Jean de Bourbon, comte d'Enghien and comte de Soissons (6 July 1528 – 10 August 1557) was a French prince du sang and military commander during the latter Italian Wars of the French king Henri II. The son of Charles de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme (duke of Vendôme) and Françoise d'Alençon, Jean had several older brothers. After the death of his elder brother François de Bourbon, comte d'Enghien (count of Enghien), Jean inherited the title, by which he would be known to posterity.
Enghien enjoyed a ceremonial role in the early reign of Henri II, he was not however afforded much in the way of offices or titles by the crown. For the conclusion of peace with the English in 1550, he was made a hostage as guarantor of French payments to England. With the resumption of the Italian Wars in 1551, Enghien participated in the war of Parma at the siege of Lanzo. He then saw service in the successful defence of French controlled Metz in 1552, against a siege led by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Come 1555, Enghien was back in Italy, and participated in the successful capture of Volpiano. Sometime in 1557 he married his first cousin Marie de Bourbon, and shortly thereafter died in the disastrous French defeat of the battle of Saint-Quentin on 10 August 1557.
Personal life and family Family
Jean de Bourbon was born on 6 July 1528, the son of Charles de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme (duke of Vendôme) and Françoise d'Alençon. Jean's father Charles de Bourbon was a prince du sang (prince of the royal blood), by virtue of his descent from the sixth son of king Louis IX, Robert Capet, comte de Clermont (count of Clermont). By this descent, Jean de Bourbon was a cadet member of the royal house through the male line. Jean's mother, Françoise d'Alençon brought various lands to the marriage. Together this couple had thirteen children.
Among Jean's brothers were the eldest Antoine de Bourbon, who would succeed their father as duc de Vendôme, and then, by his 1548 marriage, become king of Navarre in 1555. Another brother of Jean's of note was François de Bourbon, comte d'Enghien, who achieved a famous triumph at the battle of Ceresole in 1544 and to whom Jean would succeed in titles. Finally, of note for Jean's life among his brothers was Louis de Bourbon, prince de Condé with whom Jean would collaborate in many military escapades in the 1550s.
In 1528, the seigneur d'Humières was established as godfather to the new-born Jean de Bourbon.
Marriage
Jean de Bourbon married his first cousin, Marie de Bourbon, duchesse d'Estouteville and comtesse de Saint-Pol daughter of Jean's paternal uncle François de Bourbon, comte de Saint-Pol. This marriage was celebrated on 14 June 1557, shortly before Jean de Bourbon's death at Saint-Quentin. The couple would have no issue.
After Jean's death, Marie remarried. Her second marriage transpired three years later in 1560 with the elderly François I de Clèves, duc de Nevers.
Luxembourg inheritance In 1546, Jean's grandmother, Marie de Luxembourg died. Her inheritance was now a matter of partage. By the terms of the attendant partage, in 1549, Jean received 4,000 livres per year. With the division of Marie's plate, Jean was granted 32 marcs of silver. Jean's eldest brother, the duc de Vendôme had responsibility for ensuring that his younger brothers Jean and Louis were territorially satisfied. From his deceased elder brother François, Jean inherited the comté (county) d'Enghien. Meanwhile, the duc de Vendôme was to provided the comté de Soissons by the duc de Vendôme. Jean will be referred to as the comte d'Enghien for the remainder of this article.
The territory of Enghien was to be found in the Belgian province of Hainaut It was a contested territory at the north-western extremity of the Holy Roman Empire and therefore was sometimes under Imperial occupation. This was the case before the convention of La Fère in October 1538.
Compagnie d'Ordonnance Jean de Bourbon enjoyed command of a compagnie d'ordonnance (the heavy cavalry core of the French army). A certain captain of the Bourbon château de Vendeuil, François de Stavaye would serve as the lieutenant of Jean's compagnie.
Childhood In his youth, Jean de Bourbon, and his elder brother François de Bourbon, jointly lived in the household of their uncle, François de Bourbon, comte de Saint-Pol.
New King, little favour On 31 March 1547, King Francis I died. The comte d'Enghien (count of Enghien) was among those in the funeral processions for the King. He wore a Moiré cloak like the other princes and peers of France.
The beginning of the reign of Francis' son, who now styled himself Henri II, was the occasion of a palace revolution. The duchesse d'Étampes and all her supporters were ousted. Though many vacancies were generated in this process, Henri did not grant them to the princes du sang like Enghien or his elder brother the duc de Vendôme, favouring instead his familiars. Cloulas describes the spurning of these men, in favour of 'newcomers' as scandalous. Alongside the Bourbon family in being spurned, was to be found the house of Albret who were felt to be too close to the duchesse d'Étampes.
One of the great beneficiaries of the palace revolution was Diane de Poitiers. She spread the favour that had been bestowed upon her by granting those lands whose heir was unknown to the duc d'Aumale (a member of the sovereign house of Lorraine-Guise. He in turn, passed on the privilege to the comte d'Enghien. By this means, Diane became a patron to both the Lorraine-Guise family, and the Bourbon family.
On the day the mourning for Francis I was due to end, 29 May, the new King convened a meeting of the Order of Saint-Michel. This order, created by Louis XI in the prior century was the pre-eminent royal chivalric order. In part due to the preceding palace revolution, a reorganisation of the order was necessary. Several new knights of the order were thus created: the comte d'Enghien, the marquis de Mayenne, the vicomte de Rohan (viscount of Rohan), the baron de Sérignan, and the seigneur de Saint-André (lord of Saint-André) who was simultaneously made a maréchal de France (Marshal of France - great officer of the crown and senior military commander).
Coronation and ceremony
Come 20 July 1547, Henri was ready to depart for his coronation. The new King met with a delegation from Reims (where he was to be crowned) at the nearby village of La Myre. With the King for the occasion were the constable de Montmorency, the king of Navarre, the duc de Lorraine, the duc de Vendôme (Enghien's elder brother) and the comte d'Enghien among others. The royal party entered Reims on 25 July to receive a Joyous Entry (a special ceremonial first entry into a city). The following day, the king undertook his coronation at the Cathedral of Reims.
The governor of the Lyonnais, the maréchal de Saint-André resolved to undertake a Joyous Entry into the capital of his governate, Lyon. This aroused opposition from the grandees of the city who argued such entries were not a prerogative of governors, but rather the King and Queen, as well as princes du sang. Saint-André assured the grandees of Lyon that he would in fact be accompanied by four princes on his journey, including two princes du sang: the comte d'Enghien and the prince de La Roche-sur-Yon. The city therefore resigned itself to facilitating Saint-André's expensive Entry.
The coronation of the French queen, Catherine took place on 10 June 1549. Around 11:00 on the day of the coronation, Catherine was fetched from the abbey of Saint-Denis by the cardinal de Vendôme and cardinal de Guise, so that she might be accompanied to the great church for her crowning. Around them were to be found a host of princes, princesses and office holders. The comte d'Enghien and his elder brother the duc de Vendôme enjoyed the responsibility of holding the hem of Catherine's mantle. During the ceremony itself, Enghien, Vendôme and the cardinal de Bourbon (one of their uncles) jointly held the crown above Catherine's head after she had received her anointment.
Conclusion of the English war Around November 1549, the comte d'Enghien had his compagnie of 50 lances (heavy cavalry unit, each one comprising a gendarme heavy cavalryman wielding a lance as well as several other soldiers) garrisoned with him in the city of Saint-Quentin in Picardy.
Peace between England and France was signed on 24 March 1550. As part of this peace, the English withdrew from the city of Boulogne, which they had held since 1544. The French, for their part, were to pay the English a sum of money. Until the full sum had been paid, six hostages were to be sent to England as security. These were the comte d'Enghien, the marquis de Mayenne, the elder son of the constable de Montmorency, François, the vicomte de Thouars, the vidame de Chartres and the seigneur de La Hunaudaie.
On 1 October 1550, Henri celebrated his 'victory over the English' in the form of a triumph in the city of Rouen. The King's household preceded him into the city, among them the great officers of the crown. Before the King came the constable de Montmorency with the Constable's sword drawn, the duc de Guise (formally known as the duc d'Aumale), the comte d'Enghien, Enghien's younger brother the prince de Condé and many others. Cloulas finds it notable that the King's two great favourites (Guise and Montmorency) walked before the princes du sang Enghien and Condé. A spectacle had been prepared for the royal party, featuring the daily life of the Tupinambá people of Brazil, a region in which France had interests. After the conclusion of his 'triumph' Henri went, on 8 October, to administer justice in the parlement of Rouen. With him went the comte d'Enghien, the king of Navarre, the duc de Guise, the duc d'Aumale (formerly the marquis de Mayenne), the constable de Montmorency and the various cardinals.
Resumption of the Italian wars Parma war
After the death of Pope Paul III, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V no longer saw why he should offer a friendly face to the Farnese family. He therefore demanded the duke of Parma yield his duchy of Parma. In May 1551, the duke of Parma, entered into compact with the French king Henri II. No sooner had this been done, that his lands were invaded by the Papacy and Imperial (i.e. Holy Roman) parties. The Imperial army that laid siege to Parma was under the command of the condotierri (a type of Italian contract mercenary) Ferrante Gonzaga. With the Imperials bogged down before Parma, the French commander the comte de Brissac launched attacks on San Damiano, Cherasco and Chieri near Turin. San Damiano was poorly defended and easily taken. Cherasco was hotly defended, and the assault failed. Though the assault on Chieri also failed, a siege brought success, and the city was surrendered by composition on 5 September. Brissac also succeeded in surprising the entourage of the archduke of Austria and his wife Maria near Asti, taking many dead and prisoners. Appraised of the fall of Chieri and San Damiano, which risked compromising his western front, Gonzaga made for Asti with 6,000 men, leaving a subordinate in front of the city of Parma. Henri II meanwhile funnelled reinforcements to Brissac, dispatching six companies of lances. As had happened before the battle of Ceresole, the victory of Enghien's eponymous elder brother in 1544, many young nobles hungry for battle descended on Italy to join with Brissac as part of these reinforcements. In Cloulas' estimation, they were attracted to the theatre by Brissac's easy surprise of the royal entourage. Among them was the new comte d'Enghien; as well as his younger brother, the prince de Condé; the eldest son of the constable de Montmorency, and the comte de Charny.