Chantilly in History and Art

odefroy de Condé owned part of the barony of Condé as early as 1200. In 1335 his great-granddaughter

ondé." This Louis was one of the many sons of the Duc de Vend?me, only surviving brother of the famous Constable, Charles de Bourbon, who met a premature death at

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Anne and mother of the Huguenot chief, Gaspard de Coligny. It was no doubt owing to the influence of his wife Eleonore-so named after the second wife of Francis I-that the Prince de Condé embraced the Protestant cause, and was thenceforward regarded by the Huguenots as one of their leaders. Eleonore was on terms of great intimacy with her sister-in-law, Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Na

ancis II was thrown into prison for high treason, under a false accusation brought against him by the Guises, and condemned to death. In her despair, his unhappy wife, Eleonore, threw herself upon her knees before the King, imploring permission for a last interview. The young King was about to relent; but the Cardinal of Lorraine, fearing that she might attain her object, drove her roughly fro

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d accept her as Regent. The King of Navarre, Antoine de Bourbon, consented to her proposition in order to save his brother. The terrified Guises entreated Catherine to keep Condé still in prison; since he would, if set at liberty, get the better of them all. It is characteristic to note that when the state of the King's

t in various parts of France. She endeavoured to entice Condé to her Court through the charms of one of her Court ladies-the beautiful Isabelle de Limeuil-in order to make him an instrument for her own purposes. Brant?me, with reference to this, speaks of Louis de Bourbon as a man of corrupt morals. Nor could he resist the passion shown for him by Marguerite de Lustrac, widow of the Maréchal

in the hands of the Queen-Mother and the Guises, who deliberately provoke

of these two great ladies been equally desirous of keeping the peace the Massacre of St. Bartholomew would never have taken place. Indeed, when Eleonore de Roye died at

nfidelities. Her eldest son, Henri I de Bourbon, who had shared all her anxieties and who had been her constant companion, listened with deep emotion to h

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n was the bloody battle of Jarnac, where Condé died the death of a hero. No one could deny that he loved and honoured France, and that he was a great warrior. Even the Guises, his implacable enemies, endeavoured to

midst and presented to them her son Henri de Béarn, together with his cousin the young Prince de Condé. Under the guidance of Gaspard de Coligny these two young Princes were received amongst the leaders of the Protestant army, at that time in a critical position and in

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w had not then taken place, nor had the close ties of relationship between the houses of Valois and Navarre at that date been loosened. At the same time a marriage was arranged by Jeanne d'Albret between Henri de Condé and Marie de

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dicis wished to remove her before the nuptials of her son Henri of Navarre and Margot de France. The douce enfant (as Francis I called her, when Dauphine of France) had schooled herself well to the difficult position in which as a young wife she

although his young wife obeyed. For this reason he was summoned before the boy King, Charles IX, who, advancing towards him, called out, "The Mass, Death, or the Bastille, Choose!" "God will not allow," said Condé quietly, "that I choose the first, my King! The two other alternatives are at your pleasure." In a fury, the King rushed upon him and would h

hey had been; and they were compelled to march under the command of the Duc d'Anjou against that same La Rochelle whe

so Marie de Clève, who was even trying to make this a plea for a separation when she died suddenly in giving birt

castle of Taillebourg, and was of a romantic turn of mind and very handsome. Condé, presented by her brother, the young Duc de Thouars, whilst he chanced to be in the neighbourhood, paid a visit to the young lady; and although of the opposite party-for the Trémoilles were Catholics-he came unattended. He showed her more attention than was his usual custom, so that she fell in love wit

ps approaching the harbour. The captain of the party presently sent one of his officers to the Prince, bearing a letter from Charlotte de la Trémoille begging him to make use of th

au de Taillebourg: both the Princess and her brother having beco

d Eleonore after her noble grandmother, wh

c de Joyeuse, who commanded 7,000 men for Henri III, and the joint forces of Henri of Navarre and Henri de Condé, who had between them but 5,000 men. The fight was a prolonged one and ended in a victory for the two Bourbons, who both greatly d

f the Catholics by the victories of Vimory and Auneau, w

success and growing popularity, he caused him to be foully murdered at the Chateau of Blois,

or the Catholic cause. "Vous avez fait mourir le duc de Guise!" she exclaimed; "Dieu veuille que vous vous trouviez bien de l'acti

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lf, the wretched King made overtures to Henri of Navarre, addressing him as "brother." A reconciliation took place between them, and together they laid siege to Paris with an army of 40,000 men. Before, however, the a

ecovery, he ventured too soon into the saddle, being, according to a contemporary writer, over-fond of riding, and in consequence suffered a relapse which ended fatally. Tifburn, the faithful custodian of the Chateau de Saint-Jean d'Angely, thus describes his unexpected death: "I was the person selected to report this sad mischance to the Princess, and I found her coming d

servants-her page, Belcastle, and a valet-had suddenly disappeared, and that they had fled on two horses, kept in readiness for them by one Brilla

ui luy dura jusqu'au matin. Tout le Vendredy il demeura au lit. Le soir il soupa, et ayant bien dormi, il se leva le Samedi matin, dina debout, et puis joua aux eschecs. Il se leva, se mit a promener par sa chambre, devisant a

false accusations. For many years, however, she was kept under close guard at Saint-Jean d'Angely; and in the archives at Thouars there still exist some touching letters from her to her mother and to the Constable de Montmorency, asserting her innocence and imploring help. She also describes her straitened circumstances, her allowance being quite insufficient to supply the needs of her children, Eleonore and Henri. Throughout all her trials she behaved with singular fortitude, until at length, when her son Henri de Bourbon was recognised as the legitimate son of his father, and thenceforth held the position of heir-presumptive, she was allowed to return to Court. De Thou even obtain

fell passionately in love with his young wife, the beautiful Charlotte de Montmorency, he fled with her

half million of francs as a sort of compensation-which, however, did not satisfy him. Subsequently he was accused of having designs on the throne, and although this was not proved, Richelieu, in the name of the Regent, had him arrested. He was imprisoned in the Bastille and treated most rigorously as a State criminal. It is greatly to the credit of his

more liberty, and there he could take exercise on the top of a thick wall built in the form of a gallery. The poor P

n her little daughter Geneviève de Bourbon was born,

later at Toulouse. Unfortunately he had sided with Gaston, the King's brother, in a conspiracy against the mighty Cardinal. In vain his wife, Marie Felice Orsini, pleaded for her husband. Sh

to this day the Royal coat-of-arms, marks this transition period; and not far from it is the so-called Maison de Sylvie, which recalls Marie Felice Orsini. It was there that she and her husban

his deathbed he wished to atone for them he summoned Henri II, Prince de Condé, and told him that Chantilly should be