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Lui II BurbonPrince, French commander.
Country:
 France |
Content:
- Biography of Louis II Bourbon, Prince of Condé
- Early Career
- Victories and Challenges
- Political Struggles and Exile
- In 1654, he was sentenced to death in absentia in France for treason.
Biography of Louis II Bourbon, Prince of Condé
Louis II Bourbon, Prince of Condé (1621-1686), was a French prince and military commander. His victories during the Thirty Years' War contributed to the signing of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. In 1651, he led the "Princes' Fronde."
Early Career
Condé began his military career at the age of 17, and his noble lineage guaranteed him a brilliant career. By the age of 22, he was already commanding the French royal troops in the war against the Spanish, known as the Thirty Years' War. On May 19, 1643, Condé achieved his first victory in the Battle of Rocroi. In the following year, he took over as the commander of the French royal army, replacing the experienced Vicomte de Turenne. Louis II Condé went on to command the troops in Germany, where the Bavarians were planning an invasion of Alsace. In the first day of the battle, Turenne, after a long retreat, decided to attack the Bavarians from the flank. For the next two days, the opponents did not take any action against each other, only conducting reconnaissance. On August 9, Count de Mercy decided to retreat from Freiburg. Prince Condé learned about the Bavarian army's retreat in time and sent the French cavalry to pursue them. The Bavarians nearly defeated the cavalry, but the arriving main royal forces attacked them and pushed the enemy away, capturing all their artillery and supplies.
Victories and Challenges
After this victory, the French under the command of Prince Condé captured the cities of Mainz and Philippsburg without a fight. In 1647, Condé led the French troops in a campaign across the Pyrenees into Catalonia. Although he managed to occupy this large province of Spain, he experienced one of the few failures in his military career. The French besieged the city of Lleida but failed to capture it.
In 1648, Condé was recalled from Catalonia and sent to the Netherlands and Flanders. Near the city of Lens on August 20, 1648, the last battle of the Thirty Years' War took place. Here, the French commander led 14,000 French soldiers against the Austrians commanded by Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. In October 1648, the Peace of Westphalia was signed, in which Spain acknowledged defeat along with its allies.
Political Struggles and Exile
Becoming one of the popular figures in France, Prince Condé found himself in the midst of the political struggle. In the war between royal authority and the Fronde, he initially sided with Cardinal Mazarin and Queen Anne of Austria, the regent for her underage son, Louis XIV. In January-February 1649, leading his loyal troops, Condé marched towards the capital, captured the fortress of Charenton, and took over Paris. The rebellious Parisian parliament disbanded its army and concluded the Peace of Rueil with the royal court. Cardinal Mazarin was reinstated as the First Minister, and Queen Anne of Austria declared a general amnesty. However, clashes between the ambitious and arrogant commander Louis Condé and the power-hungry First Minister Mazarin were inevitable.
Under Mazarin's orders, Prince Condé was imprisoned in the Vincennes Castle, but he was released a year later. Cardinal Mazarin also ordered the arrest of Condé's younger brother, Prince Conti, his brother-in-law Henri II d'Orléans, and the Duke of Longueville. The leaders of the Fronde became bitter enemies. Prince Condé led a new Fronde, aiming to overthrow Cardinal Mazarin and even turn his vast possessions into an independent state. His younger brother, Prince Conti, became his closest ally. In September 1651, Louis Condé gathered the noble militias in the southern city of Bordeaux, subjugated all the southern provinces, and intended to capture the capital of France. Many French aristocrats rallied under his banner. Additionally, Condé formed an alliance with Spain.
However, his former comrade from the Thirty Years' War, Viscount de Turenne, who defended the royal court against the rebel, confronted him and defeated Condé's army of 5,000 insurgents in the Battle of the Saint-Antoine Gates of Paris. Condé managed to escape and hide among his supporters in Paris.
In 1654, he was sentenced to death in absentia in France for treason.
Now, Condé turned his weapons and military skills against his homeland. Leading the Spanish army, he ravaged the northern provinces of France. However, he rarely found success in this war, as he fought against the disciplined and trained French army.
In August 1654, the Spanish forces under Condé's command besieged the city of Arras. The French army, led by Marshal Turenne and General La Ferté, came to the rescue and attacked the Spaniards, routing them. The Spanish losses amounted to around 30,000 men. Condé managed to gather the remnants of his forces and withdrew to Cambrai.
In June 1656, the city of Valenciennes, which was occupied by the Spanish garrison, was besieged by the French army under the command of Marshal de Turenne and General La Ferté.
On June 14, 1658, the "Battle of the Dunes" took place. Near Dunkirk, 14,000 Spanish soldiers under the command of Don Juan of Austria and Prince Condé fought against an army of approximately the same size led by Marshal de Turenne. The outcome of the battle was decided by the landing of troops from English ships, supporting the French, and the flanking cavalry strike by Turenne, who skillfully took advantage of the low tide.
The civil war ended in 1659 with the signing of peace and the strengthening of royal authority. Cardinal Mazarin reconciled with Prince Louis II Condé, to whom Spain decided to give a separate principality on the northern French border. The death sentence against Condé for treason against France and its monarch Louis XIV, who married Marie-Thérèse, the daughter of the Spanish King Philip IV, was also revoked. Condé was restored to all his titles and rights, but he remained out of favor for eight years.
The last military campaign in his military career, Prince Louis Condé led in 1675, fighting in Alsace. There he managed to push the renowned commander of the Holy Roman Empire, Count Montecuccoli, beyond the Rhine. After the death of Marshal de Turenne and the capture of another French marshal, François de Créqui, Condé took command of their troops.
He was an elderly man suffering from rheumatism, so he had to resign from further commanding the royal troops. In late 1675, Condé retired and spent his last years in his estate at Chantilly. He passed away in Fontainebleau.
In all the wars in which Prince Louis Condé participated, he demonstrated exceptional tactical skills. One of the distinguishing features of the renowned French commander was his famous "inspirations." Thanks to this, he often defeated opponents who outnumbered him. However, Condé's contemporaries rightfully criticized him for not sparing his soldiers for the sake of fast and forceful attacks. Condé's troops in foreign territories became notorious for looting and violence.
