Louis de L'Hôpital
Late Sixteenth-Century French governor / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Louis de L'Hôpital, marquis de Vitry (c. 1555–c. 1611)[1] was a French noble, governor, military commander and rebel during the latter French Wars of Religion. The son of François de l'Hôpital and Anne de La Châtre, Vitry found himself drawn into the opposition to the king in the early 1580s affiliating with the king's brother Alençon. In this capacity he served under the command of his maternal uncle Claude de La Châtre In 1584 the king successfully detached him, and made Vitry into a royal favourite, granting him the honour of being made a chevalier de l'Ordre de Saint-Michel, before appointing him the governor of Dourdan and lieutenant of the royal hunt.
Louis de L'Hôpital | |
---|---|
marquis de Vitry | |
Born | c. 1555 Kingdom of France |
Died | c. 1611 |
Family | Famille de L'Hôpital [fr] |
Spouse(s) | Françoise de Brichenteau |
Issue | Nicolas de L'Hôpital |
Father | François de l'Hôpital |
Mother | Anne de La Châtre |
In 1589, Henri entered war with the Catholic ligue, Vitry was loyal to Henri and fought for the king at the head of a company in the Brie. When the king was assassinated, and his Protestant heir Henri IV succeeded him, Vitry was the highest profile noble to defect to the ligueur cause. He joined his uncle, La Châtre, an earlier ligueur convert at Bourges, serving as the leader of his cavalry against the royalists and as governor of the city when La Châtre was absent. During Henri's siege of Paris, Vitry participated in the ligueur defence. As reward for his service, the lieutenant-general of the ligue, Mayenne made him maître de camp of the ligueur light cavalry, and governor of Meaux. In 1593, Henri would convert to Catholicism, and Vitry began to look for an exit ramp from his support of the ligue. In December he entered negotiations with the king, and the city was handed over to the royalists on 4 January 1594, much to Mayenne's fury. As a reward for the defection, Vitry's debts were cleared, and he was confirmed as governor of Meaux with survivance for his son. Vitry played a role in the royalist capture of Paris in March 1594, leading a column of troops into the city ahead of the king. As early as 1602 he was serving as the captain of the king's bodyguard, and on the day when Henri was assassinated, Vitry had warned him of the risks of going into the city without him, only to be dismissed. He died the following year.