Symphorien de Durfort, seigneur de Duras

https://genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00024667&tree=LEO

BIOGRAPHY Symphorien de Durfort, seigneur de Duras, was born about 1523, the son of François de Durfort, seigneur de Rauzan and Catherine de Gontaut, dame de Mirambeau. He married Barbe Cauchon de Maupas, daughter of Thierry Cauchon, seigneur de Maupas, and Adrienne Bossut-Longueval. They had six children, of whom three had progeny: their second son Jacques and their daughters Marguerite and Jeanne.

In March 1562 François, duc de Guise ('le Balafré'), leader of the radical Catholic party, ordered the Massacre of Vassy, the murder of unarmed Huguenots who at that time attended religious service. The event marks the beginning of the First Huguenot War. At that time Durfort was a chamberlain to the young Charles IX, King of France and colonel of the legionnaires of Guyenne. Having converted to the Protestant faith, he led his troops on a bloody campaign in which they ravaged l'Agenais and le Quercy in south-west France. In August of that year they sacked and partly burned the fortified village of Lauzerte; five hundred were massacred, among them many priests, and the remaining inhabitants fled. The village would remain deserted for fifty years. Finding the town of Cahors strongly defended, Durfort crossed the Lot region and pillaged the villages of Douelle, Albas, Castelfranc and Caussade. In September 1562 they captured the bishop of Cahors, Pierre de Bertrand, in his château of Mercuès. The Protestant army of Durfort then pillaged Catus, Saint Germain, Saint Chamarand, Le Vigau and Gourdon, and crossed the Dordogne region to Grolejac. Durfort was defeated at Vergt in the Périgord. He died, his head crushed by a rock, while defending the city of Orléans against the forces of François, duc de Guise. Orléans had been seized in March 1562 by the Protestant army of Louis I de Bourbon, prince de Condé and Gaspard de Coligny.

The sources vary on the timing of Durfort's death, with one giving October 1562, but three others 1563; of these, one gives it as 12 March 1563, which fits plausibly in the context of the siege of Orléans, launched by de Guise early in 1563. He had captured the bridgehead on the left bank of the Loire when he was assassinated by a Huguenot near the city on 24 February 1563. The city surrendered to the king, who had its fortifications razed. The Treaty of Amboise of 19 March 1563 ended the war, granting the Huguenots religious toleration in their strongholds, including Orléans.