Charles de Gontaut, 1st Duke of Biron (1562 – 31 July 1602) was a French noble, military commander, Admiral of France, Marshal of France, and governor of Burgundy during the final days of the French Wars of Religion. The son of Marshal Armand de Gontaut, Baron of Biron who had served the crown militarily throughout the religious wars, Biron made his entry into French politics in the late 1580s.

Initially a follower of the chief royal favourite Épernon by 1589 he was a candidate to become Admiral of France. In August 1589 Henry III of France was assassinated, and Biron and his father transferred their loyalties to the Protestant Henry IV of France, putting them at war with the Catholic League. He fought at the royalist victories of Arques and Ivry in late 1589 and early 1590, during which he developed a reputation as an exceptional commander.

In 1592 he became Admiral of France, a post he held for two years, before being compelled to trade it for the title of Marshal so that the former title could be offered to a rebel. In 1593 Biron invaded Burgundy, and succeeded in capturing many villages, but was unable to secure any major cities. In 1595 he again invaded Burgundy with considerably more success, Beaune, Auxonne, Autun and finally Dijon falling to him in late May of that year. During the campaign, Henry granted him the governate of Burgundy. A Spanish army under the Constable of Castilla invaded in response and joined forces with the duke of Mayenne, lieutenant-general of the League. Having called on Henry for support, Biron and his king defeated the Constable and duke against the odds at the Battle of Fontaine-Française.

This largely marked the end of the domestic civil war, as the conflict transformed into an international one against Spain. In 1597 Biron led the successful siege of Amiens, the city having recently been taken by surprise by the Spanish. He signed the Treaty of Vervins with the Spanish the following year. He was then tasked with making war on the duke of Savoy which he conducted for the next few years, seeing continued success. Around this time, he began to be courted by the Savoyard duke, who saw in his tense relations with Henry the potential for a useful defection. According to the testimony of Jacques de La Fin, Biron entered a formal treaty to betray Henry in 1600, by whose terms he would be established as a largely independent ruler of Burgundy under the overall authority of the Spanish, in return for his betrayal of Henry. No such treaty has however ever been found.

In January 1601 France made peace with Savoy in the Treaty of Lyon, by the terms of which France traded their former possession of Saluzzo for a collection of other territories. Biron was established as governor of these, but a fortress he had to fight particularly bitterly for was granted to a Protestant governor, embittering him. Shortly thereafter, Biron confessed to Henry that in the heat of the moment after this he had entertained treasonous thoughts. Henry forgave him for this, and dispatched him on a diplomatic mission.

In March 1602 La Fin came to Henry, claiming to have evidence that Biron's treason ran far deeper, alleging a treaty had been formed, and that Biron was to have put Henry in line of enemy fire during the prior campaign. Henry believed these accusations, and arranged for Biron to come to court in June. Biron was reluctant but was eventually coaxed into appearing. Repeatedly urged to confess to treason, Biron maintained his innocence. He was convicted by the Paris Parlement on 27 July, and despite the protests of much of the upper nobility, he was executed at the Bastille on 31 July 1602.

Early life and family

Charles de Gontaut was born in 1562, the eldest son of the Catholic Armand de Gontaut, Baron of Biron and Protestant Jeanne, dame d'Ornezan. His father served the king throughout the French Wars of Religion seeing service at the siege of La Rochelle in 1573 and continuing his service through the following decades as a Marshal.

His father was killed in July 1592 while conducting the siege of Épernay.

Reign of Henry III

In 1586 Biron was involved in a major duel with La Vauguyon, a great noble of Limousin over the prospect of being able to marry Anne de Caumont. Several men were killed in the duel.

At court he became a follower of the chief royal favourite the duke of Épernon, joining his Gascon entourage. To reward those in his orbit, Épernon provided an income of 200 écus.

In early 1589, La Valette was forced to yield the office of Admiral. His initial choice to succeed him was Biron, however it was instead granted to the royal favourite, the marquis de Beauvais-Nangis. In 1592 the office was transferred from him to Biron in line with La Valette's original vision.

Reign of Henry IV Loyalist

Upon the assassination of Henry III in August 1589, Biron and his father quickly transferred their loyalties to his Protestant heir, Henry III of Navarre, who now styled himself Henry IV. Former loyalists to Henri III such as the Biron, Longueville and Gaspard de Schomberg among others formed the second generation of courtiers Henry IV would rely upon.

Ivry

Biron fought with the royal army against the lieutenant-general of the Catholic League, Mayenne at the victory of Arques in September 1589. Following this victory, Henry advanced towards the capital, near which he faced Mayenne again at Ivry in March 1590. During the battle Biron commanded a cavalry formation alongside the royal bastard the count of Auvergne. The two were opposite the count of Egmont and a contingent of German mercenaries. Egmont initially had success against the royalists, destroying Auvergne's formations, however Biron then charged at the head of his troops, first halting and then reversing Egmont's attack, his formations being scattered with Egmont himself left dead on the field. With victory against Egmont, Biron became involved in an inconclusive struggle with the chevalier d'Aumale before reinforcements under his father Marshal Biron swung the tide. The battle was a decisive royalist victory. He fought at the abortive siege of Paris which followed the victory at Ivry. In these combats he acquired considerable reputation for his military skill.

