Armand Charles de La Porte de La Meilleraye

Armand Charles de La Porte de La Meilleraye, Duke of La Meilleraye (1632 – 9 November 1713) was a French general, who was Grand Master and Captain General of Artillery.

Biography

The son of Charles de La Porte and nephew of Richelieu, Armand-Charles was marquis de La Porte. He later became marquis de La Meilleraye and then duc de Mayenne. Upon his marriage, he became the duc Mazarin. In addition, he was made a French peer, duc de La Meilleraye and peer of France, prince de Château-Porcien, marquis de Montcornet, as well as comte de Marle and de La Fère. He served as Grand Master of the French Artillery in 1646 or 1648.

He died at Meilleray in 1713.

Family and issue

On 1 March 1661, he married Hortense Mancini, the favorite niece and heiress of the immensely wealthy Cardinal Mazarin. The marriage proved quite unhappy due to the duke's mistreatment of his wife, and Hortense fled from France in 1668 in order to escape her husband. She eventually moved to England, where she became the mistress of King Charles II.

The duke and his wife had four children:

• Marie Charlotte de La Porte Mazarin (28 March 1662 - 13 May 1729), who married Louis Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, comte d'Agénias, duc d'Aiguillon
• Marie Anne de La Porte Mazarin (1663 - October 1720), who became an abbess,
• Marie Olympe de La Porte Mazarin (1665 - 24 January 1754), who married Louis Christophe Giqault, marquis de Bellefonds et de Boullaye
• Paul Jules de La Porte, duc Mazarin et de La Meilleraye (25 January 1666 - 7 September 1731), who married Félice Armande Charlotte de Durfort

He died at Meilleray in 1713.

Sources

• Guyard de la Fosse, Histoire de Mayenne
• Bibliothèque nationale de France, fr. 11. 468
• Pinard, Chronologie militaire, t. IV, p. 201
• Relation d'Ezéchiel Spanheim
• Grosse-Duperon, Souvenirs du Vieux-Mayenne
• Grosse-Duperon, Etude sur Fontaine-Daniel

Persondata
Name	Porte, Armand-Charles De La
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Date of birth	1632
Place of birth
Date of death	9 November 1713
Place of death