Antoine Nompar de Caumont
Encyclopedia
Antoine Nompar de Caumont, marquis de Puyguilhem, duc de Lauzun
Duc de Lauzun
The title of Duc de Lauzun was a French peerage created in 1692 for Antoine Nompar de Caumont under influence of Mary of Modena. All dukes were marshals of France or renowned generals.-Ducs de Lauzun :*Antoine Nompar de Caumont...

(1632 – November 19, 1723) was a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 courtier
Courtier
A courtier is a person who is often in attendance at the court of a king or other royal personage. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...

 and soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...

. He was the only love interest of the "greatest heiress in Europe", Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, cousin of Louis XIV.

Biography

He was the son of Gabriel, comte de Lauzun, and his wife Charlotte, daughter of the duc de La Force
Henri-Nompar de Caumont, duc de La Force
Henri-Nompar de Caumont, duc de La Force was Duc de La Force and peer of France. He was the son of Marshal of France, Jacques-Nompar de Caumont, duc de la Force and Charlotte de Gontaut, daughter of Marshal Armand de Gontaut, baron de Biron...

. He was brought up with the children of his relative, the maréchal de Gramont
Antoine III de Gramont
Antoine III Agénor de Gramont-Toulongeon, duc de Gramont, comte de Guiche, comte de Gramont, comte de Louvigny, Souverain de Bidache, was a French military man and diplomat...

. One of them, Armand, comte de Guiche
Armand de Gramont, comte de Guiche
Armand de Gramont, Comte de Guiche was a French nobleman, adventurer, and one of the greatest playboys of the 17th century....

, became the lover of Henrietta Anne Stuart, Duchess of Orléans, while a daughter, Catherine Charlotte, afterwards princess of Monaco by marriage to Louis de Grimaldi, was the object of the one passion of Lauzun's life.

He entered the army, and served under Turenne
Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne
Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne,often called simply Turenne was the most illustrious member of the La Tour d'Auvergne family. He achieved military fame and became a Marshal of France...

, also his kinsman, and in 1655 succeeded his father as commander of the cent gentilshommes de la maison de roi. Puyguilhem (or Péguilin, as contemporaries simplified his name) rapidly rose in Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...

's favour, became colonel of the royal regiment of dragoon
Dragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...

s, and was gazetted maréchal de camp. He and Mme de Monaco belonged to the côterie of the young duchess of Orléans. His rough wit and skill in practical jokes pleased Louis XIV, but his jealousy and violence were the causes of his undoing. He prevented a meeting between Louis XIV and Mme de Monaco, and it was jealousy in this matter, rather than hostility to Louise de la Vallière
Louise de La Vallière
Louise de La Vallière was a mistress of Louis XIV of France from 1661 to 1667. She later became the Duchess of La Vallière and Duchess of Vaujours in her own right...

, which led him to promote Mme de Montespan
Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan
Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, marquise of Montespan , better known as Madame de Montespan, was the most celebrated maîtresse en titre of King Louis XIV of France, by whom she had seven children....

's intrigues with the king. He asked this lady to secure for him the post of grand-master of the artillery, and on Louis's refusal to give him the appointment he turned his back on the king, broke his sword, and swore that never again would he serve a monarch who had broken his word. The result was a short sojourn in the Bastille
Bastille
The Bastille was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. The Bastille was built in response to the English threat to the city of...

, but he soon returned to his functions of court buffoon.

France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 were preparing for an invasion of England and Lauzun wanted to be part of it. He asked for and received a command under de Vaux but, by November 1679, the invasion came to nothing due to weather complications and the late arrival of the Spaniards even though England was drastically short of men and ships due to the war in America and were scrambling to mount coastal defenses. He had unsuccessfully attempted to seduce Princess Maria Josefa
Infanta Maria Josefa of Spain
Maria Josefa of Spain was a Princess of Naples and Sicily by birth. At the accession of her father to the Spanish throne as Charles III, she became an Infanta of Spain. Born and raise in Naples, she arrived in Spain with her family in October 1759, at age fifteen...

