CONDE, keied3', FAMILY or. Ope of the great families in France, and a branch of the House of Bourbon. It took its name from the town of Conde. (See CONDE-surt-L'EscAtrr.) The first to bear the title of Prince de Conde was Louis, the youngest son of Charles de Bourbon, Duke of endrne. (See below.) The family became ex tinct in 1S30. It gave many famous men to France, of whom the following are the most noted: Lotus I. DE BOURBON, Prince de' Conde (1530 69), appears in 1549 as gentleman of the royal bedchamber. He distinguished himself at the siege of Metz (1552), and in the battle of Saint Quentin (1557). But the Court was under Guise influence, and no Bourbon could expect advance ment. Conde, who had early imbibed Protestant ideas, threw in his lot with the Huguenots on the accession of Francis II. in 1559. He took part in the conspiracy of Amboise, formed by the Huguenots for the of the Guises. The capture and imprisonment of the chief Huguenot leaders followed. and Conde only escaped execu tion through the opportune death of the King. The balance of power rested in the hands of Catherine de' Medici (q.v.), who liberated Conde and made him Governor of Picardy. After the massacre of Vassy (1562), Conde and Coligny took up arms against the Guise faction, but they were defeated at Dreux in the same year, and Conde was taken prisoner. He was, however. liberated in the year following by the pacifica tion of Amboise. Owing to fresh persecution. the Huguenots again took up arms in 1567: an un successful attempt to seize the person of the King was followed by the indecisive battle of Saint Denis, in which the Catholic leader, the Con stable de Montmorency, was slain, and in 1568 another treaty of peace was made. Conde, how ever, learning of Court intrigues against his liberty, renewed the ennfliet. The battle of Jarnae (March 13, 1569) resulted most disas trously for the Huguenots. Conde rashly ex posed himself and was wounded and taken pris oner. \\ bile his wounds were being dressed he was assassinated by Montesquieu, a Swiss merce nary captain, possibly at the command of the Duke of Anjou, whom Conde had offended. "He was distinguished," says the Due d'Aumale, "by great ardor and gayety, the desire and the gift of being pleasant, by a resolute character, a proud soul, and a great and generous heart." Of the four sons who survived him, the eldest, Henri I. (1552-88). joined the Huguenot cause, but renounced his religion to save his life at the time of the massacre of Saint Bartholomew. lie again took up arms for Protestantism in 1585, and was excommunicated by Pope Sixtus V. After several encounters with the forces of the League, Conde was wounded at Contras (October 20, 15S7) and died a few months later, not without grave suspicions of foul play on the part of his wife and attendants. The legitimacy of his only son, Henri 11. (1588 1646), was a matter of great dispute; but finally he was allowed to succeed to the titles and es tates of his father, and, for a time at least, was looked on as the heir presumptive to the French crown. This contingency was removed by Henry IV.'s second marriage and the birth of the Dau phin Louis (1601). After a life at Court, de voted to the aggTandizement of his family, and marked by opposition to the Huguenots, Henri 71. de Conde died in 1646. He was the father of the Great Conde.
.Lours II. DE BOURBON (1621-S6) is known in history as 'the Great Conde.' After a thorough education in the Jesuit seminary at Bruges the young prince, who was known as the Duo d'En ghien during the lifetime of his father, was intro duced at Court, and the next year, at the age of eighteen, was made Governor of Burgundy. To further his father's political aims. lIe was forced, in 1641, to marry the niece of Richelieu, much against his inclination. Meanwhile lIe had en
tered the military service and distinguished him self in the Netherlands, but his great triumph came in 1643, when, at the battle of lloeroi, he outmanceuvred the Spanish infantry, raised the siege, and inflicted a severe defeat on the enemy. Other successes followed, and Conde was pro moted and sent to Alsace, in the summer of 1643, to eo6perate with Turenne. After the victory of Freiburg, the capture of Philippsburg, Mainz, and other cities on the Rhine, Conde returned in triumph to Paris for the winter, but in 1645, after the defeat of Turenne byMercy, he again took the field and by his splendid dash and energy won a series of victories culminating in that of N6rdlingen in 1645, where Mercy was killed. Associated with the Duke of Orleans in the Netherlands in 1646, Conde won several bril liant victories. The death of his father in the same year made him head of the Conde fam ily and gave him possession of vast estates and a large fortune, and made him the highest personage in the State after the King and the Duke of Orleans. Though feared by Maza rin, Conde was given the chief command in the Netherlands and made eaptain-general of the French forces. The victory at Lens in 1648 added to his fame and he was recalled to Paris to suppress the rising of the Fronde (q.v.). After many intrigues, plots, and eounter-plots the Court returned to Paris. Conde's haughti ness of manner and dictatorial measures, how ever, soon alienated the Queen and nobles, and by the advice of Mazarin he was arrested, with other members of his family. The threatened advance of Turenne, the murmurs of the Fronde, and the activity of friends, soon secured Conde's release. The discomfiture and flight of Mazarin again brought Conde to the front, but the failure of the Court to fulfill its promises and the sus picions he entertained that his assassination was contemplated roused him to fresh rebellion in 1651. His former ally, Turenne, was now on the side of the Court, and after Conde had won the battle of Blenenu (April, 1652) and advanced on Paris, he was met by Turenne at the head of the royal troops. A bloody and indecisive con flict ensued, the net result of which was so to weaken the Frondeurs that most of them con sented to a treaty of peace. Conde, however, rejected the proffered terms, and after a vain ef fort to retrieve his cause and seize Paris, went over to Spain. In the war which followed lie acted as commander-in-chief of the Spanish forces in Flanders, but could gain no advantage over Turenne, who opposed him. When the peace of the Pyrenees was made (1659) Conde was pardoned and again entered the service of France. In 1673 he commanded in the Nether lands, and the next year fought a drawn battle at Senetie with William of Orange. This was the great general's last important battle. though in 1675 he succeeded Turenne, on the latter's death, in command of the army on the Rhine. Disabled by gout, he resigned his post and re tired to his estate at Chantilly. There be be came a devout Roman Catholic, and occupied himself during his remaining years with lit erature, religion, and the society of his friends. lie was intimate with Moliere„ Racine. Boileau. Bossuet. and La Bruyere. He died at Fontaine bleau on December 11, 1686, and his friend Bos suet pronounced the now famous ()raison fuinC bre over his bier. Though proud. and acting al ways from motives of selfish ambition. Conde was without doubt one of the greatest men of his time. The only surviving son of the Great Conde, Henri Jules (1643-1709), inherited some of the ability of his father and played a more or less important part in the history of his time, while his grandson, the Duke de Bourbon, known as Monsieur le Due, WRS a prominent figure at the time of the Regency.