Jean V of Parthenay
Jean V de Parthenay-L'Archevêque, or Larchevêque, Sieur de Soubise, was a Protestant French nobleman, last lord of Mouchamps, from the Parthenay-l'Archevêque family. His father, Jean IV de Parthenay, died before he was born. His mother was humanist Michelle de Saubonne. He married Antoinette d'Aubeterre, and their daughter and was Catherine de Parthenay, who later married René II, Viscount of Rohan.
During the Italian War of 1551–1559, he served as a fighter and ambassador under Henry II, with whom he had been friends since childhood. He was a close friend of Henry II's wife Catherine de' Medici.
He converted to Calvinism in 1562 after the massacre of Vassy. During the French Wars of Religion, he became one of the most ardent supporters of Louis I, Prince of Condé, and the Huguenots. François Viète, who served as his lawyer and secretary from 1564 to 1566, recorded his memoirs. They were published in 1879 by Jules Bonnot and extensively commented on and popularized by Frédéric Ritter and Benjamin Fillon.
Jean V of Parthenay was accused of ordering the death of Francis, Duke of Guise. His government of Lyons nevertheless spared Catholics the cruelties of François de Beaumont, Baron des Adrets. His efforts helped to keep the peace between the warring factions until he died in 1566. For a time, he even hoped to convert the queen mother to the doctrine of the Calvinists. According to the 16th-century historian Jacques Auguste de Thou, "Jean de Parthenay combined an august birth with great moderation and uncommon skill."
Personal life
Early life
Born about 1512, Jean V de Parthenay was the only son of Jean IV, lord of the Château du Parc-Soubise, and Michelle de Saubonne. Jean IV was also the lord of Vendrennes, Goyau fief, and Mouchamps.File:Clouet_Renee_Duchess_of_Ferrara.jpg|left|upright=.8|thumb|Jean Clouet, Portrait of Renée de France duchesse de Chartres et de Ferrare , to whom Jean V's mother was a lady-in-waiting, c. 1520, Musée Condé
Upon the death of Jean V's father, his mother became a lady-in-waiting to Renée of France. She was a scholar and introduced Clément Marot to the court. Jean V was an enfant d'honneur, a child who played with the then Dauphin Henry II, who was seven years younger than him. Jean V was well educated in humanities and was regarded as a cultured young person of his time. Raised by his mother versed in the classical humanities, frequenting poets from an early age, and nurtured by his sister Anne of Latin or Greek texts, Jean V hardly seems predestined for the military career in which his life was subsequently worn out.
In 1528, Renée of France married Duke Ercole II d'Este and moved to Ferrara, Italy, along with Michelle, Jean V, and two of his sisters. Clément Marot joined them shortly after that. Jean V grew fond of Italy. In 1536, his mother and the remainder of the French members of the court were expelled from Ferrara.
According to La Popelinière, Jean V of Parthenay was "a gentleman of fine appearance, endowed with great estates and estates, liberal and honorable in all his actions, grave in speech and manners, affable and gracious nevertheless in conversation, disdainful of his domestic affairs as much as affectionate to the public and especially to the good of the kingdom, diligent and enemy of the birds".
In 1549, his mother died five days after the death of his sister Anne de Parthenay, wife of Antoine de Pons.
Marriage and children
On 9 May 1553, he married Antoinette d'Aubeterre, daughter of François II, Baron d'Aubeterre, and Isabelle de Saint-Seine in Paris. Antoinette was then Queen Catherine de' Medici's companion.Jean V and Antoinette had a clear division of labor. He concerned himself with business and political affairs that often took him away from home. Antoinette managed the financial and other private affairs that concerned her family and relationships in their community. Born in 1532, she was twenty years younger than her husband, but she overtook the management of Château du Parc-Soubise, for example, by calling Bernard Palissy and Philibert Hamelin, whom she protected, to settle some differences between Jean V and his vassals.
On 22 March 1554, his wife Antoinette gave birth to their daughter Catherine, who would later become a celebrated woman of letters and action, writer, mathematician, and protector of science. Through her, Jean V de Parthenay is one of the ancestors of the House of Rohan.
Religion
Early in his adult life, the child of honor of Henry II, Jean V of Parthenay seemed destined for the pleasures of the court until he met John Calvin in Ferrara.Protestant celebrations of Pré-aux-Clercs in Paris began in 1557. Antoine de Navarre and his brother, the Prince of Condé, attended the celebration from 13 to 19 May 1558, which drew many gentlemen to the Reformed faith. This is also the case for Jean V de Parthenay, who converted to the new religion. Antoinette, his wife, preached on his lands. Jean V, however, was hesitant to announce his conversion and waited for some time before making it known. Converting to Protestantism was a dangerous position at the time. It meant leaving a life that had been built upon relationships with priests for confessions and those who offered her spiritual counsel. There was also the risk of persecution.
