BOURBON, CHARLES, Duke du BOURBONNAIS, styled CONSTABLE DE Bounfm, 1489, was the son of the count of Montpensier; and in consequence of the death of his elder brother. and his marriage with the only daughter of the duke of BourImm, he united in his own possession the vast estates of both these branches of the Bourbon frimloyr. Bolding a very high position in virtue of his birth and wealth, he soon showed himself to be no ordinary character, by the hrillianey of his exploits in arms. and by his rimid morals and severe taciturn disposition. At the age of 26, he received froan Francis I. the constable's sword. and was sent to Italy at the head of an army. which he dis•i plined on the march: and crossing the Alps by passes previously deemed impracticable, he surprised the hostile generals, won that battle of .Marigren. 1515, and m 'thin a f w days placasi the keys of the citadel of Milan in the king's band, requiring for himself by these exploits the reputation of the general of his time. But Maria Louisa, the kiug's mother, became enamored of the brave constable; and he, although a widower, declined her hand, openly declaring that he deemed her a woman devoid of modesty, and not to be thought of for a wife. Her revenge led to the seizure, on behalf of the Crown, of the estates which lie had acquired through his wife, and the withholding of his pay as constable. Thus deeply injured, lie renounced the interest of France, and concluded a private alliance with the emperor Charles V., and with Henry VIII. of England. The former agreed to give him in marriage his sister, Eleonina, who had Portugal as her jointure, and to make an independent kingdom for him of Provence and Dauphine, with his own possessions of the Bourbonnais and Auvergne. The rest of France was to be apportioned between the two confederates. The king, who was engaged in an expedition to Italy, received intelligence of this conspiracy. Forthwith heisroceeded in person to the constable, and offered him restoration to favor and also of his estates. The constable, however, did not trust him, but tied in disguise, and
reached Franche Comte in 1523. In order not to appear as a fugitive to the Spanish army, which awaited him in Lombard, he drew around him 6000 German lancers, and soon contrived to gain their entire attachment. Ile attacked, in 1524, the French army 00 its march over the Alps, and thought to have advanced to the heart of France with the Spaniards, whose general he had been appointed by the emperor. But Charles V. did not entirely trust him, and appointed the marquis of Pescara to assist and watch him. He was compelled to relinquish the siege of Marseilles, on the approach of Francis I. with a great army. He repassed the Alps, and took his revenge in the battle of Pavia, 24th Feb., 1525, where the king was made a prisoner. He now went to Mad rid, but soon found himself entirely disappointed in his hopes, and was sent back to Lombardy by Charles V. Without money or support, surrounded by daring and mutin • ous bands, he conceived a plan to found for himself independeut dominion of his own, and to unite himself with France against Spain. Hastily gathering together the wild bands around Milan, he led them against Rome; and on 6th May, 1527, unprovided with things necessary for a siege, appeared before the walls of that city. Resolved to conquer or die, he led up his troops in the most impetuous manner, and eagerly seized with his own hands a scaling-ladder, in order to make his way over a weak place of the walls, when he was mortally wounded by a bullet, which l3envenuto Cellini afterwards asserted that lie had shot. His death was kept secret for a time from the storming army under his command. When it departed from Rome two months after, his corpse, which the soldiers would not part with, was taken with them, and buried at Gaeta, under a magnificent monument, which, however, was afterwards destroyed.