François de Bourbon, prince de Conti

François de Bourbon, Prince de Conti (19 August 1558 – 1614) was the third son of Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, who founded the House of Condé, and his first wife Eléanor de Roucy de Roye (1536-1564). He was given the title of Marquis of Conti and between 1581 and 1597 was elevated to the rank of a prince.

Conti, who belonged to the older faith, appears to have taken no part in the French Wars of Religion until 1587, when his distrust of Henry, 3rd Duke of Guise caused him to declare against the League and to support his cousin Henry of Navarre, afterwards King Henry IV of France.

In 1589 after the murder of Henry III he was one of the two princes of the blood who signed the declaration recognizing Henry IV as king, and continued to support Henry even though he himself was mentioned as a candidate for the throne upon the death of Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon in 1590.

Conti's first wife was Jeanne de Coeme, heiress of Bonnétable; she died in 1601. In 1605 he married Louise Marguerite of Lorraine-Guise (1574-1631), daughter of Duke Henry of Guise and Catherine of Cleves, who was desired by Henry IV. Conti died in 1614. The title of Prince de Conti lapsed following his death in 1614, as his only child, Marie, predeceased him in 1610. She was only three weeks old.

He had an illegitimate son, Nicolas de Conti (d. 1648), abbot of Gramont.

His widow followed the fortunes of Maria de' Medici, from whom she received many marks of favor, and was secretly married to François de Bassompierre, who joined her in conspiring against Cardinal Richelieu. Upon the exposure of the plot the cardinal exiled her to her estate at Eu, near Amiens, where she died. The princess wrote "Aventures de la cour de Perse", in which, under the veil of fictitious scenes and names, she tells the history of her own time.

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References

*1911