Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé

Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé (September 8, 1621 - November 11, 1686). His military prowess won him the nickname "The Great Condé" (le Grand Condé).

Early life

Louis was born in Paris, the son of Henry II of Bourbon, and Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency. As a boy, under his father's careful supervision, he studied diligently at the Jesuits' College at Bourges, and at seventeen, in the absence of his father, he governed Burgundy. The duc d'Enghien, as he was styled during his father's lifetime, took part with distinction in the campaigns of 1640 and 1641 in northern France while still under twenty years of age.

Related Topics:
Paris - Henry II of Bourbon - Jesuits - Bourges - Burgundy - 1640 - 1641

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During the youth of Enghien all power in France was in the hands of Cardinal Richelieu; even the princes of the blood had to yield to him; and Henry of Condé tried with the rest to win the cardinal's favour. Enghien was forced to conform. He was already deeply in love with Mlle Marthe du Vigean, who in return was passionately devoted to him, but, in order to flatter the cardinal, he was forced by his father, at the age of twenty, to give his hand to Richelieu's niece, Claire Clémence de MailléBrézé, a child of thirteen. He was present with Richelieu during the dangerous plot of Cinq Mars, and afterwards fought in the siege of Perpignan (1642).

Related Topics:
Cardinal Richelieu - Cinq Mars - Perpignan - 1642

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