Louis, Duke of Montpensier

He was the son of Louis, Prince of La Roche-sur-Yon, and of Louise de Bourbon, first Duchess of Montpensier.[1] By his mother, he was the nephew of Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Bourbon, whose lands were confiscated after his treason. As a member of the House of Bourbon, he was a Prince of the Blood.

Under the orders of Anne de Montmorency, he defended in 1536 Provence, then Artois against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

In 1538, he married Jacqueline de Longwy,[1] Countess of Bar-sur-Seine, daughter of John IV de Longwy, Baron of Pagny, and Jeanne of Angoulême, illegitimate half-sister of King Francis I. On the occasion of his marriage, the King of France returned the lands of Gilbert, Count of Montpensier, and the Counties of Forez, Beaujeu and Dombes to his mother. In 1543, he received the dauphinate of Auvergne.

He took part in a number of wars against Charles V. He fought again at the Battle of St. Quentin (1557) where his horse was killed under him and where he was taken prisoner. His involvement in the French Wars of Religion reflected his opportunist character. He was initially favourable to the Protestants, under the influence of his wife.

In 1561, having inherited his mother's Duchy of Montpensier, he changed his alliance to satisfy his ambitions. He was made governor of Touraine and Anjou in 1562, and was charged with attacking the Huguenots. He made his own captains hate him.

In 1563, he reconquered Angoulême and Cognac. In 1569, he participated in the Battle of Jarnac, was named governor of Brittany and married, on February 4, 1570, Catherine de Lorraine (1552-1596), sister of Henry I, Duke of Guise and of Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne. He approved of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, and fought the Protestants again in 1575 in Poitou.

Louis and Jacqueline had:

• Françoise de Bourbon (1539–1587), married in 1559 to Henri Robert de La Marck, Duke of Bouillon and Prince of Sedan and had two children, William and Charlotte; she played a crucial role in organizing the College of Sedan in 1579
• Anne de Bourbon (1540–1572), married on 6 September 1561 François de Clèves, duke de Nevers, son of Francis I;
• Jeanne de Bourbon (1541–1620), Abbess of Jouarre;
• François de Bourbon (1542–1592), Duke of Montpensier[1]
• Charlotte de Bourbon (1547–1582), Abbess of Jouarre, married in 1571 to William "the Silent" of Nassau, Prince of Orange[1]
• Louise de Bourbon (1548–1586), Abbess of Faremoutier.

• George, Hereford B. (1885). Genealogical Tables Illustrative of Modern History (2nd ed.). Oxford at the Clarendon Press.