Paul Bernard de Fontaine
Paul-Bernard de Fontaine (* 1576 in Lorraine , † 19 May 1643 in Rocroi ), also known as Comte Fontaine, Conde Fontana or Fuentes, was the commanding officer of the Spanish infantry during the Eighty Years' War . He was Vogt of Bruges and Governor of Damme . He took part in the battles for Hulst , Kallo and Antwerp .
Life
Paul-Bernard de Fontaine was the son of Francisco de Fontaine, lord of Cierges , colonel on horseback, governor of Stenay , administrator of the Duke of Lorraine, and Suzanne d'Urre. Both died in quick succession before Fontaine was one year old. His maternal grandfather, Jean d'Urre, Lord of Thessières, looked after him until he resigned guardianship due to old age in 1584 (he was 87 and died two years later) and handed over to his eldest son Charles.
In 1636 he and his wife Anna de Ragicourt founded a chapel and alms house for twelve disabled and therefore impoverished soldiers in the Zwarteleertouwersstraat in Bruges . His coat of arms is placed above the door in the side wall. The building was used by the foundation until 1914 and is now a monument. He donated a main altar with his coat of arms to the St. Walburga Church in Damme.
Military career
In 1596 Fontaine volunteered in the service of the King of Spain and made a career as a result. 1597 captain of the infantry, 1604 captain of the cavalry, he became military commander in Flanders in 1611. When the twelve-year armistice ended in 1621, he had fortresses built from Knokke to Lapscheure, later known as the Fontaine Line. In 1631 he broke through the siege of Bruges by Prince Friedrich Heinrich von Orange-Nassau as commander of the Spanish troops . Fontaine emerged as more of an efficient administrator than a military strategist throughout his career .
In 1638 he was appointed Colonel General of the Infantry ( Maestre de campo general ). At this point he was already chronically ill and basically hardly fit for military service. Unable to ride in the meantime, he commanded his Terzios from a carrying chair in the Battle of Rocroi in 1643 before he fell and was later buried in the monastery church of the Bruges Minor . (The monastery and church were later destroyed during the French occupation.)
Naming problem
Older sources confuse Fontaine several times with the Spanish general and statesman Pedro Henriquez de Acevedo y Toledo, Conde de Fuentes . One reason for this is probably that the French name of origin ("Fontaine" = French "source") was occasionally incorrectly translated back into "Fuentes" (sp. "Source") until the middle of the 20th century (so at least up to in 2011 in the Paris Army Museum, which, according to an exhibition note, is keeping the carrying chair of "General Fuentes", in fact Fontaines, which was captured in the Battle of Rocroi). The back translation was perhaps done deliberately to disguise the French origins of this Spanish general.
literature
- Fernando González de León: The Road to Rocroi: Class, Culture and Command in the Spanish Army of Flanders, 1567-1659. Brill, Leiden 2009.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Fontaine, Paul Bernard de |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Fontaine, Paul-Bernard de (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Commander of the Spanish infantry during the Eighty Years War |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1576 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lorraine |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 19, 1643 |
| Place of death | Rocroi |