n in Savoy, and in 1603 fought in Hungary for the
emperor against the Turks. In 1614 he assisted Marie de' Medici in her
struggle against the nobles, but upon her failure in 1617 remained loyal to
the King Louis XIII. and assisted the royalists when they routed Marie's
supporters at Ponts-de-Ce in 1620. His services during the Huguenot rising
of 1621-22 won for him the dignity of marshal of France. He was with the
army of the king during the siege of La Rochelle in 1628, and in 1629
distinguished himself in the campaign against the rebels of Languedoc. In
1615 Bassompierre had purchased from Henri, duc de Rohan (1579-1638), the
coveted position of colonel-general of the Swiss and Grisons; on this
account he was sent to raise troops in Switzerland when Louis XIII. marched
against Savoy in 1629, and after a short campaign in Italy his military
career ended. As a diplomatist his career was a failure. In 1621 he went to
Madrid as envoy extraordinary to arrange the dispute concerning the seizure
of the Valteline forts by Spain, and signed the fruitless treaty of Madrid.
In 1625 he was sent into Switzerland on an equally futile mission, and in
1626 to London to secure the retention of the Catholic ecclesiastics and
attendants of Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I. The personal influence of
Henry IV. had deterred Bassompierre from a marriage with Charlotte de
Montmorency, daughter of the constable Montmorency, afterwards princesse de
Conde, and between 1614 and 1630 he was secretly married to Louise
Marguerite, widow of Francois, prince de Conti, and through her became
implicated in the plot to overthrow Richelieu on the "Day of Dupes" 1630.
His share was only a slight one, but his wife was an intimate friend of
Marie de' Medici, and her hostility to the cardinal aroused his suspicions.
By Richelieu's orders, Bassompierre was arrested at Senlis on the 25th of
February 1631, and put into the Bastille, where he remained until
Richelieu's death in 1643. On his release his offices were restored to him,
and he passed most of his time at the castle of Tillieres in Normandy,
until his death on the 12th of October 1646. He left a son, Francois de la
Tour, by the princesse de Conti, and an illegitimate son, Louis de
Bassompierre, afterwards bishop of Saintes. His _Memoires_, which are an
important source for the history of his time, were first published at
Cologne in 1665. He also left an incomplete account of his embassies to
Spain, Swit