Charles de Luynes

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Luynes by Moncornet

Charles d'Albert, duc de Luynes (August 5, 1578 - December 15, 1621), was constable of France and the first duke of Luynes.

He was the first son of Honoré d'Albert (d. 1592), seigneur de Luynes, who was in the service of the three last Valois kings and of Henry IV of France.

Charles was brought up at court and attended the dauphin, who later became Louis XIII. The king shared his fondness for hunting and rapidly advanced him in favour. In 1615 he was appointed commander of the Louvre and counsellor, and the following year Grand Falconer of France. He used his influence over the king in the court intrigues against the queen-mother Marie de' Medici and her favourite Concini. It was Luynes who, with Vitry, captain of the guard, arranged the plot that ended in Concini's assassinaton (1617) and secured all the latter's possessions in Italy and France.

In the same year he was appointed captain of the Bastille and lieutenant-general of Normandy, and married Marie de Rohan, daughter of the duke of Montbazon. He employed extreme measures against the pamphleteers of the time, but sought peace in Italy and with the Protestants. In 1619 he negotiated the Treaty of Angoulême by which Marie de' Medici was accorded complete liberty. He was made governor of Picardy in 1619; suppressed an uprising of nobles in 1620; and in 1621, with slight military ability or achievement, was appointed constable of France.

His rapid rise to power made him a host of enemies, who looked upon him as but a second Concini. In order to justify his newly-won laurels, Luynes undertook an expedition against the Protestants, but died of a fever in the midst of the campaign, at Longueville in Guienne, on December 15, 1621.

His brother Honoré (1581-1649), first duke of Chaulnes, was governor of Picardy and marshal of France (1619), and defended his province successfully in 1625 and 1635.