Peace made, Jean V de Parthenay was acquitted of the [|Renaudie affair] in 1560 and he returned to the good graces of the queen and tried again to bring her back to the cause of the Calvinists. He paid court to her in Lyon during her visit, and stayed with her for a long time. He saw her again in Niort during her trip to Bayonne and accompanied her to La Rochelle. He no longer benefited from the complicity of Jacqueline de Longwy, Duchess of Montpensier, who died in 1561, but again encountered the jealousy of her husband, the Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier.
About early 1562, Jean V announced "loyally" to Catherine de' Medici his intention to abandon the mass. Interestingly, Catherine de’ Medici, the Catholic queen mother, allowed her children to attend Protestant services in the early 1560s and asked Jean V to only have Protestant preaching at night. She tried to stop Jean V from becoming a Protestant and promised him the most significant charges in the kingdom. Among other things, she offered him tutoring from young King Charles. The queen, anxious to retain support, sent him the Order of Saint Michael as if to invite him to return.
Returning home after he visited La Rochelle, Parthenay declared to Antoinette d'Aubeterre that there was nothing more to hope for on that side. Catherine de' Medici now refused to admit before him her former sympathies for the reformed religion.
Military and royal occupations
The beginning (1539–1553)
Jean V de Parthenay took up the profession of arms. A favorite of Henry II, Duke of Orléans; the Dauphin, Francis; and of the Dauphin's brother, he was from then on in all of Henry II's wars. He was appointed gentilhomme ordinaire of the king's chamber, and later governor and bailiff of Chartres in 1539.Jean V was captured in Lille, Flanders, where he remained a prisoner for a year. Not wanting to reveal his real name, he identified himself as 'Ambleville' to the jailers, an assumed name he came up with on the spot.
File:Plan-de-Metz-assiégé-par-Charles-V.jpeg|thumb|Sébastien Leclerc, Siege of Metz by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Bibliothèque nationale de France
In September 1552, Jean V was sent to Nancy by Henry II to sound out Nicolas, Duke of Mercœur, Count of Vaudémont. The latter, betting on Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor's respect for the neutrality of Lorraine, declined the offer. From October 1552 to early January 1553, Jean V de Parthenay participated in the Siege of Metz.
War of Parma (1553)
On 4 January 1553, Jean V received an order from King Henry II to go to the Duke of Parma and bring him to Fontainebleau.Immediately after his marriage in May 1553, Jean V received the order to go to Picardy to fight for Thérouanne and Hesdin. They were commanded by Antoine of Navarre, whose wife Jeanne d'Albret, pregnant with the future Henry IV, remained at the scene of the fight with her husband. The king's armies suffered a terrible defeat. Antoine of Navarre saved Hesdin from the Imperials but lost Thérouanne between May and June. A few months later, Charles V took over and razed the two strongholds.
Around July 1552, Henry II discovered the rapprochement between the Duke of Parma, Ottavio Farnese, and the King of Spain, Philip II. The king, his advisers, and Cardinal Oliviero Carafa decided to act. The Guises had Jean V de Parthenay sent on a mission to Parma with orders to propose an alliance between the Duke and King Henry II that included a marriage between his son Oratio, Duke of Castro and Diane de France, Duchess of Angoulême. He was given letters from Henry II to give to Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara to rally him and ask him to join the Pope in combating Spanish Inquisitions.
In preparation for the War of Parma, Jean V was appointed lieutenant general for His Majesty and then moved to Siena on 25 November 1554. On 25 February 1555, he moved to Parma at the rate of 500 pounds per month and helped to keep the duke in benevolent neutrality concerning the French, though Farnese ended up getting closer to Philip II of Spain two years later. Around the same time, Jean de Parthenay witnessed the capitulation of Montluc in Siena on 17 April, being unable to help him due to a lack of troops.
File:François Clouet - Admiral Gaspard II de Coligny - 168-1925 - Saint Louis Art Museum.jpg|thumb|François Clouet, Admiral Gaspard II de Coligny, 16th century, oil on wood, Saint Louis Art Museum
In 1555, Jean V joined the assault on Denain with Admiral Gaspard II de Coligny. There, wounded in the head and thrown to the ground, he was almost choked to death by his helm. He nevertheless continued the assault bareheaded until the end of the battle. Jean V commissioned surveying work from Bernard Palissy in 1555.
He fought in the capture of Calais with his friend le maréchal Strozzi. In August 1558, the king granted John V of Parthenay a gratuity of 6,900 pounds as a reward for the wars in Italy and "others". However, because of the boldness of his words and his foresight of military views during councils of war, Jean V made himself an enemy of Gaspard de Saulx, Marshal de Tavannes.