François de Coligny d'Andelot

François de Coligny d'Andelot
studio of Jean Clouet (c.1555)
Born	18 April 1521 Châtillon-sur-Loing
Died	27 May 1569(1569-05-27) (aged 48) Saintes, Charente-Maritime
Allegiance	France
Service/branch	Army
Rank	Colonel-General of the infantry
Battles/wars	Italian Wars (Ceresole), Franco-Habsburg War (Saint-Quentin, Calais), Wars of Religion (Dreux, Jarnac)
Relations	House of Coligny

François d'Andelot de Coligny (18 April 1521, Châtillon-sur-Loing - 27 May 1569, Saintes, Charente-Maritime) was one of the leaders of French Protestantism during the French Wars of Religion. The son of Gaspard I de Coligny, he was the younger brother of Odet, cardinal de Châtillon and Gaspard de Coligny the admiral.

He first gained military experience in the Italian Wars, and so distinguished himself at the battle of Ceresole (1544) that Louis de Bourbon, still comte d'Enghien at that time, knighted him on the battlefield. In 1547 he was made inspector-general of the infantry, and commanded the French troops sent to Scotland to defend the rights of Mary, Queen of Scots (until 1559, queen-consort of France). When war broke out again in Italy, he returned, marching to Parma and getting trapped in the city when it soon afterwards came under siege. Taken prisoner during a sortie, he was taken to the castle of Milan, where he remained until the treaty of Vaucelles in 1556.

In prison, he read books obtained for him from outside and confirmed the doubts about Catholicism which he had already derived from conversations with French Protestants. On his return to France, he replaced his brother Gaspard as Colonel-General of the infantry and, at almost the same moment, war was declared against Spain. In charge of getting a relief column to Gaspard, who was defending Saint-Quentin, he found himself trapped there, but managed to prolong the siege and only surrendered when overwhelmed by the vast enemy numbers penetrating the city through the gaps they had blasted in the walls, when any resistance would have been useless. He succeeded in escaping the Spanish camp and rejoined the French army besieging Calais, where he acted so bravely that, according to Brantôme, Francis, Duke of Guise (who was no friend of François's) stated that all he needed to conquer a world of places were Andelot, Strozzi and [Antoine] d'Estrées.