Anne de Montmorency

Anne de Montmorency, duc de Montmorency was a French noble, governor, royal favourite and Constable of France during the mid to late Italian Wars and early French Wars of Religion. He served under five French kings. He began his career in the latter Italian Wars of Louis XII, seeing service at Ravenna. When François, his childhood friend, ascended to the throne in 1515 he advanced as governor of the Bastille and Novara, then in 1522 was made a Marshal of France. He fought at the French defeat at La Bicocca in that year, and after assisting in rebuffing the invasion of Constable Bourbon he was captured at the disastrous Battle of Pavia. Quickly freed, he then worked to free first the king and then the king's sons. In 1526, he was made Grand Maître, granting him authority over the king's household. In the same year, he was also made governor of Languedoc. He aided in the marriage negotiations for the king's son, the duc d'Orléans to Catherine de' Medici in 1533. In the mid 1530s he found himself opposed to the war party at court led by Admiral Chabot and therefore retired. He returned to the fore after the Holy Roman Emperor invaded Provence, leading the royal effort that foiled his invasion, and leading the counter-attack. In 1538 he was rewarded by being made Constable of France, this made him the supreme authority over the French military. For the next two years he led the efforts to secure Milan for France through negotiation with the Emperor, however this proved a failure and Montmorency was disgraced, retiring from court in 1541.