Claude II de Lorraine | |
|---|---|
| Duc d'Aumale Duc de Mayenne Comte de Maulévrier | |
 Seventeenth Century Portrait of the duke | |
| Born | 18 August 1526 Joinville |
| Died | 3 March 1573 (aged 46) La Rochelle |
| Noble family | House of Guise |
| Spouse(s) | Louise de Brézé |
| Issue |
|
| Father | Claude de Lorraine |
| Mother | Antoinette de Bourbon |
Claude II de Lorraine, duc d'Aumale (18 August 1526, Joinville – 3 March 1573, La Rochelle) was a Prince étranger, military commander and French governor, during the latter Italian Wars and the early French Wars of Religion. The son of the first Duke of Guise he started his career in a pre-eminent position in French politics as a son of one of the leading families in the court of Henri II of France. Upon the death of his father in 1550, Aumale inherited the governorship of Burgundy from his father, and the duchy of Aumale from his brother who assumed the titles of Guise. Aumale was made colonel-general of the light horse by the new king and fought in Italy, Alsace and Picardie between 1551 and 1559. While leading the light cavalry during the defence of Metz he was captured, and held for the next two years, until his mother in law Diane de Poitiers paid his ransom. He achieved success at the siege of Volpiano and played an important role in the capture of Calais for which he was rewarded with the governorship of French Piedmont.
With the death of Henri II he found himself further pushed into prominence in the Guise regime for the young François II. He took part in the effort to suppress the Conspiracy of Amboise that threatened to topple the regime in early 1560. He played a key role in the organisation of the expedition to Scotland in 1560, however the instability that racked the country in the wake of the conspiracy in combination with financial issues ensured the cancellation of the expedition, in December of that year the king died and the Guise regime was displaced by a regency under Catherine de Medici. Alienated by the new regime he departed court in early 1561, before returning as part of his brother Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine's attempted policy of religious reconciliation at the Colloquy of Poissy, the failure of this and the increasing Protestant nature of Catherine's inner circle led to him leading the family into a second exile from court. In early 1562 he was with his brothers at their meeting with the Duke of Württemberg where the topic of uniting around the Lutheran creed was broached. Any hope of this policy was shattered on the return to the capital, where Guise's men committed a Massacre of Protestant worshippers at Wassy.
This served as the instigating incident for the French Wars of Religion. Aumale served the crown throughout the first war, repeatedly trying to besiege Rouen without success, before the main royal army arrived with sufficient force to subdue the town. He failed to stop François de Coligny d'Andelot bringing mercenaries into the kingdom to reinforce the rebel cause. He was wounded at the Battle of Dreux in December. In January his brother was assassinated, leaving him and Lorraine as heads of the family. Guise's son inherited his governorship of Champagne. Aumale would act as de facto governor until the young Guise attained his majority. He played a far more active role in the governance of Champagne than his own government of Burgundy. Meanwhile he and his family prosecuted a bitter vendetta against Gaspard II de Coligny who they blamed for the assassination of Guise. This culminated in skirmishes in Paris, before the king was able to enforce a peace in 1566 between the parties. Aumale continued to fight in the second and third civil wars, but was repeatedly unable to stop incursions into France by German reiters in favour of the rebels. While he was not involved in the planning of the liquidation of the Protestant leadership he was intimately involved in the killing of the Protestant leaders on 24 August 1572 that would spiral out of control into the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew. The following year he was among the nobles present at the siege of La Rochelle where he was killed on 3 March 1573.