Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte-Juson, aka Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte-SuzonEtcheverry, p. 6 (in French) (sic), aka Jean de La Forcade,Haag, La France Protestante, Tome V, p. 304 (in French)Haag, La France Protestante, Tome VII, p. 532 (in French) aka Jean de La Fourcade, aka Jean de la Fourcade, aka Jean de Lafourcade,AD64, E 2002AD64, B 3084 aka Jean de Laforcade,AD64, C 1542AD64, E 2012AD64, E 2015AD64, E 2022AD64, 1 J 298/2 aka Jean de Fourcade (* About 1555, presumably in Auvillar; † about 1639, in hamlet of Montclaris, in Sigalens, Gascony), was the son of Protestant nobleman Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte, and a descendant of the noble family of Forcade of Béarn in Navarre.
Attorney General of the Chancery of Navarre (1589–1594), Counsellor on the Conseil Souverain of Navarre and Béarn (1594–1609), Counsellor at the Criminal Court of Béarn ("Conseiller à la Chambre criminelle") (1595),AD64, B 288 Attorney in charge of Impounds ("Maître de Fourrière") for Catherine de Navarre (1596-1599), Attorney in charge of Petitions ("Maître des requêtes") (1599AD64, E 2017-1606), Judge in the Seneschalty of Sauveterre (1606–?), a Senior Diplomat for Marie de' Medici, queen mother and Regent of France (1611–1615), and the King's Prosecutor in Oloron (1619).
At least one highly-reputed 19th century genealogist, Gabriel O'Gilvy, referred to him as "…one of the most important men in Béarn…".O'Gilvy, Tome 3, Page 171 (in French) He is cited several times as "Jean de La Fourcade" in the "Mémoires authentiques de Jacques-Nompar de Caumont, duc de La Force, Maréchal de France", Baron, Governor of Navarre and Béarn (16 March 1593SSLAP, Extraits des Registres de la Chambre des Comptes de Pau, Tome 1, p. 259 (in French)-1621), Viceroy of Navarre, Captain of the Guard Corps, Lieutenant to the King in Béarn, Marquis (1609), Marshall of France (1622), then 1st "duc de La Force, Peer of France" (1637), Seigneur de Castelnaud. He is also named several times in letters between the Queen Mother of Navarre and this latter.
Life and occupation
Jean de Laforcade was a lawyer by occupation. His career reflected both his own, and his family's, close relationship to Antoine of Navarre and to his wife and later widow, Jeanne d'Albret of Navarre, to Henry IV of France, and, following his assassination in 1610, to his widow, Marie de' Medici in her capacity as the queen mother of Louis XIII and de facto Regent of France from 1610–16. Medici was imprisoned by her son Louis XIII in 1617, who then banished her from France and executed many of her closest allies, at which time Jean de Laforcade's career followed a similar negative direction.
Chronology:
The earliest known citation of Jean de Laforcade is in 1576, with the recording of a donation of 250 Bordeaux francs at the notary Arnaud-Guilhem Du Torner in Pau, made by Jean Secondat, Seigneur de Roques, President of the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Nérac, to Jean de Lafourcade, his godson, a student at the Royal Academy of Lescar.
Appointed Attorney General of the Chancery of Navarre in Pau on 26 April 1589SSLAP, Extraits des Registres de la Chambre des Comptes de Pau, Tome 35, p. 71 (in French) and resigned on 10 May 1594.SSLAP, Extraits des Registres de la Chambre des Comptes de Pau, Tome 35, p. 74 (in French) In 1594, the Estates of Béarn request of Mr. de Bénac, Lieutenant General, the revocation of the appointment of Jean de Laforcade, appointed as Attorney General of Navarre, because he did not understand Basque. 1590, payment of an allowance of 100 livres to Jean de Lafourcade, Attorney General of Navarre, to purchase a red robe. In 1593, a first notarized testament of Jean de Laforcade, Attorney in charge of Impounds ("Maître de Fourrière") for Catherine de Navarre, at the Notary Guilhamy de Labat in Pau. 1595, appointed Counsellor at the Criminal Court of Béarn ("Conseiller à la Chambre criminelle"). In 1596, a second notarized testament of Jean de Laforcade, Attorney in charge of Impounds ("Maître de Fourrière") for Catherine de Navarre, at the Notary Pérarnaud de Camps in Pau. About 1598–99, the sale of tithes by Jean Du Pac, Seigneur de Bizanos, to Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de Lafitte, Attorney in charge of Petitions ("Maître des requêtes").AD64, E 2017AD64, E 1005 About 1599, the marriage by notarized contract in Pau between Samuel Du Jac, Minister in Anoye, and Judith de Laforcade, daughter of Jean de Laforcade, Attorney in charge of Impounds ("Maître de Fourrière") for Catherine de Navarre.AD64, E 2019 The marriage by notarized contract at the Notary Ramon de Majourau in Pau, between Jean de Minvielle, lawyer, and Marie de Laforcade, daughter of Jean de Laforcade, Attorney in charge of Petitions ("Maître des requêtes"), between 1605 and 1606.AD64, E 2022 Counsellor on the Conseil Souverain of Navarre and Béarn (1594SSLAP, Extraits des Registres du Conseil Souverain de Béarn, Tome 24, p. 67 (in French)-1609),SSLAP, Extraits des Registres de la Chambre des Comptes de Pau, Tome 25, p. 142 (in French) resigning on 11 January 1606 in favor of his son-in-law Jean de Minvielle from Oloron, with "lettres de surannation" dated 9 July 1607 granting an extension to further exercise his position for two further years. Jean de Minvielle was received on the Conseil Souverain of Navarre and Béarn on 3 December 1607. Judge in the newly-erected Seneschalty of Sauveterre in 1606.SSLAP, Extraits des Registres de la Chambre des Comptes de Pau, Tome 25, p. 141 (in French)
Baron Jacques-Nompar de Caumont wrote in his letter from Fontainebleau dated 30 November 1606 to his wife, Charlotte de Gontaut-Biron:
"…I am glad for that which the arrival of Mr. de la Fourcade announces for me, he will assist me in many things, because he has not yet been touched by any of the affairs of Béarn; in such a manner that you feel that I would be very distant from power from here, before breaking camp [in Fontainebleau], at least the way I see it…"La Force/La Grange, Mémoires, Tome I, pp. 442–443 (in French)
