Louis II de Bourbon (1621-1686), known as the e Grand Condé , was a prince of the blood and one of the most illustrious warlords of the Grand Siècle, considered by Louis XIV as the greatest man of his kingdom. Trained in the military art in his youth, Condé distinguished himself during the Thirty Years War by defeating the Spaniards at Rocroi (1643), a victory that greatly contributed to his military glory. In 1650, he took the head of the Fronde des princes which opposed Anne of Austria and Mazarin. Passed to the side of the Spanish army, he was defeated by Turenne during the Battle of the Dunes (1658). He obtained the following year the pardon of Louis XIV after the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees and returned to the service of the King of France. Victorious in Franche-Comté and during the Dutch Wars, he was promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the French armies in 1675 and fought his last battle the same year on the Rhine front.
The youth of Condé
From this younger branch of the House of Bourbon we have the first princes of royal blood. Louis I, first prince of Condé, was the brother of Antoine de Bourbon, father of Henri IV. Warrior and already "reactionary", he took part in the wars of religion and the revolts of the nobles. His grandson Henri II de Bourbon-Condé fought and did much for the fame of the family. Married to Charlotte de Montmorency, he received the vast clientele of this illustrious family. Their three children:the Grand Condé, Armand de Conti and Anne Geneviève de Longeville formed a real clan.
Louis II de Bourbon, received a solid education in Berry, under the authority of his father Henri II de Bourbon -Condé, away from the court and intrigues. It was a question of carrying and illustrating the renown of the family on the battlefields and of maintaining perfect loyalty to the sovereign. He continued his apprenticeship in Dijon between 1636 and 1639, a government assigned to the princes of Condé since 1631, where he kept close ties with parliament. He learns how to govern a province, the handling of arms, dancing, the art of horsemanship and all that is necessary to become a gentleman.
His father, collaborating with Cardinal Richelieu, succeeded in the marriage of his son with a niece of Cardinal Claire Clémence de Maillé-Brézé, allowing him to obtain provinces, abbeys, church benefices and the recovery of properties confiscated from the Duke of Montmorency, brother of the Princess of Condé, his wife.
First enlisted as a volunteer at the siege of Arras, the young Condé waged war three years later as commander of the army of Picardy in an important place on the road to Paris:Rocroi. A fine strategist, he quickly organized the battalions and thanks to his cavalry taking the Spaniards from behind, he won this great battle in 1643:the legend was born.
Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé and warlord
Celebrated throughout Paris, he is considered the new Hercules and the new Hannibal. General of the Grand Siècle and skilled tactician, he was entrusted with major campaigns such as Friborg in 1644, Nördlingen in 1645 or Dunkirk in 1646. From Duke of Enghien, he became Prince of Condé, nicknamed the Grand Condé, at this same date.
All the Condés revolted against the cardinal's policy, but he did not want to "shake the crown":he even helped Mazarin during the blockade of Paris, after the parliamentary Fronde. On the other hand, knowing he was a great fighter and winner, Condé always demanded more, including a place in the government with the Regent, and why not oust the cardinal! During the revolt of the Princes, he was arrested in January 1650, held captive in Vincennes, Marcoussis and Le Havre for a year, he was finally released (along with his brother and sister).
Revolted, Condé raises an army, signs treaties with Spain, marches on Paris but comes up against the royal troops commanded by another great commander (Turenne) who weakens his army . After his defeat at the Battle of the Dunes, he gave up and put himself in the service of the King of Spain, France's main enemy:“unheard of! ". As a result, he was sentenced to death and stripped of his titles and property, when in his mind he did not want to oppose the king at all, but only the cardinal... Based in Brussels, he fought many battles and regains the places he had won on behalf of Louis XIV.
The return of the Grand Condé
Thanks to the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees, after the defeat of the Dunes in 1658, Condé's return to grace is possible, but it will take time. He was not present at the wedding of Louis XIV and Marie Thérèse of Austria, but he took part in the Grand Carrousel of 1662.
