Philippe de La Baume-Saint-Amour

Philippe de La Baume-Saint-Amour (born January 16, 1616 , † November 14, 1688 in Paris) Marquis de Yennes and Baron de Saint-Amour , was a nobleman, military man, politician and writer from the Free County of Burgundy in the service of Spain. He is known as the governor of the Free County of Burgundy during the War of Devolution (1667/68).

Life

Philippe de La Baume-Saint-Amour is the son of Emmanuel-Philibert de La Baume-Saint-Amour and Hélène Perrenot de Granvelle, a niece of Cardinal Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle . In his youth he was destined for church service and became a canon in the cathedral chapter of Besançon , but then opted for a military career. He fought in the Spanish army (the Free County of Burgundy was under the Spanish Crown until 1674) and stood out during the siege of Arras (June 13 - August 9, 1640) and in the battles that followed the evacuation of the city, where he on the other hand, the great Condé also noticed.

On August 11, 1661 he was appointed governor of the Free County of Burgundy. But at this point in time his home province was still bled and traumatized by the ten years (1634–1644) of the Thirty Years' War that had affected the free county, and what the parliament was not prepared to cooperate with and submit to the new governor - and did not stop defying his plans during his tenure. In addition, the Free County of Burgundy was diplomatic and military isolated, far removed from Spain and without direct support: the new governor could only count on his own armed forces, which consisted mainly of militiamen .

In the spring of 1667 the French ruler had marched into the Spanish Netherlands ( war of devolution ), in the first days of 1668 Philippe de La Baume-Saint-Amour learned that another army was standing on the borders of the province. He decided to split his troops in order to strengthen the garrisons of large cities such as Dole , Salins , Gray and Besançon , instead of daring a direct engagement. He then set up his command center in the Château de Joux in order to come as close as possible to the reinforcements expected from Switzerland and Italy. But the support did not arrive, but the remnants of the garrisons that he had previously strengthened: the French under Condé had crossed the border on February 4th and after three days on their campaign Besançon (which as a free imperial city was not part of the free county ) and Salins occupied almost without resistance, on February 14th Dole surrendered after four days of siege, only Gray still held out. The Burgundian resistance turned into a disaster and the Château de Joux itself now threatened: the defense was too weak and the militiamen allowed themselves to be so impressed by the French professional soldiers that the fortress surrendered to General Louis de Maupeou, Marquis de Noisy . La Baume was asked to give Gray the choice of surrendering or being completely destroyed, and the surrender came on February 17th. In less than three weeks the entire Free County was occupied.

Philippe de La Baume-Saint-Amour was held responsible and in May 1668 dismissed as governor and military commander. The tensions between him and the parliament, however, persisted for a long time: Louis XIV had offered him an income for his attitude, as well as the opportunity to keep his Château de Gray - which the population interpreted as a reward for treason. He retired to Paris, where he spent the last 20 years of his life and wrote two works that became his memoirs, in which he describes his difficult relationship with the Parliament and in which he tried to prove his innocence.

marriage and family

Philippe de La Baume-Saint-Amour married Dorothée de Rye, daughter of Claude de Rye de Varambon de Varax, Baron de Balançon , artillery general in the Spanish Netherlands, Governor of Namur , and Claude-Prospère de La Baume-Montrevel. The marriage remained without offspring.

Works

• Apologie de messire Philippe de La Baume marquis d'Yennes , 1668
• Correspondance du marquis d'Yennes avec le parlement de Dole , 1670

literature

• Joseph François Michaud , Louis Gabriel Michaud , Biographie universelle, ancienne et moderne, ou Histoire, par ordre alphabétique, de la vie publique et privée de tous les hommes qui se sont fait remarquer par leurs écrits, leurs actions, leurs talents, leurs vertus ou leurs crimes: Ouvrage entièrement neuf , chez Michaud frères, 1834
• François Pernot, La Franche-Comté espagnole: à travers les archives de Simancas, une autre histoire des Franc-Comtois et de leurs relations avec l'Espagne de 1493 à 1678 , Presses Universitaires de Franche-Comté, 2003, ISBN 978-2- 84867-032-4

Remarks

1. ^ Pernot
2. ↑ Michaud
3. ^ Pernot
4. ^ Jean-Louis Clade, Si la Comté m'était contée , Le Coteau, Horvath, 1990, ISBN 2-7171-0687-1 , p. 84
5. ↑ Michaud
6. ↑ Michaud
7. ^ François-Ignace Dunod de Chamage, Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire du comté de Bourgogne , 1740, p. 85