Biography of Henri Valois II Duke Longueville 1595-1663

On 1st March 1588 [his father] Henri Valois I Duke Longueville (age 20) and [his mother] Catherine Gonzaga Duchess Longueville (age 20) were married. She by marriage Duchess Longueville. She the daughter of [his grandfather] Louis Gonzaga Duke Nevers (age 48). He the son of [his grandfather] Léonor Valois I Duke Longueville and [his grandmother] Marie Bourbon (age 49). They were sixth cousins.

On 6th April 1595 Henri Valois II Duke Longueville was born to Henri Valois I Duke Longueville (age 27) and Catherine Gonzaga Duchess Longueville (age 27).

On 8th April 1595 [his father] Henri Valois I Duke Longueville (age 27) died. His son Henri succeeded II Duke Longueville being some two days old.

On 10th April 1617 Henri Valois II Duke Longueville (age 22) and Louise Bourbon Condé Duchess Longueville (age 13) were married at Paris [Map]. She by marriage Duchess Longueville. She the daughter of Charles Bourbon Condé Count Soissons and Anne Montafié Countess Soissons (age 39). He the son of Henri Valois I Duke Longueville and Catherine Gonzaga Duchess Longueville (age 49). They were second cousins.

In 1625 [his daughter] Marie Valois Duchess Nemours was born to Henri Valois II Duke Longueville (age 29) and [his wife] Louise Bourbon Condé Duchess Longueville (age 21). Coefficient of inbreeding 1.96%.

On 6th January 1625 Thomas Francis of Savoy 1st Prince of Carignano (age 28) and [his sister-in-law] Marie Bourbon Condé Countess Soissons (age 18) were married. She the daughter of Charles Bourbon Condé Count Soissons and [his mother-in-law] Anne Montafié Countess Soissons (age 47). He the son of Charles Emmanuel Savoy I Duke Savoy (age 62) and Catherine Habsburg Spain Duchess Savoy. They were fourth cousin once removed.

On 1st December 1629 [his mother] Catherine Gonzaga Duchess Longueville (age 61) died.

On 9th September 1637 [his wife] Louise Bourbon Condé Duchess Longueville (age 34) died.

In 1642 Henri Valois II Duke Longueville (age 46) and Anne Geneviève Bourbon Condé Duchess Longueville (age 23) were married. She by marriage Duchess Longueville. The difference in their ages was 23 years. He the son of Henri Valois I Duke Longueville and Catherine Gonzaga Duchess Longueville. They were third cousin once removed.

On 11th May 1663 Henri Valois II Duke Longueville (age 68) died.

In 1679 [his former wife] Anne Geneviève Bourbon Condé Duchess Longueville (age 60) died.

Memoirs of Jean Francois Paul de Gondi Cardinal de Retz Book 1. The Prince de Conde was enraged at the declaration published by the Prince de Conti and M. de Longueville, which cast the Court, then at Saint Germain, into such a despair that the Cardinal was upon the point of retiring. I was abused there without mercy, as appeared by a letter sent to [his daughter] Madame de Longueville from the Princess, her mother, in which I read this sentence: "They rail here plentifully against the Coadjutor, whom yet I cannot forbear thanking for what he has done for the poor Queen of England." This circumstance is very curious. You must know that a few days before the King left Paris I visited the Queen of England, whom I found in the apartment of her daughter, since Madame d'Orléans. "You see, monsieur," said the Queen, "I come here to keep Henriette company; the poor child has lain in bed all day for want of a fire." The truth is, the Cardinal having stopped the Queen's pension six months, tradesmen were unwilling to give her credit, and there was not a chip of wood in the house. You may be sure I took care that a Princess of Great Britain should not be confined to her bed next day, for want of a fagot; and a few days after I exaggerated the scandal of this desertion, and the Parliament sent the Queen a present of 40,000 livres. Posterity will hardly believe that the Queen of England, granddaughter of Henri the Great, wanted a fagot to light a fire in the month of January, in the Louvre, and at the Court of France. Note. daughter of Henry IV King France if he is referring to Henrietta Queen Consort of England.

There are many passages in history less monstrous than this which make us shudder, and this mean action of the Court made so little impression upon the minds of the generality of the people at that time that I have reflected a thousand times since that we are far more moved at the hearing of old stories than of those of the present time; we are not shocked at what we see with our own eyes, and I question whether our surprise would be as great as we imagine at the story of Caligula's promoting his horse to the dignity of a consul were he and his horse now living.

Memoirs of Jean Francois Paul de Gondi Cardinal de Retz Book 1. M. de Beaufort, having escaped from his confinement, arrived this very day in Paris. I found that his imprisonment had not made him one jot the wiser. Indeed, it had got him a reputation, because he bore it with constancy and made his escape with courage. It was also his merit not to have abandoned the banks of the Loire at a time when it absolutely required abundance of skill and courage to stay there. It is an easy matter for those who are disgraced at Court to make the best of their own merit in the beginning of a civil war. He had a mind to form an alliance with me, and knowing how to employ him advantageously, I prepossessed the people in his favour, and exaggerated the conspiracy which the Cardinal had formed against him by means of Du Hamel.

As my friendship was necessary to him, so his was necessary to me; for my profession on many occasions being a restraint upon me, I wanted a man sometimes to stand before me. M. de La Mothe was so dependent on M. de Longueville that I could not rely on him; and M. de Bouillon was not a man to be governed.