Claude II de Lorraine, duc d'Aumale (18 August 1526, Joinville – 3 March 1573, La Rochelle) was a Prince étranger, military commander and French governor, during the latter Italian Wars and the early French Wars of Religion. The son of the first Duke of Guise he started his career in a pre-eminent position in French politics as a son of one of the leading families in the court of Henri II of France. Upon the death of his father in 1550, Aumale inherited the governorship of Burgundy from his father, and the duchy of Aumale from his brother who assumed the titles of Guise. Aumale was made colonel-general of the light horse by the new king and fought in Italy, Alsace and Picardie between 1551 and 1559. While leading the light cavalry during the defence of Metz he was captured, and held for the next two years, until his mother in law Diane de Poitiers paid his ransom. He achieved success at the siege of Volpiano and played an important role in the capture of Calais for which he was rewarded with the governorship of French Piedmont.
With the death of Henri II he found himself further pushed into prominence in the Guise regime for the young François II. He took part in the effort to suppress the Conspiracy of Amboise that threatened to topple the regime in early 1560. He played a key role in the organisation of the expedition to Scotland in 1560, however the instability that racked the country in the wake of the conspiracy in combination with financial issues ensured the cancellation of the expedition, in December of that year the king died and the Guise regime was displaced by a regency under Catherine de Medici. Alienated by the new regime he departed court in early 1561, before returning as part of his brother Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine's attempted policy of religious reconciliation at the Colloquy of Poissy, the failure of this and the increasing Protestant nature of Catherine's inner circle led to him leading the family into a second exile from court. In early 1562 he was with his brothers at their meeting with the Duke of Württemberg where the topic of uniting around the Lutheran creed was broached. Any hope of this policy was shattered on the return to the capital, where Guise's men committed a Massacre of Protestant worshippers at Wassy.
This served as the instigating incident for the French Wars of Religion. Aumale served the crown throughout the first war, repeatedly trying to besiege Rouen without success, before the main royal army arrived with sufficient force to subdue the town. He failed to stop François de Coligny d'Andelot bringing mercenaries into the kingdom to reinforce the rebel cause. He was wounded at the Battle of Dreux in December. In January his brother was assassinated, leaving him and Lorraine as heads of the family. Guise's son inherited his governorship of Champagne. Aumale would act as de facto governor until the young Guise attained his majority. He played a far more active role in the governance of Champagne than his own government of Burgundy. Meanwhile he and his family prosecuted a bitter vendetta against Gaspard II de Coligny who they blamed for the assassination of Guise. This culminated in skirmishes in Paris, before the king was able to enforce a peace in 1566 between the parties. Aumale continued to fight in the second and third civil wars, but was repeatedly unable to stop incursions into France by German reiters in favour of the rebels. While he was not involved in the planning of the liquidation of the Protestant leadership he was intimately involved in the killing of the Protestant leaders on 24 August 1572 that would spiral out of control into the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew. The following year he was among the nobles present at the siege of La Rochelle where he was killed on 3 March 1573.
Early life and family
Family Claude II de Lorraine, duc d'Aumale, was born in 1526, the third son of Claude, Duke of Guise and Antoinette de Bourbon. The eldest son François, Duke of Guise was 7 years his elder, while Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine was born in 1524. Louis I, Cardinal of Guise was born in 1527, while François de Lorraine was born in 1534. The youngest Guise son René, Marquis of Elbeuf was born in 1536. Meanwhile his sisters Mary of Guise, Louise of Guise, Reneé of Guise and Antoinette of Guise were born in 1515, 1520, 1522 and 1531 respectively.
Louise de Brézé On 1 August 1547 he married Louise de Brézé (c. 1518 – January 1577), dame d'Anet, the daughter of Louis de Brézé, seigneur d'Anet, and Diane de Poitiers in one of the key political marriages of the decade. Diane gifted her new son in law Rhuys and Sucinio in Bretagne. She further favoured him with her Norman possessions. The Duke of Guise inquired of Gaspard II de Coligny as to his opinions on the marriage, Coligny replied that he felt Aumale had debased himself by marrying for profit as opposed to the honour of his family. Guise retorted that Coligny was jealous.
The de Bréze inheritance took a considerable time to settle. Aumale and Louise traded Mauny for Anet with the other heirs, the La Marcks. The La Marcks' poor financial situation allowed them to purchase the County of Maulévrier and Barony of Bee Crespin in 1562. Henri-Robert de la Marck was compelled into this by the debts he had acquired as the result of his father's ransom. Aumale continued to acquire land in Normandie until by the late 1560s he was one of the great landholders of upper Normandie.