Condé, with his prowess in combat and provided with a family and reliable allies, is a support significant to the royal authority:his sword is necessary and almost indispensable to the king. In 1660, he recovered his government of Burgundy and his position as Grand Master of the Maison du Roi; he receives an army for the War of Devolution, he wins during the conquest of Franche Comté and that of Holland where he wins a last victory in 1674 at Seneffe, but with a heavy loss in soldiers.
Condé is “old school”. Since Rocroi the wars have evolved, the strategies are different and orchestrated by the king; the nicknames "Hannibal and Hercules" are confiscated by the king who wants to be the main actor in the war; Condé takes second place, in the shadow of the Sun King. He retired after his last campaign in Alsace in 1675 but left it to his son and grandson to enhance the family coat of arms, because he could no longer shine.
The Hôtel de Condé in Paris
This prince was not only a great warrior, he was interested in many other things, such as buildings, theater, science, arts, flowers . On “retirement”, he will therefore be able to set up his hotel in Paris, his estate in Chantilly, take an interest in new sciences, collect works of art and build up a valuable library. He had no trouble creating his court, the courtiers being all attracted by the absence of ceremony and censorship, they appreciated the freedom of spirit reigning in Chantilly.
At the end of the 16th century, this mansion given in 1612 to his father Henri II de Bourbon Condé by Marie de Médicis, is one of the most remarkable in the capital. Condé began expansion work for the wedding of his son Henri Jules in 1664:extension of a large pavilion, restructuring of the old orangery, transformation of the North Garden. This hotel is the center of a Condean district where the officers and relatives of the family are installed not far away. It is a political center (the mazarinades are printed at the hotel), but also the place of a literary society where the Marquise de Sévigné and Bussy-Rabutin, among others, meet. The Hôtel de Condé was located on the site of the current Odéon theater in Paris.
Condé also maintains the Château de Vallery in Burgundy; he gives the castle of Saint Maur in usufruct to his steward Gourville in order to restore it; but as soon as Louis XIV settled permanently in Versailles, Condé transferred his political center to Chantilly.
His Chantilly estate
Chantilly was given to his mother in 1643 by Anne of Austria, the Regent, after the victory of Rocroi. Confiscated in 1654, it was handed over to Condé for his return to favor. He decided in 1660 to restore the entire site so that it became a worthy residence of the First Blood Prince.
He entrusted the development of the park to André le Nôtre who worked for twenty years and who achieved feats:the work was extremely complicated due to the swamps in the middle of which was a rock surmounted by an irregular, medieval castle, surrounded by moats and attached to a terrace! He created a major axis from the forest towards the terrace, deviating the road towards Paris which was in the middle. So from the main courtyard, going up the driveway, you reach the terrace and you are surprised by the plunging view of the gardens below the Grand Degré. Le Nôtre created a grandiose area of water features, the Grand Canal being larger than that of Versailles, groves, fountains, small waterfalls, a Faisanderie, vegetable gardens, French gardens, allowing sumptuous parties. Part of this gigantic park is located in the current town of Chantilly.
Lover of flowers, several majestic trees were planted around 1663; in 1673, La Quintinie supervised the work of the orangery whose plants came from Italy; around 1679, thanks to Father Tixier and the great collector Henry Caboud, Condé planted tuberose pots, boxes of jasmine, Jerusalem carnations or Princesses of Orange, colorful and variegated tulips, anemones ( there will be 20,000), narcissi, lilies, grape hyacinths. Common flowers are found on the Grand Parterre, while rare flowers are reserved for the new “Flower Garden”, such as Sylvie's Garden. But when Condé died, no one took over.
Chantilly Castle
After Le Nôtre, the architects took care of the two castles:the "Small Castle" where the services are housed and the “Grand Château” reserved for Condé and his family. From 1674, his son Henri-Jules helped Jules Hardouin Mansart draw up plans for the transformation, preserving as much as possible of the château of his grandfather, the Constable of Montmorency.
The Petit Château became Condé's main residence, with additions of interior rooms, decoration with painted paneling, tapestries and hangings with gold thread, alcoves with doorframes adorned with flowers of lilies, color crimson, cabinets in green, but no marble and little gilding. Condé does not seek ostentation and flashy decor. Only the Galerie des Batailles, known as the Galerie des Actions de M. Le Prince, is in the suite of private apartments and is open to guests as the highlight of the visit. He had eleven panels installed there corresponding to the battles ranging from the siege of Arras in 1640 to the Alsace campaign in 1675 and portraits representing his entire career, including the Fronde.
