Francis of Vendome, Duke of Beaufort
| François | |||||
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| Duc de Beaufort | |||||
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| Born |
16 January 1616 Château de Coucy, France |
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| Died | 15 June 1669 (aged 53) Heraklion (then Candia), Crete |
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| Father | César de Bourbon | ||||
| Mother | Françoise de Lorraine. | ||||
| Full name | |
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| François de Bourbon |
François de Vendôme, Duc de Beaufort (16 January 1616 – 15 June 1669) was the son of César de Vendôme and Françoise de Lorraine. He was a prominent figure in the Fronde, and later went on to fight in the Mediterranean. He is sometimes called François de Vendôme, though he was born into the House of Bourbon, Vendôme coming from his father's title of Duke of Vendôme.
In March 1665, he led a small fleet which defeated a small Algerian fleet near the Goletta, Tunisia (Action of March 1665). In 1669 he led the newly arrived French troops defending Candia against the Ottoman Turks, and was presumed to be killed in a night sortie, on June 25, 1669. His body was brought back to France for a state funeral.
Beaufort is a picturesque figure in French history of the 17th century. He was the second son of César de Vendôme, an illegitimate son of King Henry IV of France by his mistress, Gabrielle d'Estrées. He began his career in the army and served in the first campaigns of the Thirty Years' War, but his ambitions and unscrupulous character soon found a more congenial field in the intrigues of the court. In 1642 he joined in the conspiracy of Cinq Mars against Cardinal Richelieu, and upon its failure was obliged to live in exile in England until Richelieu's death.
Returning to France, Beaufort became the centre of a group, known as the "Importants", in which court ladies predominated, especially the Duchess of Chevreuse and the Duchess of Montbazon. For an instant after the king's death, this group seemed likely to prevail, and Beaufort to be the head of the new government. But Cardinal Mazarin gained the office, and Beaufort, accused of a plot to murder Mazarin, was imprisoned in Vincennes, in September 1643.
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