Philip, Duke Of Nemours
PHILIP, DUKE OF NEMOURS or SAVOY, duke of Nemours (1490-1533), was a son of Philip, duke of Savoy, and brother of Louise of Savoy, mother of Francis I. of France. Originally destined for the priesthood, he was given the bishopric of Geneva at the age of five, but resigned it in 1510, when he was made count of Genevois. He served under Louis XII., with whom he was present at the battle of Agnadello (1509), under the emperor Charles V. in 1520, and finally under his nephew, Francis I. In 1528 Francis gave him the duchy of Nemours and married him to Charlotte of Orl6 ansLongueville. He died on the 2Sth of November 1533.
His son, JAMES (1531-1585), became duke of Nemours in 1533. He distinguished himself at the sieges of Lens and Metz (1552-1553), at the battle of Renty (1554) and in the campaign of Piedmont (1555). He was a supporter of the Guises, and had to retire for some time into Savoy in consequence of a plot. On his return to France he fought the Huguenots, and signalized himself by his successes in Dauphine and Lyonnais. In 1 567 he induced the court to return from Meaux to Paris, took part in the battle of St. Denis, protested against the peace of Longjumeau, and repulsed the invasion of Wolfgang, count palatine of Zweibriicken. He devoted his last years to letters and art, and died at Annecy on the 15th of June 1585.
By his wife Anne of Este, the widow of Francis, duke of Guise, the duke left a son, CHARLES EMMANUEL (1567-1595), who in his youth was called prince of Genevois. Involved in political intrigues by his relationship with the Guises, he was imprisoned after the assassination of Henry, duke of Guise, and his brother the cardinal of Lorraine, in 1 588, but contrived to escape. He fought at Ivry and Arques, and was governor of Paris when it was besieged by Henry IV. After quarreling with his half-brother Charles of Lorraine, duke of Mayenne, he withdrew to his government of Lyonnais, where he endeavoured to make himself independent. He was imprisoned, however, in the chateau of Pierre-Encise by the archbishop of Lyons. After his escape he attacked Lyons, but was defeated owing to the intervention of the constable de Montmorency. He died at Annecy in July 1595.
His brother HENRY (1572-1632), called originally marquis de Saint-Sorlin, succeeded him as duke. In 1588 he took the marquisate of Saluzzo from the French for his cousin, the duke of Savoy. The princes of Guise, his half-brothers, induced him to join the League, and in 1591 he was made governor of Dauphine in the name of that faction. He made his submission to Henry IV. in 1596. After quarrelling with the duke of Savoy he withdrew to Burgundy and joined the Spaniards in their war against Savoy. After peace had been proclaimed on the 14th of November 1616, he retired to the French court. He died in 1632, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Louis, and on the death of the latter in 1641 by his second son, CHARLES AMADEUS (1624-1652), who served in the army of Flanders in 1645, an d in the following year commanded the light cavalry at the siege of Courtrai. In 1652 he took part in the war of the Fronde, and fought at Bleneau and at the Faubourg St Antoine, where he was wounded. On the 30th of July of the same year he was killed in a duel by his brother-in-law, Francois de Vendome, duke of Beaufort. He had two daughters, Marie Jeanne Baptiste (d. 1724), who married Charles Emmanuel of Savoy in 1665; and Marie Francoise Elisabeth, who married Alphonso VI., king of Portugal, in 1666. His brother Henry (1625-1659), who had been archbishop of Reims, but now withdrew from orders, succeeded to the title. In 1657 he married MARIE D'ORLEANS-LONGUEVILLE (1625-1707), daughter of Henry II. of Orleans, duke of Longueville. This duchess of Nemours is a famous personage. At an early age she was involved in the first Fronde, which was directed by her father and her stepmother. Anne Genevieve de Bourbon-Conde, the celebrated duchesse de Longueville; and when her husband died in 1659, leaving her childless, the rest of her life was mainly spent in contesting her inheritance with her stepmother. She left some interesting Memoir es, which are published by C. B. Petitot in the Collection complete des memoires (1819-1829).
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
