Louis III de Bourbon, duc de Montpensier

Louis III de Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier

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Louis III of Bourbon-Vendôme (10 June 1513 – 23 September 1582) was the second Duke of Montpensier. He was the son of Louis of Bourbon, Prince of La Roche-sur-Yon, and of Louise de Bourbon, first Duchess of Montpensier. By his mother, he was the nephew of the Constable of Bourbon, Charles III, whose lands were confiscated after his treason.

Under the order of the Duke Anne of Montmorency, he defended in 1536 la Provence, then l'Artois against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. In 1538, he married Jacqueline de Longwy, Countess of Bar-sur-Seine (died in Paris in 1561), daughter of John IV de Longwy, Baron of Pagny, and Jeanne d'Angoulême, illegitimate half-sister of King Francis I. On the occasion of his marriage, the King of France returned the lands of Gilbert of Bourbon-Montpensier, and the Counties of Forez, Beaujeu and Dombes to his mother. In 1543, he received the dauphinate of Auvergne.

By his marriage, he had:

Françoise de Bourbon-Vendôme (1539-1587), married in 1559 to Henri-Robert of La Marck, Duke of Bouillon and Prince of Sedan.

Anne (1540-1572), married in 1561 to François II de Clèves, duke de Nevers.

Jeanne (1541-1620), abbess de Jouarre.

François (1542-1592), duke de Montpensier.

Charlotte (1547-1582), abbess de Jouarre, married in 1571 to William "the Silent" of Nassau, Prince of Orange.

Louise (1548-1586), abbess de Faremoutier.

He took part in a number of wars against Charles V. He fought again at Saint-Quentin in 1557 where his horse was killed under him and where he was taken prisoner. The wars of religion reflected his opportunist character. He was initially favourable to the Protestants, under the influence of his wife. In 1561, having inherited his mother's Duchy of Montpensier, he changed his alliance to satisfy his ambitions. He was made governor of Touraine and Anjou in 1562, and was charged with attacking the Huguenots. He made his own captains hate him. In 1563, he reconquered Angoulême et Cognac. In 1569, he participated in the Battle of Jarnac, was named governor of Brittany and married, in 1570, Catherine de Lorraine (1552-1596), sister of Henri le Balafré, duke de Guise and of Charles II, duke de Mayenne. He approved the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, and fought the Protestants again in 1575 in Poitou.