861 



BOURBON, CHARLES DE. 



BOURBON, CHARLES DE. 



862 



baron of Charolois, aud of Agnes, dame de Bourbon and de St. Just, 

 daughter of Archambault, sire de Bourbon. By this marriage Robert 

 united to his appanage of the ComtS de Clermont, the province of the 

 Bourbonnois, and the Charolois, and the seigneury of St. Just. His 

 descendants took the name of Bourbon. 



In the time of Robert's son, Louis, the Bourbounois was created 

 into a ' duch<5 pairie.' The owner therefore assumed the title of Duke 

 of Bourbon, retaining the arms of France. Duche" pairie at that time 

 denoted very high power and dignity. At the time of this creation 

 there were in France only the dukes of Burgundy, Aquitaine, and 

 Brittany, and the title of ' pair ' was only bestowed on the children of 

 the king, the princes of the blood, and seigneurs of the most noble 

 fiefs. A younger Bon of this Louis, duke of Bourbon, named Jacques 

 de Bourbon, bore the titles of Count de la Marche and de Ponthieu. 

 The domain of Vend6me having come, as that of Bourbon had done 

 before to Robert, to the second count of la Marche by marriage, his 

 second eon assumed the name of Bourbon Vendome, and from him 

 descended the royal house of France ; the elder branch became extinct 

 on the death of the famous Constable de Bourbon. The preceding 

 table will convey at once a more distinct idea of the course of descent, 

 and will give a synoptical and at the same time clear view of the 

 branches of the Bourbon stock, which have more immediately given 

 kings to France. It has not been judged necessary to give all the 

 counts and dukes of Vendome. A hiatus has therefore been left 

 between Louis de Bourbon, the first count de Vendome, and Antoine 

 de Bourbon, duke of Venddme, and king of Navarre, the father of 

 Henry IV. of France ; nor have we deemed it necessary to add the 

 descendants of the last Bourbons who sat on the French throne. 



BOURBON, CHARLES DE, Constable of France, commonly called 

 the Constable de Bourbon, or the Constable Bourbon, was born on the 

 17th of February 1489. He was of the Montpensier branch of the 

 Bourbon family, being the second son of Gilbert de Bourbon, count de 

 Montpensier, viceroy of the kingdom of Naples. By the death of 

 his brother at the age of eighteen, he became the eldest son of his 

 branch, on which the principal territories of the Bourbons were 

 entailed. He was educated at Moulins, the palace of the eldest branch 

 of his family, the dukes of Bourbon, situated in the centre of their 

 large possession*. He was carefully trained in all the athletic exer- 

 cises, which were regarded as by far the most important part of the 

 education of the nobility of his time. But while his physical educa- 

 tion waa thus Attended to, he did not altogether neglect his mental : 

 and the manner in which he received the lessons which were given 

 him in the science of war, as far as it could then be called a science, 

 gave indication of no inconsiderable capacity; while his general 

 behaviour indicated more thought thau could be expected from his 

 years. 



The last duke of Bourbon, Pierre II., died leaving a daughter, 

 Suzanne de Bourbon, who had been betrothed to the Due d'Alen9on. 

 It being considered impolitic to allow so many domains to accu- 

 mulate in the person of the Due d'Alenr-on, and there being also a 

 doubt respecting Suzanne de Bourbon's title, Louis XII. appointed a 

 commission, composed of princes, ministers, seigneurs, councillors of 

 state, and lawyers, to examine the respective titles of Suzanne de 

 Bourbon and the Count de Montpensier. The commissioners reported 

 that the right of Montpensier appeared incontestable, but they pro- 

 posed to settle the dispute by marrying the two claimants. Louis XII. 

 approved of the recommendation, and the marriage took place 

 accordingly. 



In the marriage articles it was stipulated 1st, that there should 

 be a cession of all their property in favour of the survivor ; 2nd, that 

 the children who should be born of the marriage should inherit all 

 the domains of the bouse of Bourbon ; 3rd, that, on failure of 

 children, the whole succession should devolve on Francis, Monsieur 

 de Bourbon, only brother of Montpensier ; 4th, Montpensier assigned 

 a jointure of 10,000 livres a year to his wife on the Bourbonuois. 

 The king renounced for himself and his successors the pretended 

 right* which the treaty of marriage of the Duke Pierre II. with Anne 

 of France, daughter of Louis XI., gave to the crown over all the 

 property of the House of Bourbon, if he should die without male 

 children. 



Having become the richest of all the princes of his house who have 

 not worn the crown, the magnificence of the new Due de Bourbon 

 corresponded with his wealth. He never travelled without a brilliant 

 body of horse-guards, and without being surrounded by the chief 

 noblesse of his domains and his principal officers, who composed a 

 court little inferior to that of a powerful monarch. The first essay 

 in arms of the duke was in the expedition which Louis XII. made in 

 person into Italy. In this expedition Bourbon devoted himself with 

 much industry and zeal to the study of strategics. He selected for 

 hts friends and masters La Tremoille, Bayard, and others, who were 

 distinguished an military leaders. He conversed with them on plans 

 of campaigns, marches, encampments, on the details of discipline and 

 subsistence. From tho generals he went to subordinate officers who 

 had acquired reputation. At night, when he retired to his tent or 

 hia cabinet, he reduced to writing his observations and the result of 

 his conferences. Bourbon returned to France in 1509. In the war 

 of the league of Cambray he had an opportunity of displaying his 

 talent* for war. 



Upon the dfath of Qaston de Foix in 1512, the army of Italy 

 demanded with acclamations Bourbon for their leader. But Louis XIL 

 did not comply with its wishes. It is reported that he appeared to 

 be somewhat afraid of Bourbon ; that he was heard to say that he 

 should have wished to see in him more openness, more gaiety, and 

 less taciturnity. "Nothing is worse," added he, "thau the water 

 which sleeps." Upon the accession of Francis I. to the crown, Bourbon 

 was immediately (1515) appointed constable. It will afford some 

 notion both of the character of the times and the magnificence of 

 the Due de Bourbon, to mention that at the king's coronation, when 

 Bourbon represented the Duke of Normandy, his suite consisted of 

 200 noblemen. 



The constable devoted himself assiduously to the duties of his new 

 office, the highest in a military government like that which France 

 then was. He introduced many important regulations respecting the 

 discipline of the troops. He particularly directed his attention to the 

 protection of the citizens and peasants against the insolence and 

 oppression of the soldiery. His regulations under this head exhibit 

 considerable administrative talent : and his unbending austerity in 

 enforcing the rules he had laid down showed that he fully understood 

 how much a severe discipline conduces to victory. The salutary 

 effects of this system were shown very soon in the victory of Marig- 

 nano, which was mainly owing to Bourbon's skill and valour. When 

 Francis I. returned to France in 1516, he left the constable in Lom- 

 bardy as his lieutenant-general. While here he proposed to the court 

 the conquest of the kingdom of Naples. But while he was making 

 preparations for this expedition, an unexpected invasion of the Milanese 

 by the Emperor Maximilian of Austria took place. Against this 

 irruption Bourbon speedily made every possible provision, pledging 

 his own credit for the necessary funds ; but the proceedings of both 

 parties were brought to a sudden termination by the mutinous conduct 

 of the Swiss mercenaries who formed the bulk of each army. Bourbon 

 was compelled to disband his Swiss followers, and the formidable 

 army of Maximilian was entirely dispersed. 



When Bourbon appeared after these events at the French court, 

 which was then at Lyon, he was received by Francis with great dis- 

 tinction. But gradually the king was observed to cool. Historians 

 have usually ascribed this alteration of the king's behaviour towards 

 Bourbon to the influence of his mother, Louisa of Savoy, duchesse 

 d'Angouleme. The princess, who at forty retained striking remains of 

 beauty, and who was not a woman of very nice morality, is said to 

 have entertained a violent passion for Bourbon ; and Bourbon is said 

 to have treated her advances with coldness and even disdain. The 

 king espoused the quarrel of his mother, of the cause of which, if 

 correctly stated, charity would suppose him ignorant. The conse- 

 quence was one of the most signal examples of ingratitude and injustice 

 upon record. 



They began by refusing the payment of the sums which he had bor- 

 rowed in order to save the Milanese, as well as those accruing from his 

 appointments as prince of the blood, constable and chamberlain of 

 France, and governor of Languedoc. This however was light compared 

 to what followed ; and was the less to be considered as a wanton insult 

 from the circumstance that Francis, partly by his own profligate 

 expenditure, partly by the cupidity of his mother, was always in 

 want of money, notwithstanding the resources opened to him by the 

 chancellor Du Prat, in the sale of the offices of the magistracy. A 

 breach between Francis and Bourbon was more easily effected from 

 the contrast between their characters, which was great. Francis was 

 gay, open, gallant, superficial, fond of pleasure, and averse from 

 business ; Bourbon was grave, reserved, thoughtful, profound, and 

 laboriovs. 



In April 1521 the constable's wife, Suzanne de Bourbon, died. He 

 had previously lost the three children he had by her. The breach 

 between the court and the constable daily widened. In a northern 

 campaign against Charles V., Francis gave the command of the van- 

 guard, which, by a practice established in the French armies, belonged 

 to the constable, to the Due d'Alen9on. From that moment Bourbon 

 regarded himself as degraded from his dignity. He was frequently 

 heard to quote that answer of a courtier to Charles VII., who asked 

 if anything waa capable of shaking his fidelity : " No, Sire, no, not 

 the offer of three kingdoms such as yours ; but an affront is." Fresh 

 inj uries and insults were heaped upon Bourbon. The chancellor Du 

 Prat, by examining the titles of the house of Bourbon, thought he 

 saw, that by perverting the use of some words, he might be able to 

 deprive the constable of his estates, and convey them to the Duchesse 

 d'AngoulSme, or to the king. He explained to the duchess that she 

 had a. right to the greatest part of the property of the house of Bour- 

 bon, as the nearest relative of Suzanne de Bourbon, and that the rest 

 reverted to the crown. Madame admired the ability and zeal of the 

 chancellor, and entered fully into his views. She is said to have flat- 

 tered herself that Bourbon would choose rather to secure his rights 

 by marrying her, than be reduced to misery. But the haughty and 

 austere Bourbon, when his friends pressed him to marry the princess, 

 placing in the most favourable light her power, wit, aud riches, said 

 that he was so sure of his right that be was ready to try it before any 

 or all of the courts ; he declared moreover that honour was far dearer 

 to him than property, and that he would never incur tbe reproach of 

 having degraded himself by marrying a profligate woman. The result 



