Henri, Duke of Joyeuse

Henri de Joyeuse (* September or October 1563 Couiza, Aude, † September 28, 1608 in Rivoli ) was a French Capuchin, in 1596, Marshal of France and commander of an army in the Huguenot wars. He wore the title Comte de Batarnay, then Comte du Bouchage and followed in 1592 finally his brother Antoine Scipion as Duke of Joyeuse, who was connected with the rank of peer of France.

Life

Henri was the third son of Marshal Guillaume de Joyeuse. His brothers were Anne de Joyeuse, Admiral of France, and the Cardinal François de Joyeuse, the Archbishop of Toulouse. He belonged to the inner circle around the king Henry III. of France, since 1583, was maître de la garde- robe and since 1585 the Governor of Anjou, Maine, Touraine and the Perche. He fought in the Languedoc and in Guienne against the Huguenots. After the death of his wife Catherine de La Valette, the sister of the Duke of Épernon, on August 8, 1587, he asked for his resignation and entered as " Père Ange" ( Brother Angelus ) in a Parisian Capuchin monastery. The following year he was ordained a priest and then studied theology in Venice and Schwyz. In 1592 he was abbot in Arles.

As in 1592, his younger brother Antoine- Scipion was drowned in the battle of Villemur, forced him to the political situation and the desire of his brother François, the Parliaments' and the Pope to end the monastic life and to take over the leadership of the army. The fourth Duke of Joyeuse, Pope Clement VIII absolved him from his vows as a Capuchin and transferred him to the Order of Malta, which enabled him to fight. Henri was one of the military leaders of the Catholic League to the abdication of Henry IV, who named him in 1596 as General governor of Languedoc and Marshal of France.

The following year he married his daughter Henriette- Catherine (1585-1656) with Henri de Bourbon, the future Duke of Montpensier, and returned on March 8, 1599 back to the convent of the Capuchins in the Rue Saint- Honoré in Paris back. Twice ( 1602-1604 and 1607-1608 ) he was Provincial Superior. 1608 he went to Rome to attend the general chapter of his order, which elected him General Definitor. On his return to France he contracted a fever and died in Rivoli. He is buried in the church of the Capuchin monastery in the Rue Saint- Honoré.