In early 1593, Biron was in a place of some disenchantment with Henry, and was for a brief time drawn towards the third party at the nascent court, that sought to promote Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon as an alternate candidate to the throne. In response to these rumblings, Henry accelerated his plans to convert to Catholicism.

First campaign into Burgundy Biron led a campaign for Henry into Burgundy in late 1593, with considerable success. After 20 villages had fallen to him the authorities of Dijon wrote in panic to Mayenne urging him to come and protect the city from Biron. Ultimately, Biron did not capture any major cities at this time.

Marshal Biron Having occupied the post of Admiral for a brief time, Biron was obliged to relinquish it to Villars-Brancas in 1594. This was due to the fact that Villars-Brancas was in command of Rouen, and the Admiralty was one of his several demands for defection. In exchange for yielding the post, Biron was established as a Marshal of France by Henry, just as his father had been. He was further granted a monetary compensation of 420,000 livres. The Marshal baton had recently been granted to several defectors from the League: La Châtre, Brissac and Boisdauphin.

Second invasion of Burgundy

By the advent of 1595, the war against the Catholic League was entering its final stages. Biron was tasked in January with invading Burgundy, to crush the duke of Mayenne. He swept through the province, with Beaune, Nuits, Auxonne and Autun falling to him in quick succession. Dijon, capital of Burgundy, was defended by Jean de Saulx. Though the post of governor was currently held by Mayenne, Henry considered him to have forfeited his right to the office by his continued resistance to him. Therefore on 20 April 1595 Henry conferred the governate of Burgundy on Biron. This was a heavy blow to the Lorraine family, with the governate they had held since 1543 lost from the family permanently due to Mayenne's intransigence. It proved a strategic choice for Henry, as Mayenne had long built patronage networks in Burgundy that he could rely on to support him.

For a time Henry may have considered establishing a system of creating a system of hereditary fiefs in France, establishing the young duke of Guise as count of Provence, and Biron as count of Périgord. However this did not come to pass.

In late May Biron's troops surrounded Dijon and worked on breaching the walls. Concurrent to the military efforts against the city, Biron conducted negotiations with the local elites to secure the cities surrender. As a result of these negotiations Dijon could not celebrate Corpus Christi day. The terms that he was proposing to the city were continually read aloud to a public assembly.

By June 1595, Dijon had made its submission to Henry, who was sensitive to the urban notables of the city. He therefore was cautious in the impositions he made of the city. For the first year under royalist control half of the échevins were to be selected from a shortlist drawn up by Henry as opposed to their usual appointment by the mayor. He further chose the various captains of the city militia. Biron was charged with explaining the latter innovation to the grandees of Dijon. He stressed that it was his desire to expand the privileges that the city enjoyed. It was a "one time imposition", and the king would soon be in Dijon for them to discuss it with. Henry entered Dijon on 4 June, and went out of his way to demonstrate the veracity of his conversion to Catholicism. After his victory at Fontaine-Française, he arranged a special procession for the consecrated host on 1 July to replace the festivities that Biron had disrupted.

Fontaine-Française

Biron and Henry did not have time to rest on their laurels in Dijon for long however. An army under the Constable of Castilla linked up with Mayenne, and moved to meet the royalists. Biron, fearful that this army was about to advance on Dijon, called on Henry to bring up reinforcements. Having linked with Biron, the two probed at the advancing enemy, which for the moment far outnumbered them, stumbling into battle at Fontaine-Française on 5 June.

Despite being heavily outnumbered, Henry refused to countenance a retreat, and he and Biron led two successful defences against assaults from the enemy before starting a counterattack. Mayenne urged the Constable to engage his entire army, but he was cautious, suspecting Henry would not dare attack unless he had far greater forces in the area. With this victory Mayenne could no longer maintain his presence in Bourgogne. Henry was ecstatic at the victory, and was generous in his praise towards Biron and other nobleman in his ranks. Soon thereafter Mayenne came to terms with Henr.

Henry was true to the word he had given the people of Dijon, and maintained distance from the elections of the city in the coming years. The Parlement of Dijon was less interested in maintaining distance, and after the victory of the former League member, Bernard Coussin in 1598 with 72% of the vote the Parlement sought to change the electoral process. Henceforth the mayor was to be selected by lot from the top three candidates. Coussin protested and appealed to Biron to intervene against this. Biron and the city council succeeded in overruling the Parlement, and it was declared that elections would occur "in the traditional format... without any changes, alterations or innovations of any kind".

Amiens