Louis de Saint-Gelais | |
|---|---|
| seigneur de Lanssac baron de La Mothe-Saint-Héray | |
 Louis de Saint-Gelais, seigneur de Lanssac | |
| Born | 1512/1513 Cornefeu |
| Died | 1593 Précy-sur-Oise |
| Noble family | Saint-Gelais |
| Spouse(s) | Jeanne de La Roche-Andry (1543–1563) Gabrielle de Rochechouart (1565–1593) |
| Issue Detail | |
| Father | François I |
| Mother | Jacquette de Lanssac |
Louis de Saint-Gelais, seigneur de Lanssac and baron de La Mothe-Saint-Héray (1512/1513, Cornefeu – 1593, Précy-sur-Oise) was a French noble, soldier, governor, and diplomat during the latter Italian Wars and the French Wars of Religion. Probably the bastard son of the French king François I and Jacquette de Lanssac, Louis (henceforth referred to by his title Lanssac) split his time between Guyenne and the French court. In 1536 he was established as the capitaine de Bourg (captain of Bourg) in Guyenne. He undertook military service against the Holy Roman Emperor in the Italian Wars. By the time of the reign of François' son Henri II which began in 1547, Lanssac's particular aptitude for diplomacy saw him transfer to a primarily diplomatic career. He was sent as an extraordinary ambassador for the negotiations that ended the war of the Rough Wooing in 1550. He was then employed for several missions in the Holy Roman Emperor as Henri looked to resume the Italian Wars in 1552, though these were largely unsuccessful. That year he undertook his first diplomatic service to the Papal States for the ratification of a truce between France and the Papacy. On his way back to France he would become a protagonist in the rebellion of Siena against Spanish rule, and the establishment of French protection for the republic. As the ordinary French ambassador in Roma found himself losing favour, Lanssac was selected to replace him in the charge in 1553. He thus played a central role in the crisis of Siena that culminated in 1554 with the disastrous French loss at Marciano, shortly after which he became a prisoner of the duca di Firenze (duke of Firenze). Released before the end of the year he would serve again as an extraordinary ambassador to the Papacy on occasion. At the end of 1556, Lanssac seriously alienated the Pope's nephew the cardinale di Carafa (cardinal of Carafa) and thus was relieved of his responsibilities. He participated in the duc de Montmorency's (duke of Montmorency's) disastrous Picard campaign that culminated in the spectacular French defeat at Saint-Quentin after which he was again made prisoner.
In 1559, after the conclusion of the Italian Wars, Henri II died and was succeeded by his son François II. He was tasked with accompanying the king's sister Élisabeth to be united with her new Spanish husband, the king Felipe II de España. At the outbreak of the first French War of Religion, Lanssac was conducting a diplomatic mission to the Papacy. He would be tasked with leading the French delegation for the church Council of Trento where he championed French precedence fiercely. From 1563 to 1564 he was involved in the negotiations with England that brought about the treaty of Troyes by which England renounced its claim to Calais. That year he was given an extraordinary diplomatic mission to España to flag a number of French concerns, to which Felipe responded magnanimously. The queen mother Catherine was at this time conducting a tour of the kingdom to enforce the peace that had brought the first French War of Religion to a close. Lanssac played a role in the tour in Guyenne, before going on a diplomatic mission to the Empire. Lanssac was involved in the negotiations that brought the second French War of Religion to a close in March 1568. After the short peace, civil war returned and Lanssac played a military role in the third French War of Religion, trying and failing to besiege La Charité for the crown. In 1573 he received his most significant office when he was established as the queen mother Catherine's chevalier d'honneur (knight of honour), a position he would hold for the rest of his life.
At the advent of the reign of Henri III in 1574, Lanssac was a member of the royal conseil d'État (council of state). In 1578, when Catherine undertook a tour of the southern parts of the kingdom that were troubled by disorder, Lanssac participated in her mission and the negotiations with the Protestants that produced the treaty of Nérac in 1579. That year he was made a chevalier (knight) of the Ordre du Saint-Esprit (Order of Saint-Esprit), the most senior order of French chivalry. He took part in the grand diplomatic mission to England in 1581 to try and secure an agreement (without success) of marriage between the king's brother Alençon and the English queen Elizabeth I. He would be with Catherine for the attempts to reconcile Alençon with the French crown from 1582 to the prince's death in 1584. With his death the Catholic Ligue (League) was re-founded to oppose a Protestant succession to the French throne. Lanssac would be involved in negotiations with the ligueur (leaguer) leader the duc de Guise in 1585 to end the ligue rebellion. Forced, by the terms of his peace with the ligue to fight the Protestants, Henri's mother Catherine and Lanssac would again attempt negotiations in 1587 to resolve the new civil war diplomatically, without result. After Henri assassinated the ligueur leader the duc de Guise in 1588, Lanssac retired from court. He would die at his estates of Précy-sur-Oise in 1593.