Louis de Maugiron

Louis de Maugiron (* 1560 ; † April 27, 1578 in Paris ) was one of the Mignons of the French King Henry III. as well as one of the four victims of the duel of the Mignons on April 27, 1578. Sometimes he appears in old documents as "Marquis de Saint-Saphorin".

Life

Contemporary portrait of Louis de Maugiron by an unknown artist

Louis was the eldest son of Laurent de Maugiron, comte de Montléans, lieutenant general of the Dauphiné and Burgundy , and his wife Jeanne de Maugiron. He owed his later rise to the royal court two stays by Henry III. and his entourage in his father's house in Vienne , where the king stopped on November 15, 1574 and January 18 of the following year during his campaign against the rebellious inhabitants of Languedoc . Heinrich's brother François-Hercule became aware of the handsome boy and appointed him his chamberlain in 1575 with an annual salary of 800 livres . Handsome, brave and ambitious, Louis de Maugiron was soon at the head of a group of young court nobles who made a name for themselves at court because of their dissolute, luxurious and extravagant lifestyle.

Louis accompanied his employer on his military ventures, for example the siege of La Charité-sur-Loire from April 8 to May 1, 1577 and the siege of Issoire from May 20 to June 12 of the same year took place. There he was wounded by an arrow on May 28th and lost one eye, which earned him the nickname "the brave one-eyed" (French: "le brave borgne") and the favor of Henry III. brought in. Maugiron accepted his offer to resign from his brother's household and instead to take up royal service. As one of the king's mignons, he was henceforth in the constant quarrels between the supporters of Henry III. and those of his younger brother involved. This resulted in an insignificant battle of words between Charles de Balzac , Baron d ' Entragues , and Heinrichs Mignon Jacques de Lévis, comte de Caylus , who made fun of Balzac's dealings with a "lady who was more beautiful than chaste". Charles de Balzac therefore challenged Jacques de Lévis on April 26, 1578 in the courtyard of the Louvre to a duel that went down in French history under the name "Duel of the Mignons". Louis, although actually only involved as a second to Jacques de Lévis, was killed during this duel at the age of only 18.

With the death of Maugiron, the king mourned the loss of one of his closest friends and confidants. Pierre de L'Estoile reported in his Registre-journal de Henri III , Heinrich III. I had his head shaved and kept his blond hair as a souvenir. After he was buried near the altar on May 31, 1578, the king had a magnificent black marble tomb erected for him in the Saint-Paul church in Paris . The grave was however on January 2, 1589 after the murder of Henri I. de Lorraine , the Heinrich III. had commissioned, destroyed by angry supporters of the House of Guise .

literature

Humbert de Terrebasse: Histoire et généalogie de la famille de Maugiron en Viennois, 1257–1767 . L. Brun, Lyon 1905, pp. 151-160 ( online ).
Humbert de Terrebasse: Louis de Maugiron, favori du roi Henri III, dit le marquis de Saint-Saphorin (1560–1578). Falque et Perrin, Grenoble 1900.

References and comments

^ Nicolas Le Roux: La faveur du roi. Mignons et courtisans au temps des derniers Valois (verse 1547-verse 1589) . Champ Vallon, Seysse 2001, ISBN 2-87673-311-0 , p. 355 ( online )
↑ There are different statements about which eye Louis de Maugiron lost. Both the right and the left are mentioned in the various publications.
↑ Jean de La Taille: Discours notable des duels, de leur origine en France, et du malheur qui en arrive tous le iours au grand interest du public. Ensemble des moyens qu'il y auroit d'y pouvoir. Rigaud, Paris, 1607, p. 82
^ Pierre de L'Estoile: Registre-journal de Henri III . In: Nouvelle collection des mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de France . Paris 1837, p. 98 ( online ).
^ Robert Jean Knecht: The rise and fall of Renaissance France, 1483-1610 . 2nd Edition. Blackwell, Oxford [et al. a.] 2001, ISBN 0-631-22729-6 , p. 434 ( online ).

personal data
SURNAME	Maugiron, Louis de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Marquis de Saint-Saphorin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	French nobleman
DATE OF BIRTH	1560
DATE OF DEATH	April 27, 1578
Place of death	Paris

[leroux355-1] Nicolas Le Roux: La faveur du roi. Mignons et courtisans au temps des derniers Valois (verse 1547-verse 1589) . Champ Vallon, Seysse 2001, ISBN 2-87673-311-0 , p. 355 ( online )

[anm1-2] There are different statements about which eye Louis de Maugiron lost. Both the right and the left are mentioned in the various publications.

[taille82-3] Jean de La Taille: Discours notable des duels, de leur origine en France, et du malheur qui en arrive tous le iours au grand interest du public. Ensemble des moyens qu'il y auroit d'y pouvoir. Rigaud, Paris, 1607, p. 82

[lestoile-4] Pierre de L'Estoile: Registre-journal de Henri III . In: Nouvelle collection des mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de France . Paris 1837, p. 98 ( online ).

[knecht434-5] Robert Jean Knecht: The rise and fall of Renaissance France, 1483-1610 . 2nd Edition. Blackwell, Oxford [et al. a.] 2001, ISBN 0-631-22729-6 , p. 434 ( online ).