, daughter of Charles III
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...

 of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 at this time for political and romantic reasons.

Meanwhile, Anne, Duchess of Montpensier
Anne, Duchess of Montpensier
Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier, known as La Grande Mademoiselle, was the eldest daughter of Gaston d'Orléans, and his first wife Marie de Bourbon. One of the greatest heiresses in history, she died unmarried and childless, leaving her vast fortune to her cousin, Philippe of...

 (La Grande Mademoiselle) had fallen in love with the little man, whose ugliness seems to have exercised a certain fascination over many women. He naturally encouraged one of the greatest heiresses in Europe, and the wedding was fixed for December 21, 1670. Then, on the 18th, Louis sent for his cousin and forbade the marriage. Mme de Montespan had never forgiven Lauzun's fury when she failed to procure the grand-mastership of the artillery, and now, with Louvois
François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois
François Michel Le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois was the French Secretary of State for War for a significant part of the reign of Louis XIV. Louvois and his father, Michel le Tellier, would increase the French Army to 400,000 soldiers, an army that would fight four wars between 1667 and 1713...

, secured his arrest. He was removed in November 1671 from the Bastille to Pignerol
Pinerolo
Pinerolo is a town and comune in north-western Italy, 40 kilometres southwest of Turin on the river Chisone.-History:In the Middle Ages, the town of Pinerolo was one of the main crossroads in Italy, and was therefore one of the principal fortresses of the dukes of Savoy. Its military importance...

, where excessive precautions were taken to ensure that he was firmly held. He was eventually allowed to meet another prisoner, Fouquet
Nicolas Fouquet
Nicolas Fouquet, marquis de Belle-Île, vicomte de Melun et Vaux was the Superintendent of Finances in France from 1653 until 1661 under King Louis XIV...

, but before that time he managed to find a way through the chimney into Fouquet's room, and on another occasion succeeded in reaching the courtyard in safety. Another fellow-prisoner, from communication with whom he was supposed to be rigorously excluded, was Eustache Dauger (see The Man in the Iron Mask), who occasionally served as valet to Fouquet.

In his reports to his superiors in Paris, the prison governor, Bénigne Dauvergne de Saint-Mars
Bénigne Dauvergne de Saint-Mars
Bénigne d'Auvergne de Saint-Mars was a French prison governor in the late 17th and early 18th century. He is best known as the apparent keeper of the Man in the Iron Mask...

, tells of how Lauzun displayed evidence of crazy behaviour at this time: his cell was a constant mess and he grew his beard to the point that it gave him a wild appearance. An attempted escape was foiled when, on emerging from his tunnel, he came across a maid who raised the alarm.

It was now intimated to Mademoiselle that Lauzun's restoration to liberty depended on her immediate settlement of the principality of Dombes
Dombes
The Dombes is an area in South-Eastern France, once an independent municipality, formerly part of the province of Burgundy, and now a district comprised in the département of Ain, and bounded W. by the Saône River, by the Rhône, E. by the Ain and N...

, the county of Eu
Eu, Seine-Maritime
Eu is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.Eu is located near the coast in the eastern part of the department, near the border with Picardie.Its inhabitants are known as the Eudois.-Geography:...

 and the duchy of Aumale
Aumale
Aumale is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in north-western France.-Geography:A village of farming and associated light industry, situated in the valley of the Bresle River of the Norman Pays de Bray in Normandy on the border with Picardie. It is around ...

 - three properties assigned by her to Lauzun - on the little Duc de Maine
Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine
Louis Auguste de Bourbon, Legitimé de France was the eldest legitimised son of the Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Montespan...

