- Anne de Joyeuse
Anne de Batarnay de Joyeuse, Baron d'Arques, Vicomte then Duke of Joyeuse (1560 or
1561 -20 October ,1587 ), was a royalfavourite and active participant in the FrenchWars of Religion .An intimate friend of
Henry III of France , he was known as a minion and keeper of the king's chambers, with these serious responsibilities he also gained a number of privileges around the court such as wearing royal colors such as royal blue, purple, and red, also the right to wear jewelry of high majesties of the court such as a well known red ruby and diamond ring given to him by the king after having been taken away from Princesse Marguerite de Valois as a punishment for accusing Anne of trying to interfere with a meeting with a king as requested of her by Catherine de Medicis, he was also a member of the circle of young courtiers known as "Les Mignons ".Anne was born in 1560 in the château de Joyeuse. He was the eldest son of Guillaume, 8th Vicomte de Joyeuse, the owner of the rights to the
Bishopric of Alet and futureMarshal of France . CardinalFrançois de Joyeuse was his younger brother. He was reared inToulouse and attended theCollège de Navarre , starting in August 1572.From 1577 onward, Anne accompanied his father in the annual expeditions against the
Huguenots toLanguedoc and Auvergne. In 1579, he was put in charge of acompagnie d'ordonnance and was soon appointed governor ofMont Saint-Michel . In 1580, he took part in the siege ofFère-en-Tardenois .The King arranged Joyeuse's marriage to his sister-in-law, Marguerite, daughter of
Nicholas, Duke of Mercoeur . The nuptials were celebrated on18 September ,1581 with unprecedented magnificence. King Henry used the marriage as a pretext for elevating his favourite to the dignity of Duc de Joyeuse. He was given precedence over all other dukes and peers of France, with the exception of princes of the blood. In addition to more than 300 000 écus in dowry, he was given theseigneury of Limours.In the next year, the 21-year old "mignon" was made Grand-
admiral de France (1 June) and commander in theOrdre du Saint-Esprit , the kingdom's highest (31 December). He was appointed governor ofNormandy in 1583 andLe Havre in 1584. After the death of Duke François the Joyeuse brothers were allowed to govern the duchies ofAnjou andAlençon in the name of the king.His massacre of 800 Huguenots during a campaign in
Poitou (the massacre de Saint-Eloi, 21 June, 1587) incurred the displeasure of the King. He was received coldly at court and, anxious to be restored to Henry's favour, led royal troops against the king's arch-enemy,Henry of Navarre . He suffered a defeat at the hands of the Huguenots in theBattle of Coutras and was taken prisoner. Although he offered a ransom of 100,000écu s, Joyeuse was killed in revenge for the massacre of Saint-Eloi, as was his 18-year-old brother Claude, lord of Saint-Sauveur. He was childless and was succeeded as Duke of Joyeuse by another brother, François.References
*Pierre de Vaissière, "Messieurs de Joyeuse (1560-1615)", Paris, Albin Michel, 1926. 352 p.
*François Puaux, "Histoire de la Réformation française", tome II, Paris, Lévy, 1859.
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