Philibert de Gramont | |
---|---|
Engraved portrait of Philibert de Gramont
|
|
Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Hamilton |
Noble family | Gramont |
Father | Antoine II de Gramont |
Mother | Claude de Montmorency |
Born | 1621 |
Died | 31 January 1707 |
Philibert, Count de Gramont (1621 – 31 January 1707), was a French nobleman, known as the protagonist of the Mémoires written by Antoine Hamilton (his brother-in-law). He was a younger halfbrother of Antoine III of Gramont and uncle of Catherine Charlotte de Gramont, princess of Monaco.
Philibert de Gramont came of a noble Gascon family, said to have been Basque in origin. His grandmother, Diane d'Andouins, comtesse de Gramont, was "la belle Corisande," one of the mistresses of Henry IV. The grandson assumed that his father, Antoine II de Gramont, viceroy of Navarre, was the son of Henry IV, and regretted that he had not claimed the privileges of royal paternity. Philibert de Gramont was born to Antoine II and his second wife, Claude de Montmorency, probably at the family seat of Bidache.
He was destined for the church, and was educated at the college of Pau, in Béarn. He refused the ecclesiastical life, however, and joined the army of Prince Thomas of Savoy, then besieging in Piedmont. He afterwards served under his elder half-brother, Antoine, marshal de Gramont, and the prince de Condé. He was present at Freiburg and Nordlingen, and served with distinction in Spain and Flanders in 1647.