, eldest son of Louis XIV and Mme de Montespan. She gave way, but Lauzun, even after ten years of imprisonment, refused to sign the documents, when he was brought to Bourbon
Bourbonnais
Bourbonnais was a historic province in the centre of France that corresponded to the modern département of Allier, along with part of the département of Cher. Its capital was Moulins.-History:...

 for the purpose. A short term of imprisonment at Chalon-sur-Saône
Chalon-sur-Saône
Chalon-sur-Saône is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the largest city in the department; however, the department capital is the smaller city of Mâcon....

 made him change his mind, but when he was set free Louis XIV was still set against the marriage, which is supposed to have taken place secretly.

Married or not, Lauzun was openly courting Nicolas Fouquet's daughter, whom he had seen at Pignerol. He was to be restored to his place at court, and to marry Mlle Fouquet, who, however, became Mme d'Uzès in 1683.

In 1685 Lauzun went to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 to seek his fortune under James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

, whom he had served as Duke of York
Duke of York
The Duke of York is a title of nobility in the British peerage. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of the British monarch. The title has been created a remarkable eleven times, eight as "Duke of York" and three as the double-barreled "Duke of York and...

 in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

. He rapidly gained great influence at the English court. In 1688 he was again in England, and arranged the journey into exile of Mary of Modena
Mary of Modena
Mary of Modena was Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of King James II and VII. A devout Catholic, Mary became, in 1673, the second wife of James, Duke of York, who later succeeded his older brother Charles II as King James II...

 and the infant prince, whom he accompanied to Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....

, where he received strict instructions from Louis to bring them "on any pretext" to Vincennes
Vincennes
Vincennes is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe.-History:...

.

In the late autumn of 1689 he was put in command of the expedition fitted out at Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...

 for service in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, and he sailed in the following year. Lauzun was honest, a quality not too common in James II's officials in Ireland, but had no experience of the field, and he blindly followed Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnel. After the battle of the Boyne
Battle of the Boyne
The Battle of the Boyne was fought in 1690 between two rival claimants of the English, Scottish and Irish thronesthe Catholic King James and the Protestant King William across the River Boyne near Drogheda on the east coast of Ireland...

 they fled to Limerick, and thence to the west, leaving Patrick Sarsfield to show a brave front. In September they sailed for France, and on their arrival at Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...

 Lauzun found that his failure had destroyed any prospect of a return of Louis XIV's favour.

Mademoiselle died in 1693, and two years later Lauzun married Genevieve de Durfort, a child of fourteen, daughter of the maréchal de Lorges
Guy Aldonce de Durfort de Lorges
Guy Aldonce de Durfort, duc de Lorges, marshal of France, , was a French nobleman and soldier.Guy Aldonce was the fourth son of Guy Aldonce de Durfort , marquis of Duras, count of Rozan and of Lorges, maréchal de camp, and Élisabeth de La Tour d'Auvergne, daughter of Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne and...

. Queen Mary of Modena
Mary of Modena
Mary of Modena was Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of King James II and VII. A devout Catholic, Mary became, in 1673, the second wife of James, Duke of York, who later succeeded his older brother Charles II as King James II...

, through whose interest Lauzun secured his dukedom, retained her faith in him, and it was he who in 1715, more than a quarter of a century after the flight from Whitehall
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...

, brought her the news of the Battle of Sheriffmuir
Battle of Sheriffmuir
The Battle of Sheriffmuir was an engagement in 1715 at the height of the Jacobite rebellion in England and Scotland.-History:John Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar, standard-bearer for the Jacobite cause in Scotland, mustered Highland chiefs, and on 6 September declared James Francis Edward Stuart as King...

. After his death, the duchy fell to his niece's husband, Charles Armand de Gontaut.

See the letters of Mme de Sévigné
Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné
Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné was a French aristocrat, remembered for her letter-writing. Most of her letters, celebrated for their wit and vividness, were addressed to her daughter.-Life:...

, the memoirs of Saint-Simon
Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon
Louis de Rouvroy commonly known as Saint-Simon was a French soldier, diplomatist and writer of memoirs, was born in Paris...

, who was Lauzun's wife's brother-in-law.
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