And again in his letter from Paris dated 21 December 1606 to his wife:
"…The last news I have of you was sent by Mr. de la Fourcade, written from Cugnac; I long to learn of the joyous birth of our daughter in Castelnaud. I do not think I can leave here sooner than around the fifteenth of January, because it will take me fifteen days, after breaking camp, to wrap up my business…"La Force/La Grange, Mémoires, Tome I, p. 445 (in French)
In 1607, he is cited in his capacity of Counsellor on the Conseil Souverain of Navarre and Béarn as providing the position of professor of Hebrew at the Royal College ("College Royal") in Lescar, to Bernard de Majendie, who was appointed and elected by the said university on 12 August 1607 to replace Gratien de St.-Goadens who had died.Jaurgain/Maluquer, Armorial de Béarn Tome II, p. 322 (in French) Subsequently, the Royal College ("College Royal") was transferred back from Lescar to Orthez, where it previously been prior to 1592,SSLAP, Extraits des Registres de la Chambre des Comptes de Pau, Tome 35, p. 2 (in French) with letters of confirmation from the King dated 7 December 1607. As an elder of the church in Saint-Palais,Raymond, p. 151 (in French) he was one of the three deputies elected by the Reformed Church of Béarn to represent the États de Béarn at the General Assembly of the Reformed Church of France in Saumur, together with Pierre de Gontaut-Biron, Baron d'Arros, and Gaillard du Casse, Pastor of Salies-de-Béarn in 1611.La Force/La Grange, Mémoires, Tome II, p. 18 (in French)
Marie de' Medici, queen mother of Louis XIII, in her capacity as the Regent of France, expressed her annoyance concerning the election of the Deputies for Béarn to the Assembly of Saumur in a letter dated 18 May 1611 to the Marquis de La Force:
"…Pending this, I will not conceal that I found very bad the deputation made by those of the Religion alleged reformed of Béarn of Messrs. the Baron d'Arros, de Fourcade and du Casse, that they, for their part, find themselves at the Assembly of Saumur, notwithstanding the opinion [I have] of their persons, which I consider as was told to me, and they will conduct themselves there as the righteous ones at the entertainment of the State in which they have their fortunes and their families; but as the consequence, having never done this during the life of my lord the late King and not having had any reason since his death, as you all too well know, and the good treatment they received from the King, my son and I; how shall we continue should they give us reason. What you will make them understand, and that which they will need to properly demonstrate by their actions and behavior in the said Assembly, should give me complete satisfaction, which I dare to promise should they behave according to your instructions, on the assurance I have that you will give so instruct them, as well as to others who find themselves at the said Assembly, as your loyalty and affection to service to the King, my said Sire and son, and to the State, makes me hope of you. And this I pray to God, etc. Written in Paris, the 18th day of May 1611. [Signed:] Marie. [And a little lower:] de Loménie."La Force/La Grange, Mémoires, Tome II, pp. 325–326 (in French)
In a letter written by the now Marquis Jacques-Nompar de Caumont, from Saumur, to de Loménie, Secretary of State for Navarre dated 30 June 1611:
"Sir, you will see from what I write to the Queen, and to the Messieurs of the Chancery of Navarre, the reason for hurry, that you will well be able to judge by the state of affairs such that things do not remain as they are. There is a letter from Mr. de Saulguis, Counsellor, to Mr. de La Fourcade, that orders him, that the Viscount d'Échaux and all of the country arm themselves with anything they can, having great apprehension to receive an unwelcome arrival. I beg you hold the matter in your hands such that it be reviewed according to the importance of the facts, and I should be particularly well-informed concerning the wishes of His Majesty (sic) and what I would have to do…"La Force/La Grange, Mémoires, Tome II, pp. 333–334 (in French)
From Jacques-Nompar de Caumont, Duke de La Force's memoirs, Jean de La Fourcade's pivotal role at the center of the disputes between the Catholic and Reformed churches in Pau, is illustrated. In an excerpt from these memoirs, he describes how, upon returning to Béarn near the end of 1611, he found that each side was fanning the fires to warm up their courage, Catholics to Catholics, and Protestants to Protestants. The Catholics were "…persuading Catholics that those of the Reformed Religion wanted to step on their throats and have at them at the first opportunity offered…". Those of the Reformed Religion "…persuading those of the Reformed Religion that the Catholics had the same desire, that their destruction was assured, and that the Council of their Majesties had nothing in terms of recommendations except to get rid of them…". The Protestants felt "…they could fairly judge from the little account that had been taken of their demands, and by the fact that everything that had been granted to them was turned against them to their disadvantage and to the advantage of the Catholics, such as, the entry of the Bishops to the Conseil [Souverain de Béarn], the Mass held in the city of Pau against the content of the Edict of Nantes, and the general refusal of all their demands, be it the puny wage increase of thirty livres per year that each of their ministers might receive, or be it the gratuities the three deputies, Messieurs d'Arros, de La Fourcade and du Casse, were granted by His Majesty, whose pensions were the only wages for the little care and vigor they gave to the affairs of their temples, considering these special advantages a public shame…".La Force/La Grange, Mémoires, Tome II, p. 36 (in French)