From 1684, Mansart proposed a grandiose and too expensive project for the Grand Château. After the death of Condé, his son undertook the creation of a grand staircase, a gallery on the garden side, facades modified with openings. The site stopped in 1690 to be taken over in 1718 by Louis Henri de Bourbon Condé.
Parties at Chantilly
Chantilly has become a free and tolerant place, an "anti-Versailles"! The domain being provided with forests for hunting, the garden and the park lending themselves to brilliant festivals, there are many collations, receptions, comedies. In 1669, Condé received King Casimir of Poland, marking the reunion of the former King of Poland and the prince who was expected to succeed him at the time. The best-known celebration is that of 1671 (when Vatel takes his own life), in honor of the Sun King, marking Condé's definitive return to grace, with fireworks, gondola rides...
In 1679, Condé welcomed the Duchess of Hanover, aunt of the Princess Palatine, and in 1684, the King and the Court stopped at his house again, on their return from Flanders . Finally, in 1686, it was the reception of the marriage of the Duchess of Bourbon, illegitimate daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan who had just married the grandson of Condé. Other less prestigious visitors are received, such as the Spanish ambassador. His son takes up the torch but it is above all his granddaughter Anne Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon who is the heiress in Sceaux, of the parties that Condé organized in Chantilly.
Condé, a patron prince
A man of conversation, curious, daring, he formed his own troupe of actors. He sided with Molière and let Tartuffe play at Chantilly, while the play was banned in Paris; he granted his protection to Boileau, Racine and Théophile de Viau; he invites La Bruyère to Chantilly, who draws his inspiration for the "Characters" and who becomes his grandson's tutor; he frequently receives Bossuet, his youthful friend, who was entrusted by the King with the funeral oration. It is above all necessary to "create the buzz" as we currently say, to make the event by inviting actors, thinkers, philosophers.
In Paris, with the help of his doctor Abbé Bourdelot, Condé welcomes the circle of scientists; from 1648, these thirty scholars carried out experiments in the hotel's laboratory; six of them were admitted to the Royal Academy of Sciences in 1666. During the meetings, Condé spoke about medicine with Bernardin Martin, who was interested in human teeth or the use of milk; he subscribes to the “Journal des savants” and buys around 440 manuscripts relating to science and medicine. At Chantilly, Condé received Paolo Boccone, an eminent botanist who produced a magnificent herbarium; other physicists and theologians who arrived after 1675 carried out hydraulic experiments by raising water from the Nonette towards the gardens or worked on the flammability of gunpowder mixed with spirits of wine. Condé pushes his doctor to have all these works and results published in 1672, which are dedicated to Henri-Jules.
Attracted by beautiful paintings, Condé was a forerunner in Nordic painting which was a triumph in France in the 18th century. He is interested in and buys works by Breughel, Rubens, Van Dyck; it hosts a few Dutch painters who produce paintings on the estate; he collects paintings by the great Italian masters and appreciates Veronese and Titian; he met Pierre Mignard and Charles le Brun who made paintings for him, he was able to acquire "Poussins" and Juste d'Egmont, his official portraitist, would become one of the twelve founders of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. Condé is considered a recognized collector in the same way as Fouquet. He is also a fan of tapestries from Aubusson and Flanders, prestigious tools; he appreciates porcelain, in particular that of Delft and is part of the circle of porcelain lovers with Richelieu, Séguier and Mr. brother of the King.
His library and his medals
There is no inventory after death, but we know that his father had built up a fine library of rare Greek and Latin manuscripts, partly receiving that of the Montmorencys, reputed to be great bibliophiles. Condé also receives the library of Moulins, one of the richest in France, containing old manuscripts of the Armagnacs, the Cardinal de Bourbon, the Duke of Nemours among others, after exchange of the duchy of Albret for that of Bourbon in 1661. He buys the latest novelties published in the capital, joining forces with the most illustrious writers such as Corneille, Molière, Boileau, La Bruyère. He sent his buyers to obtain De Thou's collection in 1680, then prints from Chancellor Séguier's library in 1686. A lover of fine works, he had his new books bound with red, blue and green morocco, marbled calfskin and fawn.
