Philippe-Emmanuel de Lorraine

Portrait of Philippe-Emmanuels de Lorraine from the Atrium heroicum Caesarum , 1600–1602

Philippe-Emmanuel de Lorraine, duc de Mercœur (born September 9, 1558 in Nancy , † February 19, 1602 in Nuremberg ) was Duke of Mercœur and a French military leader of the Huguenot Wars . He was a son of Nicolas de Lorraine , Duke of Mercœur, and his second wife Jeanne de Savoie-Nemours.

In 1582 Heinrich III appointed him . who had married his sister Louise as governor of Brittany . Mercœur headed the league in Brittany in 1588 and declared himself the protector of the Catholic faith. Citing the inherited rights of his wife, Marie de Luxemburg, duchesse de Penthièvre , who was a descendant of the Dukes of Brittany, he tried to rise to the position of independent lord of the province. He organized a government in Nantes and proclaimed his son Philippe-Louis (1589–1590) "Prince and Duke of Brittany".

With the help of the Spaniards, he defeated the Duke of Montpensier near Craon in 1592 , whom Henry IV had sent against him, but shortly afterwards was defeated by the royal army reinforced by English contingents. The king marched personally against Mercœur and on March 20, 1598 accepted his submission in Angers .

Mercœur then went to Hungary , entered the service of Emperor Rudolf II , fought in the Turkish Wars and in 1599 took Székesfehérvár .

He died on February 19, 1602. His daughter and heiress Françoise married César de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme , a legitimate natural son of Henry IV in 1609 , to Gabrielle d'Estrées .

literature

Jacques Hennequin: L'héroïsation du duc de Mercoeur in l '"histoire de Filipe Emmanuel de Mercoeur" de Bruslé de Montpleinchamp. In: Mémoires de l'Académie de Metz 154 (1974), No. 1, pp. 109-124 (PDF; 703 kB).
Emmanuel Buron, Bruno Méniel (eds.): Le duc de Mercœur (1558–1602). Les armes et les lettres. Presses Universitaires de Rennes, Rennes 2009, ISBN 978-2-7535-0778-4 ( review ).

Web links

Commons : Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur - collection of images, videos and audio files

Illustration by Mathias van Somer from 1665: Philip Emanuel von Lorrayne, Duc de Mercueur ... ( digitized version )

personal data
SURNAME	Lorraine, Philippe-Emmanuel de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Mercœur, Philippe-Emmanuel de Lorraine, duc de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	French military leader of the Huguenot Wars
DATE OF BIRTH	September 9, 1558
PLACE OF BIRTH	Nancy
DATE OF DEATH	February 19, 1602
Place of death	Nuremberg