Antoine III de Gramont

Antoine III Agénor de Gramont, Duke of Gramont, comte de Guiche, comte de Gramont, comte de Louvigny, Souverain de Bidache, (1604, Chateau d'Hagetmau – 12 July 1678, Bayonne) was a French military man and diplomat. Marshal of France from 1641; Viceroy of Navarre and Béarn, and Governor of Bayonne.

Life
Antoine de Gramont came from an old southern French noble family. His father was Antoine II de Gramont, his mother was Louise († 1610), daughter of Marshal Roquelaure (1543–1623). His elder brother was Philibert de Gramont.

Gramont was a loyal supporter of Richelieu. It is said that he once toasted to Richelieu saying that the Cardinal was more important to him than the King and the entire Royal family.

Gramont took part in many battles of the Thirty Years war, was promoted to Marshal of France on 22 September 1641 and obtained the title of Duke in 1643 for himself and his heirs. He became minister in 1653, ambassador to the Reichstag in Frankfurt am Main in 1657, and was sent to Spain in 1660 to ask the hand in marriage of Maria Theresa of Spain for Louis XIV. He died in 1678.

His memoirs („Mémoires du maréchal de Gramont“, Paris 1716) were published by his son Antoine Charles IV de Gramont.

In literature
As the Comte de Guiche, he is a major character in Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, where he is depicted at first as vain, lustful, and opportunistic. He is infatuated with Roxane, the heroine of the play, and tries to arrange her marriage to the Vicomte de Valvert as a "front" in order that he (the Count) may become her secret lover. When Cyrano kills Valvert in a duel, De Guiche becomes more open in his desires and tries to arrange his own marriage to her. After he is thwarted by Cyrano long enough for her to be able to marry her sweetheart Christian de Neuvillette, he vengefully sends both Christian and Cyrano to do battle at the 1640 Siege of Arras, in which Christian is killed. At Arras, however, DeGuiche shows gallantry toward Roxane and a willingness to sacrifice his life to protect her after she arrives at the battlements. In doing this, he wins Cyrano's respect, and later becomes one of his most loyal friends. He is last seen warning Roxane of a plot to kill Cyrano - a plot which unfortunately succeeds.

Family
His younger brother was Philibert, comte de Gramont (1621–1707), renowned for his memoirs describing the love affairs on the English court of Charles II, edited by Antoine Hamilton.

In 1634, he married Richelieu's niece, Françoise-Marguerite du Plessis de Chivré († 1689). They had four children:
 * Guy Armand, comte de Guiche, (1637 - 29 November 1673, lover of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and his wife Henrietta, duchess of Orleans.
 * Catherine-Charlotte, (1639 - 1678), Princess of Monaco and mistress of Louis XIV of France.
 * Antoine Charles, (1641 - 1720), Viceroy of Navarre.
 * Henriette-Catherine, married Alexandre de Canonville, marquis de Raffetot.

Royal origin
According to Count Philibert de Gramont, Antoine's brother, their father, also "Antoine de Gramont", viceroy of Navarre, was a bastard daughter of king Henry IV by Diane d'Andoins, knowns as "La Belle Corisande".

Literature

 * W. H. Lewis: Assault on Olympus; the rise of the House of Gramont between 1604 and 1678. New York, Harcourt, Brace (1958)