Thomas de Foix-Lescun

Thomas de Foix († March 3, 1525 in Pavia) was a bishop of Tarbes, French military and Marshal of France since 1518.

Thomas was the second son of Jean de Foix, Viscount of Lautrec and Villemur, and his wife Jeanne d' Aydie. His brothers were the Marshal Odet de Foix and the General André de Foix, sister Françoise was the mistress of King Francis I of France.

Thomas was already at a young age in 1505 episcopal ordination, but he took this church office since 1509 no longer true. Instead, he put the Italian Leonardo di Bartolomeo Bartolini as procurator in his bishopric, which henceforth led the shops there. To 1514 Thomas de Foix gave up his ecclesiastical career entirely held and entered the military service of the King of France. After he was defeated by Pierre du Terrail, "the knight without fear and without reproach " knighted de Foix inherited in 1515 from his mother's reign Lescun. In 1518 he was appointed by King Francis I to the Marshal of France; of his contemporaries, he was named Marshal of Lescun or Maréchal de Foix. 1520 was his admission to the Order of Michael.

Thomas de Foix took in the wake of his older brother in the Italian wars of France against the Habsburgs in part. He took time after 1515, the governorship of Milan in representation for his brother was, but it was chased away by the Milanese for his iron rule. From 1516 he performed together with Giovanni dalle Bande Nere the Pope Leo X and his nephew Lorenzo II de ' Medici military assistance in their struggle for the Duchy of Urbino. On April 27, 1522 de Foix in command at the Battle of Bicocca the cavalry on the left wing of the French army which he led - venezischen against the cavalry of the Imperial under Francesco II Sforza. But the defeat of the French in this battle led to the final loss of Milan for France. In February 1525 was Thomas de Foix one of the three marshals in the army of King Francis I. which besieged the city of Pavia, where it came to the decisive battle against the Imperial- Spanish army on 24 February. As there broke through the Imperial in the center of the French army, to de Foix was characterized by his bold defense of the king. The Maréchal de La Palice as well as the Amiral de Bonnivet fell. Thomas de Foix, severely wounded by an arquebus two hits, and the Maréchal de Montmorency as well as the king himself taken prisoner in the de Foix after a few days succumbed to his wounds.