Historical Figures

Gabriel de Montgomery (1530 – 1574)

Count of Montgommery (Basse-Normandie), Gabriel de Lorges is the captain of the Scottish guard of King Henry II . Montgommery becomes an unwitting regicide by piercing the sovereign's eye during a celebratory tournament. On his deathbed, Henry II absolves Montgommery of any wrongdoing. However, the regicide chose to take refuge in England, at the court of Queen Elizabeth I, where he adhered to the Protestant Reformation. Returning to France, he became one of the main Protestant warlords. He narrowly escaped the Saint-Barthélemy massacre. He ended up surrendering after the failure of an insurrection in Normandy and he was beheaded on the Place de Grève (City Hall).