Charles-Emmanuel de Savoie | |
|---|---|
| duc de Nemours prince de Genevois | |
 Charles-Emmanuel de Savoie portrayed in the gallery of portraits of the Château de Beauregard, 17th century | |
| Born | c. 1567 |
| Died | 13 August 1595 Château d'Annecy |
| Noble family | Maison de Savoie |
| Father | Jacques de Savoie, duke of Nemours |
| Mother | Anne d'Este |
Charles-Emmanuel de Savoie, prince de Genevois and duc de Nemours (c. 1567–13 August 1595) was a French prince étranger, governor, military commander and rebel during the latter French Wars of Religion. The eldest son of Jacques de Savoie and Anne d'Este, Nemours was a member of a prominent princely family. He entered French political at the age of 18 as a partisan of the second Catholic ligue, rallying cavalry to the rebel army, and assisting in forcing Henri III to capitulate to their demands. In the following years, the king was compelled by the terms of the peace to make war against Protestantism. The former rebel ligueurs hoped the 'cowed' king would afford them advantage, but Henri was keen to dilute the authority of the former rebels. As a result Nemours' position as colonel-general of the light cavalry was diluted with several appointments of royal favourites. During this period, Nemours coveted the governate of the Lyonnais, which had previously been held by his father before 1571. When François de Mandelot, who held the office, died in November 1588, Henri was compelled to recognise Nemours as the new governor due to his political weakness. Frustrated at his continued capitulations to the ligue, on 23 December 1588, Henri assassinated the leader of the ligue the duke of Guise. In the wake of the assassination, Nemours and other ligueur leaders were arrested by the king. Nemours was however quickly able to bribe his guards and secure freedom.
Arriving in ligueur held Paris, Nemours received a warm welcome from the radical Catholics of the city. He then headed to Lyon which had declared itself for the ligue in February 1589. Nemours, granted an initially warm welcome from the ligueurs in the city, set to work imposing himself on their structures before departing to join the main ligueur army in the north. He fought at the two royalist victories of Arques and Ivry. The Protestant Henri IV, the royalist candidate for king followed up his victories by besieging Paris. Nemours led the defence of the city in conjunction with the chevalier d'Aumale, putting down a royalist rebellion, before the city was saved for the ligueurs by a Spanish army under the duke of Parma. Returning to his governate in 1591, Nemours found himself increasingly in conflict with the archbishop of Lyon, who led the main ligueur faction in the city. In 1592 he campaigned into Dauphiné against the royalist commander Lesdiguières, and capturing Vienne. He participated in the ligueur Estates General of 1593, where he was among the candidates to become king. By his next return to Lyon, his tyrannical treatment of the city had become intolerable, and he was deposed in a coup by the archbishop, and detained in the citadel. In February 1594 the city would be delivered to the royalists, and Pomponne de Bellièvre would arrive to negotiate with Nemours for the capitulation of his brother, but he refused to cooperate. On 25 July he escaped his second captivity, and continued his rebellion. By mid 1595 he was forced into exile by declining military fortunes, and died of a fever on 13 August of that year.