Louis, Grand Condé

Louis II de Bourbon was born into a senior branch of the Bourbon line on 8 September 1621 and proved himself a prodigy of war: his victory at Rocroi in 1643 shattered Spanish infantry and made him famous across Europe. That fame made him dangerous to the regent Anne of Austria and her minister Mazarin, who had him imprisoned during the Fronde revolt. After his release Condé took up arms against the crown, fought the royal forces until his defeat by Turenne, and defected to Spain, commanding their armies in the final stretch of the Franco-Spanish War. The Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 brought pardon from Louis XIV, and Condé returned to France a loyal servant, living quietly at Chantilly among writers like Molière and Racine while leading campaigns in the War of Devolution and the Franco-Dutch War. His marriage to Claire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé, a niece of Richelieu, was unhappy and they lived estranged. He died on 11 December 1686 at 65, his line running forward to the present claimants to the thrones of France and Italy and the reigning houses of Spain and Belgium.