Condé began to take an interest in medals around 1679. With the help of Father Claude de Molinet, in charge of classifying the royal collections of medals at Sainte Geneviève Abbey in Paris , he ordered ten in silver, very often bearing his image. On the reverse of one of them is engraved an illustration signifying that Condé passes the torch to his son the Duke of Enghien and his grandson the Duke of Bourbon.
The end of the Grand Condé
At the end of his life, Condé converted to religion, thanks to Father de Champs. After the marriage of his grandson and the Duchess of Bourbon, he goes to the bedside of the latter who has contracted smallpox. Also weakened by this disease, he died in Fontainebleau in December 1686, he was 65 years old.
Embalmed the next day, the autopsy revealed a "withered lung, swimming in water, both kidneys half rotten, the spleen beginning to corrupt”. Louis XIV authorizes the mortuary chamber at Fontainebleau and leaves the place, because it is all the same the first time that a prince of the blood dies at the King's. Condé's heart was taken to the church of Fontainebleau and two days later, his body was transferred to Vallery, necropolis of the Condé house. After the ceremony, the officers of his household break their sticks which they place on the coffin:Condé joins his father, under the altar of the chapel.
In December 1686, Condé's heart was placed next to that of his father, in Saint Louis des Jésuites while awaiting the official ceremony in April 1687 at the "hearts" monument. of the Princes of Condé” later repatriated to Chantilly in the chapel. In March 1687, Henri-Jules organized an almost national funeral at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, on an unequaled scale, funerals considered to be the most glorious of the century of Louis XIV. The ceremonial and the decorations full of allegories, emblems and Latin mottoes made by the artisans of the Menus Plaisirs, paid for by the new Prince of Condé are grandiose, and Bossuet pronounces a funeral oration in memory of the Grand Condé.
Posterity and the work of the Duke of Aumale
For a century, the image of Condé is attached to his feats of arms, then nobody talks about him anymore during the Revolution and the Empire. Condé has just a role of simple sidekick of the century of Louis XIV.
We have to wait for the Restoration and Louis XVIII who is looking for a hero among the Bourbons, serving to regain the confidence of the French. Condé is restored to honour, the descendants claim from the king the property confiscated during the Revolution (paintings in the Battles gallery, standing statue of Condé dating from 1689, monument of the Condé hearts). In 1821, the Maison du Roi commissioned a large canvas illustrating the Battle of Rocroi, but poorly executed, it was in the Galerie de Diane at the Tuileries in 1825.
The direct family of Grand Condé died in 1830. The torch was passed on to the Duke of Aumale, Henri d 'Orléans (1822-1897), the fifth son of Louis Philippe, last Prince of Condé who continues the work of his ancestor. The marble statue of Condé was transferred to the main courtyard of the new Museum of the History of France in 1837; several canvases appeared in the various salons until 1839. In 1871, the Duke of Aumale returned to France after having emigrated to England and reconstituted Chantilly, which became the museum dedicated to Condé, the mausoleum of Condé, which he bequeathed in 1884 at the Institut de France.
But first, he wrote, among other things, a manuscript "History of the Princes of Condé during the 16th and 17th centuries", then researched all documents, all paintings, all engravings, all sculptures, all busts and portraits to improve and enrich the Chantilly estate. During the evenings, he likes to tell the facts of the battles of his ancestor. His only regret is not having been able to hang the "Reception of the Grand Condé by Louis XIV at Versailles in 1674", the painting by Gérôme which remained in the United States and was recently acquired by the Musée d'Orsay.
Louis II de Bourbon, known as the Grand Condé, was one of the greatest servants of the crown, risking his life in battle, holding his rank at Court, but not only!
Bibliography
- Le Grand Condé:The rival of the Sun King? by Mathieu Deldicque. Editions Snoek, 2016
- The Grand Condé:Hero of the Armies of Louis XIV by e Dominique Paladilhe . Pygmalion, 2008.