King Ludwig XIII. appointed lieutenant of the par force hunt . Some time later he was promoted to lieutenant captain in the royal guard. As a Protestant , he later supported his Catholic king in the fight against the Huguenots .

His qualities as a strategist, his courage and loyalty to his king gave him great honors during the occupation of Saumur (spring 1621 ), Montauban (August to November 1621) and Montpellier (February to October 1622).

Governor of the Île de Ré

January 1625 : Led by Henri II, Duke of Rohan , and his brother, Benjamin de Rohan, Seigneur de Soubise , the Huguenots rose again and occupied the islands of Ré and Oléron . They engage in numerous skirmishes , mainly around the ports of La Rochelle and Saint-Martin-de-Ré , with the king's troops and ships. Cardinal Richelieu , who in 1624 became the new leading minister under Louis XIII. had been appointed, caused an attack by Toiras and Henri II. de Montmorency (* 1595, † 1632). They drove Soubise and the Huguenots from the islands and took part of their fleet from them. Benjamin de Rohan fled to England .

After his victory over Soubise Toiras was raised to count and made governor of the Île de Ré .

To defend the island, he ordered two strong fortifications to be built . The first, the Fort de la Prée near the municipality of La Flotte , the second, larger, in Saint-Martin . Although the fortresses had only moderate armament, they were manned by battle-tested soldiers.

Since their marriage on May 11, 1625, the disagreements between the sister of Louis the Thirteenth, Henriette of France (1609–1669), and King Charles I of England had grown and the coronation was in question. When Louis XIII. took sides for his sister, there was an open conflict in which the English sent the entire court of Henriettes back to France. Duke Buckingham , a favorite of King Charles I, tried to raid La Rochelle with 16,000 soldiers and 90 ships . Before that, he had captured several French ships in the English Channel . La Rochelle was in the hands of the Huguenots at the time , and their mayor, Jean Guitton, prevented Buckingham's landing with his vigilantes. This then turned to the islands of Ré and Oléron.

The attacker: George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham

On July 22, 1627, the English landed under Duke Buckingham in Saint-Blanceau, today's Sablanceaux .

Toiras marched towards him with his troops; there were first skirmishes with the attackers. Toiras had to back down in front of the large number of attacking English soldiers, but Buckingham lost at least 500 of his men.

Toiras lost in the fighting his brother Rollin de Saint-Bonnet de Toiras, who had supported him in the fighting. The Baron de Chantal died with him. He was the father of Marie de Rabutin, who was just 17 months old at the time and later became Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sévigné .

Toiras holed up with his entourage in the citadel of Saint-Martin, but left about 100 soldiers in the Fort de la Prée for security. Buckingham then began a siege that lasted more than three months. During this time, Duke Buckingham showed relentless cruelty to the islanders, especially those who tried to get in or out of the fort.

Food was becoming scarce, and it was seldom possible to smuggle food through enemy lines.

In early October Toiras was forced to negotiate a surrender with Buckingham. At the same time, conditions began to develop favorably for the French. On October 7, 1627, the wind changed and enabled King Louis XIII to send a flotilla from Les Sables-d'Olonne towards Île de Ré to reach the roadstead at Saint-Martin. The ships were heavily attacked by Buckingham's fleet. The French managed to drive into the port with 30 heavily loaded sloops and unload their valuable and vital cargo. This enabled the people in the citadel to endure the siege for at least another 100 days and to defend the fortress. In addition, it was possible to strengthen the Prée fortress with 1,500 men.

Buckingham realized that he would not be able to take the island and decided to give up the siege. He started a new bogus attack on the citadel of Saint-Martin to initiate his retreat .

In the meantime, Marshal von Schomberg (1575-1632) landed with his army at Sainte-Marie and pursued the Buckingham units in the north-west of the island. Approximately at the level of Loix , there was heavy fighting in which on the French side two thousand soldiers, five Supreme , three lieutenant colonels , two hundred and fifty captains, and twenty noblemen lost their lives. Buckingham lost over 4,000 of his 7,000 men on this unfortunate mission.

The French captured four cannons and sixty flags. These were brought to Paris by Claude de Rouvroy, Duke of Saint-Simon, where they were displayed with great pomp in the vaults of Notre-Dame .

The War of Succession of Mantua

The Mantuan War of Succession (1628-1631) was a conflict on the brink of the Thirty Years' War . He was led to succeed him in the Duchy of Mantua . With the death of Duke Francesco IV Gonzaga of Mantua and Montferrat , who died on December 22nd, 1612 at the age of 26 and left no male heir, the main line of the Gonzaga dynasty was extinguished. His two brothers Ferdinando Gonzaga (1587–1626) and Vincenzo Gonzaga (1594–1627) belonged to the clergy and were out of the question for the successor.

The Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II , who had been married for five years to Eleonora Gonzaga , a sister of the last three dukes, therefore wanted to move in Mantua as a completed imperial fief in order to succeed the younger Spanish princely family Gonzaga-Guastalla . Together with King Charles Emanuel I , Mantua was occupied against the will of the last two dukes . Charles Emanuel I hoped to get the Margraviate of Montferrat as a reward for his services .

France, on the other hand, supported Carlo II Gonzaga , Duke of Nevers and Rethel in France. He was married to Maria, the daughter of Francesco IV Gonzaga and therefore also raised claims to the Duchy of Mantua . King Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu crossed the Alps towards Italy with the army that was also involved in the occupation of La Rochelle . The soldiers were commanded by Toiras .

On March 6, 1629 the city of Susa was captured and occupied, on March 18, Casale was liberated. A first armistice was signed by Karl Emanuel and Mazarin in the presence of the Pope . At that time Germany was occupied by the Swedes . The emperor had to devote himself entirely to the Swedish intervention and left Mantua.

Marshal of France

French marshal's baton , le baton du maréchal de France
Star for the Order of the Holy Spirit (French Ordre du Saint-Esprit )

For his bravery and his services in the campaign , Toiras initially received the title " Ambassador of the King" and in 1630 was awarded the highest French rank of Marshal of France .

He stayed in Piedmont to lead the peace negotiations. On April 6, 1631 Carlo II Gonzaga was enfeoffed by the emperor with Mantua and Montferrat in the Peace of Cherasco , Savoy only got parts of Montferrat. On July 6, 1632 the Pact of Turin was concluded, which laid down the division of territory. The fortress Pinerolo had to be handed over to the French occupation, with which France secured unimpeded access to the Po Valley , which was of immense strategic importance for the French.

On April 12, 1633 Toiras was made Knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit (French Ordre du Saint-Esprit ) . However, he refused to return to France specifically to receive the Blue Ribbon . Richelieu, whose favor Toiras did not have, used this kind of insult to deprive him of all dignity in November 1633.

the last fight

With the permission of the King, Toiras took command of the army of the Duke of Savoy, who had allied with France against Austria , in 1636 . On June 14, 1636, he attacked the Fontaneto fortress of Agogna in Lombardy , where he fought in the front lines. He was fatally injured by a shot from an arquebus .

The French historian Michel Baudier describes the ardent admiration of his subordinates as follows: “The shocked soldiers dipped their handkerchiefs in the blood of the wound of the fallen man. They were convinced that this would help them achieve victory on the battlefield. "

Death shook Italians and Europeans alike. After all, the deceased was held in high regard everywhere. He died the way he had always wished: on the battlefield, for the interests of his homeland.

His remains were brought to Turin, where the king's sister, the Duchess of Savoy, arranged for a state funeral for him. The whole court mourned and showed its dismay. His tomb with the Turin Capuchins keeps his bones as relics . Michel Baudier wrote: "He had arrived on the mountains of triumph ..."

relationship

The most famous of his eight siblings were

Honors

Bust in the Battle Gallery of Versailles Palace
  • A ferry that ran between La Rochelle and the Île de Ré was christened Maréchal de Toiras .
  • The barracks in Saint-Martin are called Caserne Toiras .
  • His bust was placed in the Battle Gallery of the Palace of Versailles , which opened in 1837 .

anecdote

Toiras acquired the special favor of King Louis XIII through an extraordinary incident: As Lieutenant de chasse , also responsible for falconry , he was asked by his slightly stuttering king one day while hunting : «  où était l'oi ... l'oi … L'oi… l'oiseau?  »(German:“ where are the Vö… Vö… birds? ”) Toiras answered perhaps a little disrespectfully:«  voi… voi… voici!  »(German:" There ... there ... there they are! ")

Ludwig hit Toiras because he believed that he wanted to make fun of him by imitating him. He couldn't even apologize, that would only have made the case worse. Fortunately, a courtier explained to the king that Toiras was also stuttering. The king then apologized, and from that point on he favored his fellow sufferer.

literature
personal data
SURNAME Saint-Bonnet de Toiras, Jean de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Toiras, Jean du Caylar de Saint-Bonnet Marquis de (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Marshal of France
DATE OF BIRTH March 1, 1585
PLACE OF BIRTH Saint-Jean-de-Gardonnenque, now Saint-Jean-du-Gard
DATE OF DEATH June 14, 1636
Place of death Fontaneto d'Agogna , Italy