Everything about Gaspard De Coligny totally explained
Gaspard de Coligny (
February 16,
1519 –
August 24,
1572),
Seigneur (Lord)
de Châtillon held the office of
Admiral of France and is best remembered as an austerely disciplined
Huguenot leader in the French
Wars of Religion.
Biography
Ancestry
Coligny came of a noble family of
Burgundy. His family traced their descent from the
11th century, and in the reign of
Louis XI, were in the service of the King of France. His father,
Gaspard I de Coligny, known as the
Marshal of Châtillon, served in the
Italian Wars from
1494 to
1516, married in 1514, and was created
Marshal of France in
1516. By his wife,
Louise de Montmorency, sister of
the future constable, he'd three sons, all of whom played an important part in the first period of the
Wars of Religion:
Odet, Cardinal de Châtillon; Gaspard; and
François, Seigneur d'Andelot.
Early life
Born at
Châtillon-sur-Loing, at twenty-two young Gaspard de Coligny came to court. There began a friendship with
François of Guise.
In the campaign of
1543 Coligny distinguished himself, and was wounded at the sieges of
Montmédy and
Bains. In
1544 he served in the Italian campaign under the
Count of Enghien, and was knighted on the
Field of Ceresole. Returning to France, he took part in different military operations; and having been made colonel-general of the infantry (April
1547), exhibited great capacity and intelligence as a military reformer. That year he married Charlotte de Laval (d.
1568). He was made admiral on the death of
Claude d'Annebaut (
1552). In
1557 he was entrusted with the defence of
Saint-Quentin. In the siege he displayed great courage, resolution, and strength of character; but the place was taken, and he was imprisoned in the stronghold of
L'Ecluse. On payment of a ransom of 50,000 crowns he recovered his liberty.
Protestant leader
By this time he'd become a
Huguenot, through the influence of his brother, d'Andelot. The first letter which
John Calvin addressed to him is dated
September 4,
1558. He busied himself secretly with protecting his co-religionists, a colony of whom he sent to
Brazil, under the leadership of his friend and navy colleague, Vice-Admiral
Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon, who successfully established the
France Antarctique colony in
Rio de Janeiro, in
1555. They were afterwards expelled by the Portuguese, in
1567. Coligny also was the leading patron for the failed French colony of
Fort Caroline in
Spanish Florida lead by
Jean Ribault in
1562
On the death of
Henry II he placed himself, with
Louis, Prince of Condé, in the front of his sect, and demanded religious toleration and certain other reforms. In
1560, at the
Assembly of Notables at
Fontainebleau, the hostility between Coligny and
François of Guise broke forth violently. When the civil wars began in
1562, Coligny decided to take arms only after long hesitation, and he was always ready to negotiate. In none of these wars did he show superior genius, but he acted throughout with great prudence and extraordinary tenacity; he was "
le héros de la mauvaise fortune."
In
1569 the defeat and death of the Prince of Condé at the
Battle of Jarnac left him sole leader of the Protestant armies. Victorious at the
Arnay-le-Duc, he obtained peace with the
Peace of Saint-Germain (
1570). Marrying Jacqueline de Montbel, Countess d'Entremont, and returning to the court in
1571, he grew rapidly in favour with
Charles IX. As a means of emancipating the king from the tutelage of his mother and the faction of the
Guises, the admiral proposed to him a descent on
Spanish Flanders, with an army drawn from both sects and commanded by Charles in person. The king's regard for the admiral, anger over the assassination of the Duke of Guise and the increasingly bold demands of the Huguenots, alarmed
Catherine,
Queen Mother; and the
massacre of St Bartholomew was the consequence.
Assassination
On
August 22,
1572 Coligny was shot in the street by Maurevel from a house belonging to the Guise; the bullets, however, only tore a finger from his right hand and shattered his left elbow. Historians differ on who was the author of this assassination attempt but generally center on three possibilities: the Guise family, Catherine de Medici, or the duke of Albe for Phillip II of Spain. The king visited him, but the queen-mother prevented all private discourse between them. On the 24th of August, the night of the massacre, he was attacked in his house, and a servant of the new Duke of Guise, Charles Danowitz (Karel z Janovic), generally known as Besme or Bême, slew him and cast him from a window into the courtyard at his master's feet. His papers were seized and burned by the queen-mother; among them, according to
Brantôme, was a history of the civil war, "
très beau et très bien fais, et digne d'estre imprimé" ("very fair and well-written, and worthy of publication").
Marriages and issue
By his first wife, Charlotte de Laval (1530-1568), Gaspard had several children:
By his second wife,
Jacqueline de Montbel (1541-1588), the
Countess d'
Entremont and Launay-Gelin, Gaspard had one daughter,
Beatrice, who became
Beatrice de Coligny (b. 1572), Countess d'Entremont.
Memory
Several places were named after him:
Coligny, South Africa
Fort Coligny, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Châtillon-Coligny, in France
Coligny Plaza, Hilton Head Island
Family tree
Further Information
Get more info on 'Gaspard De Coligny'.
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