Charles de Gontaut, duc de Biron

Charles de Gontaut, duc de Biron (* 1562, † July 31, 1602 in Paris), Marshal of France, was a French military leader and diplomat.

Charles de Gontaut -Biron was a son of Marshal Armand de Gontaut, seigneur de Biron ( 1524-1592 ). He served with distinction under his father, was already in 1576 colonel of the Swiss Guard, 1589 General and fought so bravely at Arques, Ivry, Aumale, ahead of Paris and Rouen, that he ( " flash Gaul " ) was as Fulmen Galliae famous and feared.

In 1592 he became admiral, 1594 Marshal, Governor of Burgundy in 1595 and 1598 duke and peer of France. He captured the towns of Beaune, Autun, Auxonne and Dijon and distinguished himself at the Battle of Fontaine- Française. In 1596 he was sent against the Spaniards in Flanders, Picardy and Artois. After the Peace of Vervins in 1598 he went as an envoy to Brussels.

Gontaut, who joined the confession twice, settled in 1599, when he was ambassador in Brussels, richer by the Spaniards through assurance rewards, including the Savoyard hand of a princess, the promise of a revolt against Henry IV mislead. He brought true Savoyard War in 1600, where he commanded the army of Henry, the plot never carried out, but continued, even after the king had forgiven him for the first breach of faith, in its compounds continued, was after the discovery thereof by the Parlement to death condemned and beheaded on July 31, 1602 in the Bastille.

The Marshal Charles -Armand de Gontaut, duc de Biron (1663-1756), for which the 1602 confiscated Duchy Biron was rebuilt in 1723, was his great-nephew.