Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/273

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CONDE
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There was at that time before the court a plea for his divorce from his wife, but she now devoted herself to enliven his captivity at the cost of her own liberty. Dur ing the rest of his life Cond6 was a faithful servant of the king. He strove to blot out the memory of the Huguenot connections of his house by affecting the greatest zeal against Protestants. His old ambition changed into a desire for the safe aggrandizement of his family, which he magnificently achieved, and with that end he bowed be fore Richelieu, whose niece he forced his son to marry. His son Louis, the great Conde", is separately noticed below. The next in succession was Henry Jules, prince of Conde (1643-1709), the son of the great Conde and of Cldmence de Maille^, niece of Richelieu. He fought with distinction under his father in Franche-Comte and the Low Countries ; but he was heartless, avaricious, and undoubt edly insane. The end of his life was marked by singular hypochondriacal fancies. He believed at one time that he was dead, and refused to eat till some of his attendants dressed in sheets set him the example. His grandson, Louis Henry, duke of Bourbon (1692-1740), who did not assume the title of prince of Conde which belonged to him, was member of the council of regency which ruled during the minority of Louis XV., and first minister from the death of the duke of Orleans in 1723 to 1726, when he was superseded by Cardinal de Fleury. He greatly enriched his family and his mistress, De Prie, by taking every advantage of his position ; but he made him self unpopular by the weight of taxes which he im posed. The son of the duke of Bourbon, Louis Joseph, prince of Cond6 (1736-1818), after receiving a good education, distinguished himself in the Seven Years War, and most of all by his victory at Johannisberg. As governor of Burgundy he did much to improve the industries and means of communication of that province. At the Revolu tion he took up arms in behalf of the king, became com mander of the "army of CondeV and fought in conjunction with the Austrians till the peace of Campo Formio in 1797, being during the last year in the pay of England. He then served the emperor of Russia in Poland, and after that (1800) returned into the pay of England, and fought in Bavaria. In 1800 Conde arrived in England, where he resided for several years. Ou the restoration of Louis XVIII. he returned to France. He died at Paris in

1818. He wrote Essai sur hi Vie d/i grand Conde (1798).


See UHistoirc de I A-rmee de Conde, by JMuret ; Vie de Louis Joseph, prince de Conde, by Chamballand ; Hiatoire dcs trois der- niers princes de la maison de Conde, by Cretineau-Joly ; and Histoire de In maison de Conde, by the Due d Aumale (translated by H. B. Borthwick, 1872).

CONDÉ, Louis de Bourbon, Prince of (1530-1569), fifth son of Charles de Bourbon, duke of Vendome, younger brother of Anthony, king of Navarre, was the first of the famous House of Conde". Brave though deformed, gay but extremely poor for his rank, Conde was led by his ambition to a military career. He fought with distinction in Piedmont under Marshal de Brissac ; in 1552 he forced his way with reinforcements into Metz, then besieged by Charles V. ; he led several brilliant sorties from that town ; and in 1554 he command ed the light cavalry on the Meuse against Charles. He then joined the Huguenots, and he was concerned in the conspiracy of Amboise, which aimed at forcing from the king by aid of arms the recognition of the Reformed religion. He was consequently condemned to death, and was only saved by the decease of Francis II. At the accession of the boy-king, Charles IX., the policy of the court was changed, and Conde received from Catherine de Medici the government of Picardy But the struggle between the Catholics and the Huguenots soon recommenced ; in 1562, 200 of the latter were massacred at Vassy by Duke Francis of Guise. Upon this Cond^ retired from Paris, put him self at the head of 1500 horsemen, and took possession of Orleans. Having raised troops in Germany, and entered into negotiations with Elizabeth of England, he marched on Paris, with 8000 foot and 500 horse. A battle took place at Dreux, in which the leaders on both sides, Conde and Montmorenoy, were taken prisoners. Conde" was liberated by the pacification of Amboise in the next year ( 1563). In 1567 the war broke out again. It was strongly suspected by the Huguenots that Catherine was meditating a great and final blow the revocation of the Edict of Amboise, the perpetual imprisonment of Conde", and the death of Colio-ni ; and their suspicions were confirmed by the levy of soldiers, including 6000 Swiss, which she was engaged in making. Coligni determined to oppose her with a still bolder plan. The Huguenots were to rise en masse, crush the Swiss before they could join the main army, and take possession of the young king, his brothers, and Catherine herself. But both the Swiss and the royal family escaped safely ta Paris. Paris was blockaded, and an indecisive battle fought at St Denis. During the next year peace was again made, but soon after Catherine attempted to seize both Conde and Coligni. They fled to La Rochelle, and troops were col lected. At the battle of Jarnac, with only 400 horsemen, and without having made himself sufficiently certain of the support of the infantry, Conde rashly charged the whole Catholic army. Worn out with fighting, he at last gave up his sword, and a Catholic officer named Montesquieu trea cherously shot him through the head (15th December 1569),

CONDÉ, Louis de Bourbon, Prince of (1621-1686), called during the lifetime of his father Due d : Enghien, but usually known as Conde the Great, was a distinguished French general, and one of the leaders of the Fronde. He was the son of Henry, prince of Conde", and Charlotte de Montmorency, and was born at Paris on the 7th September 1621. As a boy, under the careful supervision of his father, he studied diligently and displayed much talent at the Jesuits College at Bourges; at seventeen he was sent to govern Burgundy ; and while yet in his teens he had dis played his extraordinary courage in more thanonecampaign. During the youth of Enghien all power in France was in the hands of Richelieu ; to him even the princes of the blood had to yield precedence ; and among the obsequious courtiers none more eagerly sought his favour than Henry, prince of Conde Enghien, therefore, with all his exagger ated pride, was forced to bow arid render homage. Once, having ventured to pass through Lyons without visiting the great minister s brother, he was forced to retrace his steps 200 leagues, in order to atone for the slight. But a far more momentous sacrifice was required of him. He was already deeply in love with Mile, de Vigean, who in turn was passionately devoted to him, yet, to flatter the car dinal, he was compelled by his father, at the age of twenty, to give his hand to Richelieu s niece, Claire Cle"mence de- Maille Breze, a child of thirteen years of age.

In 1643 Enghien was appointed to command against

the Spaniards. He was opposed by experienced generals, De Mello and Fuentes, and the forces of the enemy were composed of veterans ; on the other hand, the strength of the French army was placed at his command, and with him served Gassion and other skilful leaders who had fought under Gustavus Adolphus. At Rocroy a great battle took place. At first defeat threatened the French, but, by the rapidity and boldness of his tactics, Enghien changed the event into a decided victory, and at the age of twenty-two made himself the most famous French general of his day. The achievement was well followed up, and, after several other successes, Thionville was forced to capitulate. Returning to Paris in triumph, Enghien gave himself up

to pleasure, and in gallantry and intrigues strove to forget