Henri, Prince of Condé (1588–1646)

Henri
Prince of Condé
Tenure 5 March 1588 – 26 December 1646
Born 1 September 1588
Saint-Jean-d'Angély, France
Died 26 December 1646(1646-12-26) (aged 58)
Hôtel de Condé, France
Spouse Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency
Issue
Detail
Anne Geneviève, Duchess of Longueville
Louis, Prince of Condé
Armand, Prince of Conti
Full name
Henri de Bourbon
House House of Bourbon
Father Henri, Prince of Condé
Mother Charlotte Catherine de La Trémoille
Religion Roman Catholicism
Signature
Henri, Prince of Condé, Grand Veneur de France

Henri de Bourbon (1 September 1588 – 26 December 1646) was Prince of Condé for nearly all his life. The head of the senior-most cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, he was heir presumptive to the king of France for the first few years of his life. Henri was the father of Louis, le Grand Condé, the celebrated French general.

Life

Henri was born in 1588, the third child and only son of Henry I, Prince of Condé. His mother, Charlotte Catherine de La Trémoille, was the second wife of his father. He had two older sisters, namely Catherine, his paternal half-sister who died unwed in 1595, and Eleonere, who in 1606 was married, aged 19, to 51-year-old Philip William, Prince of Orange.

Heir presumptive

Henri was a posthumous child, his father having died nearly six months before his birth. He therefore became Prince of Condé within weeks of his birth, as soon as he was recognized and confirmed by the king of France.

King Henry III of France died in September 1589, when Henri was less than one year old, and was succeeded by Henry IV of France, who was the first cousin of Henri's late father. At this point, the new king had no son or brother, and his closest agnatic kin was none other than Henri himself. Thus, from being a distant member of the ruling dynasty, Henri became Prince du Sang and heir presumptive to France, and remained so for twelve years, until the birth of the future Louis XIII of France in September 1601.

Later, during the years 1611-38, Henri was second-in-line to the throne of France, behind Gaston, Duke of Orleans. This was the period between the death of Nicolas Henri, Duke of Orleans in November 1611 and the birth of the future Louis XIV of France in September 1638.

Marriage and issue

In 1609, Henri married Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency. The couple were blessed with three children, all of them protagonists of the Fronde, namely

Reportedly, King Henry IV fancied Charlotte himself, and arranged a marriage with Condé in order to provide cover for an affair. However, Condé would have none of it, and escaped with his wife first to Brussels and later to Milan, both of which were under the rule of the House of Habsburg. The Condé affair became part of the international conflict known as the War of the Jülich Succession (one of the precursors to the Thirty Years' War).

Ancestors

Henry's ancestors in three generations
Henry II de Bourbon, prince de Condé Father:
Henri I de Bourbon, prince de Condé
Father's father:
Louis I de Bourbon, prince de Condé
Father's father's father:
Charles of Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme
Father's father's mother:
Françoise of Alençon
Father's mother:
Eléanor de Roucy de Roye
Father's mother's father:
Charles de Roye
Father's mother's mother:
Madeleine de Maillé
Mother:
Charlotte Catherine de La Trémoille
Mother's father:
Louis III de La Trémoille
Mother's father's father:
François II de La Trémoille
Mother's father's mother:
Anne de Laval
Mother's mother:
Jeanne de Montmorency
Mother's mother's father:
Anne de Montmorency
Mother's mother's mother:
Madeleine of Savoy

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

Henri, Prince of Condé (1588–1646)
Cadet branch of the House of Bourbon
Born: 11 September 1588 Died: 26 December 1646
French royalty
Preceded by
Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon
Heir to the Throne
as Heir presumptive
9 May 1590 — 27 September 1601
Succeeded by
Louis, Dauphin of France
French nobility
Preceded by
Henri I de Bourbon
Prince of Condé
5 March 1588 – 26 December 1646
Succeeded by
Louis II de Bourbon
Military offices
Preceded by
Charles de Bourbon,
comte de Soissons
Lieutenant General of New France
1612 – 8 October 1619
Succeeded by
Henri II de Montmorency,
admiral of France
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