CONDE, Loris II. OF BOURBON, Prince of, commonly termed " the great Conde," was the great-grandson of the preceding, and was b. Sept. 8, 1621. In -youth (1640-42), he took part in the sieges of Arras and Perpignan, and commanded the army against the Spaniards in the Netherlands, where be almost extirpated the foe in the battle of Rocroi, May 10, 1643. In the autumn of the same year, he was sent to Alsace to support Turenne; and in the engagements of Aug. 3 and 5, 1044, he defeated the Bavarian gen. Mercy near Freiburg, and sowon for France a considerable portion of Germany. By the death of his father, 1646, C. became the head of his tamilv, and, next to the duke of Orleans, was the highest personage in the state. This pre-eminence excited the envy of cardinal Mazarin, who, however, in 1648, intrusted C. with the command of the army in the Netherlands. Here the prince captured Ypres, and gained the battle of Lens, but was called back to Paris by the war of the Fronde (q.v.), which had just brtiken out. In this contest, C. at first sided with the court, while his brother, prince of Conti, and his sister, the celebrated duchess of took the part of the Prandeur8. After the court had secretly escaped from Paris (Jan. 6, 1649), C. concluded a treaty which insured the return of the court to Paris in Aug. of the same year. But as this service met with no adequate thanks, C., who was the haughtiest Frenchman of his age, soon became more violently rebellious than the Frondenrs themselves, at least in his language and deportment. Cardinal Mazarin consequently arrested C., with his brother and the duke of Longueville; but was soon compelled to release him, on account of the threatened operations of Turenne and the Fronde. Though C. now enjoyed the favor of the people, his relations with the court were unfriendly even after Mazarin had been banished, and when Louis XIV. assumed the government, 1651. He therefore
renewed the war, with, as some suApose, the ambitious view of obtaining the supreme power. At the head of troops collected in the Netherlands, lie gained the battle of Illeneau, in April, 1652, and immediately marched upon Paris, while Turenne, who had remained steady in his loyalty, advanced to defend the court. A bloody but indecisive struggle took place in the streets of Paris. Many of C.'s ablest adherents, however, were killed, and the Frondeurs began to give in. A treaty was drawn up, to which most of them agreed, but the proud impracticable C. would have nothing to do with it; furious at the defection of so many of his friends, he went into Champagne to gather troops, and after a fruitless effort to seize Paris, he left the country, and, on the formal outbreak of war between France and Spain, became generalissimo of the Spanish forces, but was unable to gain the advantage over Turenne. When the peace of the Pyrenees was concluded between France and Spain, it 'vas thought advisable to enter into friendly relations with the brilliant traitor. C. was therefore pardoned, and reinstated in his former honors. The war having been renewed by Spain, 1673, he again commanded the French in the Netherlands. After Turenne's decease, he held the command in Germany. but was ultimately so disabled by gout, that lie had to resign his post. He now retired to his estate of where he devoted his remaining years to literature (for which, in his early years, he had exhibited a strong predilection), the society of friends, and religious exercises. He died at Fontainebleau, Dec. 11, 1686. The prince of C. had a superior intellect and great strength of character, associated with pride. Though an able commander, ho was disliked by the soldiers, on account of his severity.—Mahon, Life of the Great Conde, (1840).