Louis d'Arpajon

The Duke of Arpajon

Sévérac Castle

Louis, duc d'Arpajon (* before 1601 ; † April 1679 in Sévérac ), Marquis de Sévérac, Comte de Rodez , Vicomte de Montal, Baron de Salvagnac , de Montclar and other places was a military leader under Louis XIII. He played a major role in the endeavor to restore the southwestern provinces ( Languedoc and Guyenne ) to Catholicism. His military career was based on the Thirty Years' War in which he participated in the Rhineland and Franche-Comté , as well as in the fight against the Huguenots and the Turks in Malta in 1645.

He ended his career as the French ambassador to Poland . As a special token of favor, Louis XIV elevated the county of Arpajon to a duchy with an associated peerage .

Life

He was the son of Comte Jean V. d'Arpajon, Sénéchal de Rouergue, and Jacquette de Clermont, both of whom had converted to Calvinism , but was instructed in the Catholic faith after his parents returned to it.

Louis d'Arpajon fought in the Mantuan War of Succession and made a name for himself in the fights at Felissant, Montferrat and in Piedmont , where he was wounded a total of nine times. In 1621 he set up an infantry regiment (Régiment d 'infanterie d' Arpajon) for the siege of Montauban , which was then named "Régiment Royal" in 1656 and which existed until July 1997 as " 24e régiment d'infanterie ".

On his own initiative he served in the siege of Tonneins and was promoted to Maréchal de camp in 1626 . He defeated Castan, which destroyed the Huguenots' hope of regaining the Languedoc.

In 1633, d'Arpajon became Chevalier (Knight) of the Order of the Holy Spirit .

As Karl. IV of Lorraine 1635 tried in vain to recapture his duchy, the troops of Louis XIII marched . to Nancy and occupied the Duchy of Lorraine . The associations of Louis d'Arpajon invaded Barrois . The Duke of Lorraine then fled to Germany and King Ludwig XIII. had the Duchess Nicole de Lorraine transferred to Fontainebleau on April 24, 1634, where she was nominally housed as a guest, but in reality as a hostage.

In 1637 d'Arpajon was appointed lieutenant-général and was involved in the conquest of Franche-Comté and the attack on Trier . In Artois he fought on July 26, 1641 under the walls of Saint-Omer a battle against Spanish cavalry (conquest of d' Aire-sur-la-Lys ); in winter he caught Lunéville by surprise .

The Roussillon uprising in 1641 led to his recall to the south, where he was able to defeat the rebels at Les Salces and Elne . In 1642 he finally subjugated the Guyenne , combined with the border security against Spain .

In 1645 he felt obliged to heed a call for help from the lords of Malta, who were expecting a strong Turkish attack. In recognition of his services, the Grand Masters of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem and the Grand Master of the sovereign Order of Malta ( Jean-Paul Lascaris ) awarded him the hereditary Grand Cross of the Order of Malta .

Back in France , the king appointed him extraordinary ambassador to Poland to King Władysław IV. Wasa . Here he also advocated the choice of his successor Johann II Casimir .

King Louis XIV finally rewarded him in 1651 for his services during the uprisings in the Fronde with the title of duke.

Louis d'Arpajon frequented the literary circles of Cyrano de Bergerac and the Mademoiselle de Scudéry .

He inspired the writer Robert Merle to his actor Pierre de Siorac in his novel series Fortune de France ( ISBN 3-7466-1213-6 ).

family

• Father: Jean V. d'Arpajon
• Mother: Jacquette de Castelnau de Clermont-Lodève († 1634)
• 1st wife: Gloriande de Thémines (* 1622; † 1635)
• 2nd wife: Marie de Simiane (died in sleep in 1637)
• 3rd wife: Catherine d'Harcourt
• Descendants: Catherine-Françoise ⚭ François V. de la Rochefoucauld

• Siblings:

Henri d'Arpajon

Jean d'Arpajon

Alexandre d'Arpajon

Aldonce d'Arpajon (abbess) † 1673

Marie Louise d'Arpajon ⚭ 1623 Hugues de Loubens

Rose d'Arpajon ⚭ Charles d'Arpajon

Footnotes

1. ↑ Today “Druelle” in the Arrondissement of Rodez
2. ↑ The attack by Maltese knights on an Ottoman Kovoi in 1645 served as a pretext for declaring war. Under the command of Silahdar Yusuf Pascha, an armada of 50,000 men was assembled on more than 400 ships. The Turkish fleet appeared off the Peloponnese on April 30th and sailed towards Navarin , where it rested for three weeks. The destination of this fleet had been kept secret, but it soon became apparent that it would be Malta.
3. ↑ This privilege was confirmed on May 5, 1715 by the Grand Master Raymond de Pérellos.

literature

• Louis Moréri: Le grand dictionaire historique, ou mélange curieux de l'histoire sacrée. ... Lyon 1674