BEAUFORT, FRANCOIS DE VENDOME, Duc DE (1616-1669), a picturesque figure in French history of the 17th century, was the second son of Cesar de Vendome, and grandson of Henry IV. by Gabrielle d'Estrees. He served in the first campaigns of the Thirty Years' War. In 1642 he joined in the conspiracy of Cinq Mars against Richelieu, and upon its failure was obliged to live in exile in England until Richelieu's death. Returning to France, he became the centre of a group, known as the "Importants," in which court ladies predominated, especially the duchess of Chevreuse and the duchess of Montbazon. For an instant after the king's death, this group seemed likely to prevail, but Mazarin came to the fore, and Beaufort, accused of a plot to murder Mazarin, was imprisoned in Vincennes, in Sept. 1643. He escaped on May 31 1648, just in time to join the Fronde, which began in Aug. 1648. He was then with the parle ment and the princes, against Mazarin. His personal appearance, his affectation of popular manners, his quality of grandson (legit imized) of Henry IV., rendered him a favourite of the Parisians, who called him the Roi des Halles ("king of the markets"). But among the members of the parlement and the other leaders of the Fronde, he was regarded as merely a tool. Mazarin, on his return to Paris, exiled him in Oct. 165 2. He was allowed to return in 1654 and engaged in no further intrigues. From 1658 onwards he faithfully served the king in naval wars. He was killed in a night sortie while defending Candia against the Turks on June 15 1669.