Children They had: Henri (21 October 1549, Château de Saint-Germain – 1 August 1559), Count of Valentinois died in childhood. Catherine Romula (8 November 1550, Saint-Germain – 25 June 1606), married on 11 May 1569 Nicholas, Duke of Mercœur Madeleine Diane (b. 5 February 1554), died at birth. Charles, Duke of Aumale (1555–1631) Diane (10 November 1558 – 25 June 1586, Ligny), married on 13 November 1576 François, Duke of Piney-Luxemburg Antoinette (b. 9 June 1560, Nancy), died at birth Antoinette Louise (29 September 1561, Joinville – 24 August 1643, Soissons), Abbess of Soissons Antoine (b. 12 November 1562), died at birth Claude (13 December 1564 – 3 January 1591, Saint-Denis), called the "Chevalier d'Aumale", Abbot of St.-Pere-en-Valle, Chartres, Knight of the Order of Malta, General of the Galleys Marie (10 June 1565 – 27 January 1627), Abbess of Chelles Charles (25 January 1566 – 7 May 1568, Paris) died in early childhood.
Reign of Henri II At the beginning of Henri II's reign, the king was faced with revolts against the Gabelle tax in the Garrone. To this end he dispatched his favourite Anne de Montmorency alongside François, Duke of Guise and Aumale. Together they achieved success in suppressing the tax revolt. That same year the king elevated the marquisate of Aumale to a duchy for its current holder, Guise. Aumale for his part held the marquisate of Mayenne. In May 1547 Aumale was made a Chevalier de l'ordre de Saint-Michel and in either 1548 or 1549 he became colonel general of the light cavalry.
As part of the Treaty of Boulogne which ended the war of the Rough Wooing, Aumale and François de Vendôme, Vidame de Chartres, were among six French hostages sent to England.
Inheritance Upon the death of Claude, Duke of Guise in 1550, the duke's Norman territories were split between the two Guise children with the most landed interests in Normandie, Aumale and René, Marquis of Elbeuf. Aumale's brother François, Duke of Guise provided the title of Aumale to him in April, given he was set to inherit that of Guise. Alongside his Norman inheritance, the king permitted the new duke to inherit his father's governorship of Burgundy. He was also made Grand Veneur during the reign of Henri II. Aumale was contemptful of the prospect of administering his governorship personally, mockingly saying in 1556 that having to administer his province would take only one hour a week, it was therefore a matter best left to a lieutenant-general. He would later brag that he had many governors across France who would follow his whim i.e. Guisard clients. Aumale was allowed to come to Scotland, with a passport from Edward VI dated 11 May, to see his sister Mary of Guise. He wrote from Edinburgh on 18 May that he would view the strong places of the realm. Regent Arran gave him three horses and organised a banquet for him in Edinburgh on 21 May. He returned to France through England, visiting Edward VI at Greenwich on 12 June before taking a ship at Dover.
Resumption of the Italian Wars Piedmont Campaign Seeing potential advantage, Henri II resumed the Italian Wars in 1551. To this end Brissac assembled an army in the Piedmont for an invasion of Italy. Among the forces under him were the flower of the French nobility, including Aumale. The army successfully reduced the town of Chieri. This conflict was not however technically war with the Emperor. Both Henri and Charles V were fighting a proxy war in these engagements, and it would not be until the following year that full scale conflict would develop between the powers.
Capture of the Three Bishoprics Having received an invitation to take the Three Bishoprics, Henri invaded Alsace in 1552. With Metz occupied, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor now offered his response, beginning a large scale siege of the city, which was under the military leadership of Aumale's brother Guise. With the duke of Alba moving to set up his forces against the city, Aumale, who was present in his capacity as colonel-general was dispatched with the light cavalry to harass and stymy his efforts, to delay the full investment of Metz. Near the town of Nancy Aumale's troops were caught up in a skirmish, and after a bloody fight in which he was taken off his horse, he was forced to surrender. His brother was proud when he heard of the fight that he had put up prior to his capture. Guise would successfully hold the city and Charles V was forced to raise the siege. Diane ensured that Aumale's heavy ransom would be provided, paying the Margrave of Brandenburg 60,000 livres in 1554 to secure her son in laws release from captivity. Aumale was released from captivity on 28 April 1554.
Second Italian Campaign Later that year Aumale was back in command, leading a force of 4000 infantry and 2000 horse at Laon as part of Henri's revenge campaign for the destruction of Thérouanne the previous year. The campaign would achieve surprising success, with a small force under Guise besting the Imperial army at Renty. The following year Aumale was back in Italy under the command of Brissac. Having recently received reinforcements from Henri, Brissac made an attack on the town of Volpiano however sickness overcame him and he ceded command of the siege to Aumale. As in years previous, many ambitious young nobles flocked to the siege lines to participate in the victory, including Condé, Nemours and Enghien. Aumale's first attack lacked enough artillery support and failed, this failure alerted Alba to the attack, and he sent companies to reinforce the town. Aumale dispatched Enghein, Blaise de Monluc and other captains to intercept them, which they achieve. By 19 September Brissac returns from his convalescence expecting to receive the towns surrender, but fighting continues until 23 September when the town surrenders.
Disaster in the north