Antoine III. de Gramont

Antoine III. de Gramont (* 1604 Castle Hagetmau; † July 12, 1678 in Bayonne ) was a French military, diplomat and statesman who held the office of marshal of France from 1641. In addition, he was Viceroy of Navarre and Béarn and governor of Bayonne. His titles have included the Duke of Gramont, Count of Guiche and Louvigny, " Souverain de Bidache " and Knights of the Holy Spirit.

Life

Antoine de Gramont came from an old noble family in southern France. His father was Antoine II de Gramont, 1st Duke of Gramont, his mother was Louise († 1610), daughter of Marshal Roque Laure ( 1543-1623 ).

Gramont was a zealous partisan of Richelieu. It is said that he once expressed in the trunk, that was more important to him to Richelieu as the king and the whole royal house. Since then, the Cardinals promoted him with special emphasis. 1634 Gramont married his niece Françoise- Marguerite du Plessis de Chivre († 1689), daughter of Hector de Chivre, seigneur du Plessis.

Gramont participated in many battles of the Thirty Years' War, in part, was on September 22, 1641 Marshal of France and received in 1643 by Louis XIV for himself and his descendants the title of duke. In 1653 he was Minister of State, 1657 French ambassador to the Reichstag in Frankfurt am Main in 1660 and campaigned for the king for the hand of Maria Theresa of Spain. From 1661 to 1671 he was the first Colonel Général des Gardes Françaises. He died 1678th

His memoirs ( " Mémoires du maréchal de Gramont ," Paris 1716, 2 volumes) gave out his son, Antoine Charles IV de Gramont. Another son was Count Armand de Guiche (1637-1673), the valuable memoirs on the war against Holland left (London 1744).

A younger brother Antoine III. was well-known for his amorous adventures Count Philibert de Gramont (1621-1707), whose memoirs: " Mémoires du chevalier de Gramont " (. London 1713, edited by Brunet, Paris 1859, Sainte -Beuve, 1866), his brother Anthony Hamilton published has.

See also: Dukes of Gramont

Fiction

Antoine III. de Gramont is as Comte de Guiche one of the main characters in Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac.