Antoine de Silly
French noble and courtier (-1609) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Antoine de Silly, comte de La Rochepot and baron de Montmirail[1] (–1609) was a French noble, governor, courtier and soldier during the French Wars of Religion. He entered the ducal household of the duc d'Anjou in 1571. In 1574 Anjou became king Henri III. La Rochepot found himself alienated from Henri by the arrangement of a marriage between a royal favourite and a noble promised to his brother. He therefore affiliated himself with the king's brother Alençon and was involved in his escape from court on 14 February 1578. He was with Alençon at Angers as the duc (duke) planned his designs as related to Nederland. Alençon dispatched La Rochepot to conduct negotiations with the graaf van Lalaing (count of Lalaing) by which Alençon would be granted territory in return for military aid. He aided in the recruitment of soldiers for the expedition despite the prohibition of Henri against the enterprise. The expedition would be a failure, and Alençon would return to France in December.
Antoine de Silly | |
---|---|
comte de La Rochepot | |
Died | 1609 |
Noble family | Maison de Silly |
Father | Louis de Silly, seigneur de La Roche-Guyon |
Mother | Anne de Laval |
With the Spanish putting Cambrai to siege in 1580, Alençon again made plans to intervene, to relieve the siege. La Rochepot brought an advanced guard of Alençon's cavalry then was present for a general muster of Alençon's forces, aiding in the recruitment effort alongside the seigneur de Fervaques, succeeding in raising a force around 10,000 strong. Though prohibited by the crown from going to Cambrai's aid, Alençon's army went anyway, and relieved the siege of Cambrai. Subsequently, establishing himself over Nederland, Alençon found himself unsatisfied with the amount of power he had, and attempted a coup to seize the city of Antwerp. It was a disaster, his army being destroyed, and La Rochepot taken prisoner among other nobles in his retinue. After the death of Alençon in 1584 he changed his loyalty to the royal cause, and was rewarded by Henri by being made governor of Anjou. After the assassination of the duc de Guise in 1588 started a war between the crown and the Catholic ligue (League) La Rochepot successfully held Angers for the crown, besting an effort by the ligue to take over the city. He then campaigned against the ligue with limited success in Anjou. In 1595 he was made a chevalier of the Ordre du Saint-Esprit (Order of Saint-Esprit). In 1600 he became the French ambassador to España but after his ambassadorial residence was stormed by Spanish forces in 1601 he was recalled to France. He remained governor of Anjou until his death in 1609.