Antoine III de Gramont
| Antoine de Gramont | |
|---|---|
| Duke of Gramont | |
Antoine, Duke of Gramont
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| Spouse(s) | Françoise Marguerite du Plessis de Chivré |
| Issue | |
| Noble family | de Gramont |
| Father | Antoine de Gramont |
| Mother | Louise de Roquelaure |
| Born | 1604 Chateau d'Hagetmau |
| Died | 12 July 1678 Bayonne |
Antoine III Agénor de Gramont, Duke of Gramont, comte de Guiche, comte de Gramont, comte de Louvigny, Souverain de Bidache, (1604, Chateau d'Hagetmau – 12 July 1678, Bayonne) was a French military man and diplomat. Marshal of France from 1641; Viceroy of Navarre and Béarn, and Governor of Bayonne.
Antoine de Gramont came from an old southern French noble family. His father was Antoine II de Gramont, his mother was Louise († 1610), daughter of Marshal Roquelaure (1543–1623). He had a younger brother, Philibert de Gramont, from their father's second marriage to Claude de Montmorency.
Gramont was a loyal supporter of Richelieu. It is said that he once toasted to Richelieu saying that the Cardinal was more important to him than the King and the entire Royal family.
Gramont took part in many battles of the Thirty Years War, was promoted to Marshal of France on 22 September 1641 and obtained the title of Duke in 1643 for himself and his heirs. He became minister in 1653, ambassador to the Reichstag in Frankfurt am Main in 1657, and was sent to Spain in 1660 to ask the hand in marriage of Maria Theresa of Spain for Louis XIV. He died in 1678.
His memoirs ("Mémoires du maréchal de Gramont", Paris 1716) were published by his son Antoine Charles IV de Gramont.
As the Comte de Guiche, he is a major character in Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, where he is depicted at first as vain, lustful, and opportunistic. He is infatuated with Roxane, the heroine of the play, and tries to arrange her marriage to the Vicomte de Valvert as a "front" in order that he (the Count) may become her secret lover. When Cyrano kills Valvert in a duel, De Guiche becomes more open in his desires and tries to arrange his own marriage to her. After he is thwarted by Cyrano long enough for her to be able to marry her sweetheart Christian de Neuvillette, he vengefully sends both Christian and Cyrano to do battle at the 1640 Siege of Arras, in which Christian is killed. At Arras, however, de Guiche shows gallantry toward Roxane and a willingness to sacrifice his life to protect her after she arrives at the battlements. In doing this, he wins Cyrano's respect, and later becomes one of his most loyal friends. He is last seen warning Roxane of a plot to kill Cyrano - a plot which unfortunately succeeds.
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